How long can a dead roach stay with the T?

Cirith Ungol

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I found a roach in my colony that had had a bad moult and which was dead no longer than three hours. Since many ppl say dead feeders are ok feeders I tossed it in with the T. I did that last night, now (morning) this thing is still lay equally dead at the same spot and the T hasn't touched it. I'm starting to worry the roach might attract some unwanted attention from other lifeforms (i.e. mould, not yet existing mites), but it's so close to the T that I might get a "T-attacks tweezers" incident if I try to take it out...

What options do I have?
 

BlkCat

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I have read that dead feeders should only stay in the enclosure 24 hours. So i always take them out with in that time. I read some ppl use vaseline on the tweezers to keep the T from climbing up. But i have never had a T that mean.
 

Cirith Ungol

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Thanks! Will pull it out this evening then, whatever the cost in manpower, tweezers, mental health... Estimates arn't that high tho, it's only my B. vagans ;)

Edit:
Problem solved. It took it a few minutes ago. I would have liked to see that!
Does anybody know how they approach and "catch" dead feeders? Do they pounce on them or just walk over them and grab them?? That would be interesting to know.
 
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druid8783

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I feed some of my slings pre killed crickets and they attack them just like they would a live cricket.

I gave my A. geniculata a dead cricket (bad molt I usually give it live) and it pounced on it like it was alive. It was quite comical.
 

ShaunHolder

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Cirith Ungol said:
Thanks! Will pull it out this evening then, whatever the cost in manpower, tweezers, mental health... Estimates arn't that high tho, it's only my B. vagans ;)

Edit:
Problem solved. It took it a few minutes ago. I would have liked to see that!
Does anybody know how they approach and "catch" dead feeders? Do they pounce on them or just walk over them and grab them?? That would be interesting to know.
I've never seen any of my T's attack pre-killed prey. They will if it's still twitching, but still pre-kills are picked up and carried off. I'd like to see a T jump on a dead cricket. :p
 

BlkCat

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Mine just pick it up and drag it to the burrow or hide. They arent drama queens. {D
 

Fenris

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I have a question that somewhat relates to this. My P. imperator is in premolt I believe as I through a cricket in the cage, the next day I see it laying dead outside the burrow, completely untouched. I was thinking that he stung it and killed it. I didn't want it sitting in there too long, so I flushed it.

My question is, would it be ok to feed a pre-killed cricket, if it was killed by scorpion venom? Would the venom that may be in the cricket have an effect on a tarantula? I didn't try this as I was unsure and it's definitely not worth a spiders life (to me) to try it.
 

Cirith Ungol

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Don't try it. Rather be paranoid about this than sorry...


I guess that the venom might be a different substance than the one the scorpion spits on its food to digest it. In that case it could be ok, but I wouldn't know.


But how do you know it stung it in the first place? I couldn't in the world imagine my pimp stinging its prey, unless it would have to defend itself against the prey first (if it was a fullgrown mouse). I'd guess it would be much more likely that your pimp had squeezed it to death. But just to be sure - get another cricket and feed the bin with the dead one.
 

Fenris

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Yeah, I was definitely thinking "better safe than sorry." I'm not too sure if it stung it or not, but I have seen him sting prey before (quite brutally too). He's not the nicest P. imperator in the world. He attacks my tongs with pure hatred. He's even stung them multiple times. He's still a juvie too, only about 3-3 1/2 inches or so.
 

becca81

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I've found that left-over pre-killed prey takes about 24 hours to form mold. This is mainly my slings' enclosures, and their humidity is a bit higher than the adults. My adults won't take pre-killed, but my slings readily do.
 

Cirith Ungol

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I wonder if that also has to do with what substrate the dead insect is placed on - if the combination of both might (including ofcourse humidity) will increase the rate of mould growth.

What substrate do you have for your slings becca?
 

becca81

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Cirith Ungol said:
I wonder if that also has to do with what substrate the dead insect is placed on - if the combination of both might (including ofcourse humidity) will increase the rate of mould growth.

What substrate do you have for your slings becca?
I am now using 100% peat moss for my slings, and those are the ones that I find mold on in 24 hours. I had one sling on 100% vermaculite, and it took a little longer to get moldy.
 
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