Death Wish?

bonesmama

Arachnoprince
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You guys are probably gonna LYAO at this, but I'm gonna post it anyway! I was feeding the other day, and yet again I was amazed at the seemingly suicidal tendencies of crickets! I mean, they KNOW the T is there, and act as if they know they are in mortal danger, yet they keep coming back, closer and closer until their fate is sealed! I watched one walk up under my B. boehmei to the point that if she didn't eat it, it would have crawled right up into her mouth!{D So here's my Q: are crickets just the most stupid life form on the planet, OR -- is there something maybe that we don't know yet, some chemical that the T's possess that crix just can't resist that lures them to their death?
 

Pennywise

Arachnolord
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Not only that

I have seen crickets accidently put in with a T in pre molt run under the
T using it for a hide when you are trying to get them out.:D
 

Aubrey Sidwell

Arachnobaron
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Most of the crickets I have used are escape artists. They do whatever they can to avoid going into the tarantulas house to begin with. After they are in there they seem fully aware that there is imminent danger and seem very capable of avoiding the tarantula for quite a while. I have seen a cricket "freeze" from fear and hold that same pose until death:eek: Thats gotta' suck.
 

Mina

Arachnoking
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When I got my first T, my friends in England, who have 18 T's, were trying to make me feel better because I felt bad about feeding the crickets to the T. My girlfriend said not to worry about it. Feeder crickets have a death wish. After watching several feedings, I felt she had to be right. Even if I put the cricket in the opposite side of the enclosure they make a straight line for the T. I'v watched them stand there and watch other crickets get eaten and they don't move!!! It also might be that they are super stupid, but either way, they don't put up a fight.
 

smof

Arachnodemon
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I am totally convinced that crickets are either suicidal or amazingly stupid, or both. I've seen crix head straight for my Ts and climb on/hide under them. I've even seen a cricket struggle to climb the side of the tank to get to where my T was sitting in the top corner :rolleyes: (a quick sideways jump by the spider, and the cricket was no more) Not only that but even when they're in the safety of their own tank they seem to be asking for death. I use the shallowest water dish I could find, with a twig in it so they can climb out, and they still manage to start drowning themselves within minutes of me refilling their water! :wall:

All of this means I don't feel so bad about sentencing them to being dinner. It's not exactly like they're evolution's masterpieces {D
 

Cirith Ungol

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies
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What kinds of crickets do you folks get? :eek: I have yet to see one that's not dashing into the opposite direction of the T and even hiding out of my sight in a microscopic hole somewhere... That's why I hate them so much!
 

wicked

Arachnobaron
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Cirith Ungol said:
What kinds of crickets do you folks get? :eek: I have yet to see one that's not dashing into the opposite direction of the T and even hiding out of my sight in a microscopic hole somewhere... That's why I hate them so much!

Manic depressive crickets of course ;P
 

amberlecemu

Arachnopeon
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Jan 16, 2006
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well I wish the feeder crickets i hav r like tt. I saw one hop away and froze 8" from my B.Boehmei when she went to investigate the cricket. Guess she wasn't hungry eh. the crickets also seem to like to get into the water dish...

I feed my T superworms too, who burrow as fast as they can once they hit the substrate so I always put them close to the T.
 

xgrafcorex

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bonesmama said:
You guys are probably gonna LYAO at this, but I'm gonna post it anyway! I was feeding the other day, and yet again I was amazed at the seemingly suicidal tendencies of crickets! I mean, they KNOW the T is there, and act as if they know they are in mortal danger, yet they keep coming back, closer and closer until their fate is sealed! I watched one walk up under my B. boehmei to the point that if she didn't eat it, it would have crawled right up into her mouth!{D So here's my Q: are crickets just the most stupid life form on the planet, OR -- is there something maybe that we don't know yet, some chemical that the T's possess that crix just can't resist that lures them to their death?

i was thinking the exact same thing yesterday. was feeding the larger ts, and this one cricket i was watching started walking right towards my fem rosea. then the crick decides nah i'll turn back...few steps later it turns and gets a little closer..again and again until it was just too close haha.
and with my irminia, which lives under a piece of cork bark, i fling the cricks in real close to the cork bark and half the time they decide to check out whatever is under there first.
 

solaceofwinter

Arachnobaron
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lol i have a good one. my p. irmini has a candy cane shaped web that is covered in substrate to camo it. now one side is twice as tall as the other. so one holes is pretty close to the ground. i put a cricket in and figured id have to wait until it climbed near the higher more open funnel for the spider to nab it but nooo... it actually went into the hole closest to the ground and never came out. i laughed pretty hard. t never had to leave its home. ingenious design i tell you.
 

Mina

Arachnoking
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wicked said:
Manic depressive crickets of course ;P
Good one Wicked. Maybe that answers Bonesmama's question!
 

MRL

Arachnolord
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goldfish have the attention span of 5 seconds :D
 

bonesmama

Arachnoprince
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You guys are all cracking me up....but one day, I'll be the one laughing when science proves the validity of my question and there's a Bonesmama's pheromone discovery......or not!
OR-I saw this guy on TLC who had this horrific disease where his memory is only like 5 seconds long....maybe he caught it form crix!
 
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Ennoozunu

Arachnosquire
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Dec 12, 2005
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I've had crickets from one side of the spectrum to the other but one of the most memorable crickets that really put up a fight was one I fed to my rosea.

I put 4 crickets in my rosea's tank and she catches all but 1 in the next 30mins. The last one left would walk right up to my rosea and right when my rosea went for it the cricket would jump up and dodge the rosea jumping towards it.

This went on for 30mins. I'm telling you its like the cricket was saying " hahaha this time I'll make you work for your meal!". Everytime it would jump away and walk right back up only to do it again. Each time my rosea would get more and more pissed and aggressive.

Eventually it met its fate tho. :p
 

Skypainter

Arachnoknight
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Oct 25, 2005
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The crickets I get seem to be incredibly stubborn. I'll pick out the most feisty, active cricket, drop it into the cage and it will just sit there, sometimes for a whole day or so. It's frustrating as hell because I like to watch my spiders hunt. Sometimes I have to prod them to get them to move and be noticed by the spider, otherwise they will refuse to move until they die. One time I removed a large cricket that had sat still for nearly three days from one of my A. metallica's cage. I had to pull the bark out to get the cricket, which was sitting in just the wrong spot so I couldn't reach it with my tongs. As soon as the cricket had the opportune moment, it jumped onto the floor and started jumping all over the place. I could not catch this damn thing, and I watched it head straight for my brand new computer and jump into the vent in the front. I frantically turned off the power (while saying some colorful words) and had to take my computer apart to get the stubborn ass cricket out. When I finally caught it, I sent it down the "pit of death", my H. lividum's burrow. I heard a crunch and that was the end of that!
 

snoflax

Arachnoknight
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wicked said:
Manic depressive crickets of course ;P[/QUOTE)

HAHAHA, I have to agree, we have a Aphonopelma sp , basically a pet hole, We put a cricket in the tank and it ran straight down the the T's burrow! The T didnt even have to hunt she got home delivery! Talk about fast food ;)
 

j_hicks1984

Arachnopeon
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Dec 13, 2005
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It'd be funny if they did have a suicidal nature, but I think it's just a severe lack of fear, due to an inability to sense the danger they are in. I've also witnessed it in locusts: in the past few weeks two locusts have actually crawled over the top of my T! Luckily for them my B. Albopilosum is actually the most docile, timid, T ever, and she wasn't hungry and so let them walk all over her...
 

stooka

Arachnobaron
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Dec 12, 2005
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i need crickets like some of you,all mine that i feed to my Ts just freeze as soon as they hit the substrate,and they will avoid the T's at all cost.i often have to poke them towards the T and then wen they are close they just jump over the T.:mad: and talk about escape artists,i have all my spiders in my bedroom and have a couple times now woken up in the middle of the night with a cricket crawling on me,even in my shorts once.They dont ever have a chance with my treefrog or geckos though{D and those that get downstairs are finished off by the cat
 

agentbsmithi

Arachnoknight
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Nov 30, 2005
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Icelos said:
Most of the crickets I have used are escape artists. They do whatever they can to avoid going into the tarantulas house to begin with. After they are in there they seem fully aware that there is imminent danger and seem very capable of avoiding the tarantula for quite a while. I have seen a cricket "freeze" from fear and hold that same pose until death:eek: Thats gotta' suck.
i just read this thread and this happens to me a lot. theyll freak and spazz out when theyre in my forceps grip, then turn into a statue when it drops in front of my huge seemani. otherwise theyll run for their life.
 

solaceofwinter

Arachnobaron
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Oct 7, 2005
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i guess its just instinct. "hey i just got dropped and landed in some place i dont know. ill hold still and make sure everything is okay...." i hate when they hide in the plants etc for days at a time. i guess its smart though... but yeah sometimes they just want to walk up and hug the spiders, guess crix are a friendly bunch huh?
 
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