Waxworms, butterworms as food

Yes, I used the search function first. ;P
So, I have decided to make a switch away from those mite loaded crickets. One died unnoticed by myself in my lividums enclosure, though I did notice the mites everywhere. AH!! So, I coaxed Octavius out of her burrow (flooding gently) and have rehoused her temporarily. Anyways, I have bought the above worms, and am going to try to switch away from crickets altogether. Is there any benefit to feeding the t's different worms instead of crickets? I assume they aren't quite as mite loaded? There are no roach sellers near here, so I am a little limited for feeding options, and I'm not going to be feeding them mice.

I have heard nothing about feeding Waxworms to Tarantulas. I know that they are nearly pure fat if fed to reptiles, so you may wish to try feeding normal mealworms, which are very similar but far more healthy.

My T's love them!!! They seem easy to raise with a mix of dog food, honey and water ( just starting my first batch in a gallon jar). But if there is a beekeeper near you, you can get some old frams of wax and in no time you will have worms or they may have some infested boxes. When "harvested", they can also be kept in a "warm" spot in the refrigerator for weeks if not months.
Jim

I know the wax moths are appreciated, at least by small arboreals. As for the whole culture thing, never did get that to work. Death by mold.

Hiya,

I've used wax and mealworms before, and my spiders certainly ate them happily enough. Also, some of mine take earthworms and the occasional silkworm (although I couldn't keep these alive)

Probably the best thing to do is just try and vary it a bit. Also, why not use grasshoppers?

cheers,
Sam

For some reason, unlike the UK, grasshoppers/locusts are not a commonly bred food item for insectivores over here in the New World. I have NEVER seen grasshoppers for sale anywhere.

As for Waxies/Butters...I think the biggest thing would be cost. From what I remember they're pretty pricey for a small amount, so unless you just have one I think it'd add up pretty quickly. That and like was said, they're both pretty fatty so you may not really end up with a balanced diet for your T's.

And if you want roaches, there's a guy in BC who was wanting to be rid of a colony of roaches, Lorgakor was his name. You might PM him and see if its close enough to bother with.

Crickets are vile vermin.

Taceas said:

For some reason, unlike the UK, grasshoppers/locusts are not a commonly bred food item for insectivores over here in the New World. I have NEVER seen grasshoppers for sale anywhere.

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Ah, didn't know this. It's a pity cause they make great feeders. Gap in the market, anyone?

All tho T's will eat wax worms, I heard that you shouldn't really use them as a main diet, I cant remember exactly why. I fed a chilly rose wax worms once, and he didn't quite know what to make of it at first, he felt it moving and rushed over but once he got to it he didn't peirce it straight away, he kinda checked it out first. He did eat it in the end, but then when I gave him a second one a few days later he just ignored it.

The Nhandu coloratovillosus ate a few tho, and she even ate a few moths aswell after they had metamorphosed. That was quite amusing watching her catch those.

this is my experience with wax worms.

I feed waxworms occasionally. I try to feed a varied diet. All of my Ts except one (out of 25+) love them. And the one that does not like them is an old Aphonopelma female who doesn't have alot of interest in eating much of anything really. I don't know about their nutritional value for Ts. I know that feeding too many to reptiles is not recommended. They are high in fat, low in nutrition, as someone else already stated.