What is the best prey?

bjbrokaw

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
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Aug 24, 2008
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75
What do you think would be the best prey for tarantula feeding? I know crickets are always easy but what else? Also what would I be able to breed at home other than crickets? I don't like crickets because of their smell and they are too loud.
 

Crazy0monkey

Arachnodemon
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Dec 8, 2007
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Roaches by far. B dubia are great feeding roaches because they cant fly and they cant cimb most things(so iv been told). THey dont smell much or make any noises. Roaches are considered the beast feeders imo because of the nutrion factors
 

bjbrokaw

Arachnosquire
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Aug 24, 2008
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If i setup a roach colony would small roaches work for feeding spiderlings? Read a few topics on roach colonies here and it didn't mention that.
 

spiders4life

Arachnobaron
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Oct 9, 2005
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A varied diet of grasshoppers, crickets and roaches is the best thing to feed your spider. When keeping the bigger species, a small mouse or lizard could be a supplement to the varied diet.

As mentioned a colony of B dubia or G portentosa are quite easy to mangage.

Regards Mikael
 

YeloNeck

Arachnosquire
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Dec 1, 2007
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4 months ago i bought something about 100 Nauphoeta cinerea. Now i have hmmm... maybe 350 ? 150 Imago, and rest of them are babies. Great for feeding scorpions and spiders. They climb, but they can't go through vaseline. Flying ? Definitely No !
 

Hedorah99

Arachnoprince
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In my experience the best are crickets, roaches (your choice), meal worms, and mega worms.
 

wsimms

Arachnodaddy
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Jun 6, 2003
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Dubias have replaced crickets completely at my house. You can feed small nymphs to your small T's.
 

Sooner

Arachnoknight
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Jan 14, 2008
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I like to think that dubias are to us as mom's homemade dinners. Good, hearty, and nutritious.

Crickets are burgers to T's. Easy to digest, feisty, and nutritious enough.

Superworms are your turkey legs for T's. There's a lot of bones but it's tasty and fatty.
 

clam1991

Arachnoangel
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Jul 16, 2008
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my lil ones love baby roaches

just match the size of a roach with the t
and they'll eat like hobos{D
 

Travis K

TravIsGinger
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Jan 6, 2007
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If i setup a roach colony would small roaches work for feeding spiderlings? Read a few topics on roach colonies here and it didn't mention that.
Yes I use dubia nymphs for my slings. With dubia you get very small to pretty large, and they reproduce fairly quickly. I keep saying I need to cull my colony but haven't got around to it yet.
 

radicaldementia

Arachnobaron
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Nov 8, 2007
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I use dubias and they work great for me. I started with about 50, now I have at least 500. It takes a little while to get the colony started, but once your first-born generation matures and starts breeding, there's no stopping them.

Dubias have pretty good defense behaviors, they burrow and play dead, making it hard for predators to find them. I get around this by crushing their heads, then they just flop around.
 

ShellsandScales

Arachnobaron
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Jun 20, 2008
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502
Really its not the species of prey but what that prey items eats and how its taken care of. That being said roaches are definitely easiest, well roaches and mealworms(too fatty to be a staple). I feed my roaches High quality dog and cat food (nutro or similar none of that purina crap) assorted mazuri(zoo formula) pelleted foods and fresh fruit and veggie trimmings from the kitchen.
 

bjbrokaw

Arachnosquire
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Aug 24, 2008
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Well I started a cricket colony today because my grandma doesn't want any type of roach in the house lol. Plan to setup for meal works too in about a month. I'm feeding the crickets with high quality dog and cat food, fresh carrots, fish flakes, and some graham crackers so we will see how it turns out. Bought 50 adult crickets and about 40 small and threw them in a 5 gallon bucket with some damp paper towels, the food, and some crinkled up carboard. Setup a dish full of super soil with a little coco fiber mixed in for the eggs.
 

Kamikaze

@baboonmanila
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Jun 11, 2008
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I like watching them eat B latteralis rather than crickets.
Its just a personal preference, but I do give a varied diet. Crickets, lobster roaches, mealworms and latteralis :)
 
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