Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i use superworms for the staple of my T's diet. i occasionally offer crix & roaches, but crix stink and die too easily. roaches are not as easy to come by, only available at reptile shows here in PGH. do i need to tweak this?

i use superworms for the staple of my T's diet. i occasionally offer crix & roaches, but crix stink and die too easily. roaches are not as easy to come by, only available at reptile shows here in PGH. do i need to tweak this?

I use crickets as the staple diet. I could be wrong, but I believe they are more nutritious than superworms, and a better staple diet. I agree crickets are nasty stinkly little critters. I hate using them.

Roaches are ideal, but the best thing to do is breed them yourself. They live 2 years and a colony is self sustaining once it gets going. A buddy of mine has a colony and he just spent $20 on a 6 month supply of food for his colony. That’s less than I spend on crickets for my tiny collection. I'd do it if I could but my wife won't allow roaches in the house.

As long as you are offering occasional variety then you're probably doing fine.
-----
KJ Vezino
My Gallery

American Tarantula Society
British Tarantula Society
Nebraska Tarantula Enthusiasts Club
Wiccan Tarantula Circle

i recently have thought of buying/starting a roach colony. they look cool & i hear they are pretty easy to get going. are there any tricks to the trade or just buy a bunch & dump them into a 10 gal? i do vary the diet though with crix & roaches it isn't superworms all the time.

Roach colonies are pretty easy, if you follow a few simple guidelines.

Give them adequate space and darkness. A 10 gallon will work, but you want to cover or block out the sides, they don't like light. It'll stress them out. Give them plenty of hiding places. LOTS of cardboard eggcrates or paper towel tubes.

Give them a heat source. The species you'll be breeding are tropical and need temps of 80F or higher before they'll breed.

Give them a good diet (Chick mash, dry cereal, dog food, and occasional vegetables). Also a water source- the crystals work good.

No substrate is required, and it's easier to not have it.

Blaptica dubia or Blaberus discoidalis are two good species which cannot fly or climb glass. I'd recommend B. dubia as the males and females are easier to tell apart. Always feed off the males to keep the females as breeders.

There are several good caresheets for these species online if you need more info.
-----
KJ Vezino
My Gallery

American Tarantula Society
British Tarantula Society
Nebraska Tarantula Enthusiasts Club
Wiccan Tarantula Circle

I use crickets. I hate them. Nasty, smelly little dirtbags. During the summer months, I catch wild crickets ( black ones ). I live in a cold northern climate ( 250 miles into MI ), so I don't have many of the parasites up here you'd find elsewhere.

Other than crix, I use grasshoppers, beetles, grubs, caterpillars--whatever I find. What kind of T(s) are you feeding?

i have 10 of them. A. Genic, OBT, curved horn baboon, pink toe, Chaco Golden Knee, Salmon Pink Birdeater, Rosie, Haplopelma Albo. Euthalus species (unidentified, B. Angustrum.