What do we do with our Rosie Aragog?

342 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Mygala, Jan 31, 2011

FlickeringHope

Discussion Starter · Jan 30, 2011

So my fiance has a Chilean Rose-haired tarantula. We've been unable to feed him, because no one around here carries crickets due to the disease(or parasite, what have you) that infected the entire species of crickets bred for feeders. We've asked again and again, but no one's carrying them - they're all holding out for when the disease vanishes.

Aragog is completely not interested in grubs. We've tried him on a wild cricket I found outside, but it jumped around so much it literally pissed him off, and he had no interest in eating it.

I've read pretty much the only other option are cockroaches; which his mom REFUSES to let us get because she's afraid they'll have a mass break-out and infest the house. :/

I've read they may eat moths, but...it's winter.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what we could feed him?

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Ravnos

· #2 · Jan 30, 2011

My larger tarantulas readily take pinky mice. Not exactly a great option for most people. Feeding stuff from outside is generally a bad idea. They may have fertilizers or pesticides on them that could harm your tarantula, or even parasites, which are no fun either.

Have you tried meal worms? I sometimes feed the large zoophobas, but cut off their heads first so they don't harm my tarantulas. Offer them right into the tarantula's fangs, on the end of a long set of tweezers, they usually just grab and don't really think about what it is.

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Dragonrain

· #3 · Jan 30, 2011

Some online providers are still able to fill cricket orders, if ordering online is an option for you.

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FlickeringHope

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 30, 2011

Ravnos - aren't tarantulas interested in ONLY live food? If you cut off the heads, which we didn't even consider to feed him a larger variety, doesn't that..you know...kill them? And thus make them completely uninteresting to the tarantula? We have the tweezers - but tarantulas do grab rather hastily; isn't there a chance he could miss and break his fangs if he hits the tweezers?

DragonRain - we've looked into those; but shipping seems to be really expensive!

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Mygala

· #5 · Jan 31, 2011

She won't hurt herself on tongs, but it might scare her. I've actually tricked my Rosehair into taking a piece of warm hamburger as an experiment. You can try tying a bit of thread on to it and pulling it past her. I've also fed them small goldfish in a shallow dish. It depends on the spider.

If she is only going to eat crickets, you can find them some place... I've noticed a drop in availability, but I've found them within a half hour drive from my house. The good news is that as long as you keep the humidity up, and make sure that she has access to water, she can go weeks without food, maybe longer.

Bob

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