If you’re new to keeping invertebrates as pets, you are probably welcoming the concept of live feeding. Insects such as mantises, tarantulas, scorpions, assassin bugs, centipedes and more all need constant supplies of life food to consume. Some of the most common feeder insects are locusts, crickets, dubia roaches, mealworms and fruit flies, these are used widely in the insect keeping hobby.
Crickets (gryllus bimaculatus, or acheta domestica or gryllodes sigillatus or, finally, gryllus assimilis) are very commonly used to feed carnivorous invertebrates. The pros of this feeder are that they are easy to keep and maintain, they will eat pretty much all vegetables and fruits – as well as meat. All they require is a thin layer of substrate – which could be coconut husk or other materials. They will need a egg box to hide during the day, as they are mostly nocturnal, and a piece of carrot/lettuce/potato. Pet stores also offer beetle jellies and ‘bug gel’ for hydration and calcium and ‘grub mix’ for food. Cons for using crickets are that during your insect’s molting stage they may gnaw at your pet – severing limbs, chewing antennae, separating the abdomen. Over all, feed the insect under supervision – if your pet refuses the cricket, remove it and try again soon.
Locusts (schistocerca gregaria)
are larger than crickets and do well for praying mantises and tarantulas specifically. Pros are that they are very nutritious for your pet insect and large enough to be fed less often as they are larger. They will eat grass, leaves, and any fresh greenery. Cons include that adults need a large enclosure to thrive – if they are confined they will resort to cannibalizing. Additionally, they should be fed under supervision, as they too can harm your pet. However, to disable the locust from feeding on a molting insect you can remove the back legs, immobilizing it enough to be recognised by the insect but not enough to be able to freely move around.
Next on the list are mealworms (tenebrio molitor). These darkling beetle larvae are some of the best feeder insects. They do not have complicated living conditions, all they need is oats as a substrate – which doubles as a food source – and optionally, regular pieces of carrot/potato/cucumber etc. Moreover, to prevent these from attacking your pet in its vulnerable state, you must crush the worm’s head because it leaves the worm able to writhe around but not bite your insect.
The only food for most mantis species, fruit flies (drosophila melanogaster) are easy to culture. To culture them, you need a plastic container with a mix of beer, potato powder, white vinegar, water and yeast in the bottom. Strips of curled plastic may be added for the flies to breed on. The flies will lay their eggs on the mixture in the container, which will hatch, eat as larvae and pupate to become adults. There is not much cons, just that they may be needed constantly due to their small size.
This cockroach species (blaptica dubia) , sometimes incorrectly referred to as Dubai roaches (really they are dubia not Dubai), are another good feeder. They populate quickly and just need egg crates to hide in, carrot/potato/lettuce/orange, and that’s about it. A shallow bowl may contain foods and they may live in a large storage container and lid with holes in. Dubia roaches have a tough exoskeleton and, unlike other feeders, will not attack your pet in a vulnerable state.
Best for tarantula spiderlings, bean weevils (chrysomelidae) are a small weevil species. They are easy to culture, just supply dried beans or peas and they will populate quickly.