Are prawns Ok as a food source?

[Andrew Ferguson]

Just a thought that's all. I understand offering a small cube of meat every now and again is a good thing, so is offering a prawn (one of the small types) ok or is it a definite no no?

[Ray Gabriel]

Crab sticks are good for feeding crickets and roaches but dont half stink (not a fish person),

I suppse you could try them, the spids might like them

EEUUUGUGUGHHHHHHH prawns sorry horrible things

Ray

[Clinton Hogben]

Just a thought that's all. I understand offering a small cube of meat every now and again is a good thing, so is offering a prawn (one of the small types) ok or is it a definite no no?

wonder if the salt content might be a bit high unless you can get freshwater prawns???
I recall reading that someone put a small fish into the waterbowl of a big "T" and that soon went down a treat but it would depend on the "T"

I fed my L Para a 1inch cube of sirloin the other night and she loved it

Clint

[James Box]

it'd be an interesting experiment! pretty sure the T would turn up its nose if it didn't like it. may be good to research the nutritional value of prawns, i bet Tesco or Sainsbury's has that info.
i've heard of H gigas in captivity fishing, but that may be a rumour, and i don't know if it was actually fish they dived for.

[Nicola Dolby]

Yes apparently Hystocrates do fish, also there's a story from Australia once of a fisherman having a fish nicked out of his tackle box by a tarantula walking down the towpath!!!! Then again with all this hype around the Pamphobeteus chicken spider there was a case in the early 1900's of a Selenotypus plumipes walking off with a small chicken at a cattle station in Northern Queensland!!! You'll have to ask Steve Nunn or someone else from the Australian Tarantula Association about these and other great stories though. As for prawns, no way! If I buy prawns they don't last long enough to get to the spider tanks, I love that sort of thing!

[Peter Lacey]

With all this talk of prawns and steak I'm having thoughts on my reincarnation

[James Box]

With all this talk of prawns and steak I'm having thoughts on my reincarnation

i'm just thinking about dinner...surf and turf yum!

[Ian Shaw]

Wih prawns being filter feeders is there any risk of introducing harmful bacteria etc? Just a thought (probably an incorrect one).

[James Box]

hmm i'm not sure. i would think they'd break down any stuff they ate to the point where it was down to the bare nutrients, including bacteria. but i may be wrong.
of course crickets and roaches eat everything, and maggots love rotten meat...

[Clinton Hogben]

Prawns

Hi Andrew
If you do try the prawns on spidy let us know if she prefers them with or without the seafood sauce

Clint

[Andrew Ferguson]

wonder if the salt content might be a bit high unless you can get freshwater prawns???

I am aware that soaking anchovies in milk for 15 - 20 mins removes a lot of the salt. I do this when making pizzas or putting anchovies in salads. Maybe the same will work for prawns?

When I get around to getting my T, I'll let you know how I get on.

Watch this space

[Peter Lacey]

You can easily get freshwater prawns. They're actually referred to as River Shrimps and my Clown Loach love them. They come in a saline solution and most die within a day or two but they are almost motionless outside of water.
I've watched this thread for a few days now and can't help wonder about the idea of shrimps/prawns. They don't have a long shelf life outside the frozen environment, they kick up a stink, they're almost motionless outside of water (when alive) and very quickly go off. The bacterial/fungicidal issues put me off straight away tbh.

[Andrew Ferguson]

The smell issue was something I had thought of. I would think that if the T didn't take it straight away, then the prawn would need to be removed quickly and not allowed to stay like other more mobile food.
For those that give their spider a cube of raw meat, how does that do on the smell issue?

[Clinton Hogben]

The smell issue was something I had thought of. I would think that if the T didn't take it straight away, then the prawn would need to be removed quickly and not allowed to stay like other more mobile food.
For those that give their spider a cube of raw meat, how does that do on the smell issue?

Hi Andrew
I find the cube of meat is grabbed pretty quickly and eaten over a couple of hours
If the meat is fresh it has no strong smell but on the odd occasion its not eaten I remove it the next day before it starts to smell (but its got to smell less than prawns)

Clint

[Claudia Baines]

Wow, I am learning loads. I didn't realise you could try and feed stuff to tarantulas unless it was live, I thought they went for the movement of live prey. I have a feeling if I stuck a bit of steak or something in with either of my Ts they wouldn't even realise it was there. I will give it a try sometime and see if I can vary their diet a bit more, crickets all the time must get a bit dull!