Feeding for breeding (long gestation species).

[Cainschams]

I was wondering how you guys with species that have a long gestation period (K. tenuis, K. uthmoelleri, Tr. cristatus, Tr. quadricornis, etc.) go about feeding your animals before and during the gestation period?

Right now I have two K. tenuis females that are carrying eggs, hopefully fertile. I have not changed the food amount for them since I received them or the supplement schedule. I would like to think that my gut loading methods provide all my species with a good amount of calcium and other nutrients along with the regular, light supplement schedule It also seems these girls and the rest of my animals sorta regulate their own food intake, except for my K. multituberculata female Some days they eat everything offered and some they will leave a few feeders roaming in the cages.

Some things I have been thinking. Of course we do not want to over feed them before they are bred but what about during the gestation process? Not saying to over feed but it is a regular practice to bump up food intake and supplements for species such as veileds and panthers. Having a longer gestation period would give such species longer time for the eggs to grow inside which gets me thinking that feeding more may cause the eggs to grow too big causing complications when trying to lay?

I would love to hear some thoughts and other keepers methods on this subject.

 

[eisentrauti]

As much own caught insects as possible (I know it's at the moment not possible at your place nor where I live ), always many flies gutloaded with fresh vegetables and fruit juice. I stopped give heavily gravid females crickets and other ground dwelling food cause I often saw some of them disturbing females looking for places to ovipose the eggs, or even worse when they start to digg.
Locusts are as well good stuff for them, they are very healthy and they are heliozoan. What I can also imagine as great feeders are those silk and hornworms which are not available here in Germany, soldier flies possible too

 

[Cainschams]

Benny, do you or any other keepers you know give more supplements and more food than normal while they are in the gestation period? Has there been any records of eggs being too big to pass through the female? If so , has there been a thought that it was because of over feeding while in the gestation period?

The reason I have been thinking about this is. The first K. tenuis female I received this summer died gravid. I cut the eggs out of her and the eggs seemed very large. Of course those animals were in poor shape but I really do not think the female could have passed the eggs even if she was in good shape. I also realize that she was probably over due to lay them because of the importation process and not having a proper site to lay them. However this brought up the idea of over feeding them while in gestation could make the eggs grow too large. Sometimes my brain works in mysterious ways

I also have not bumped up the supplements because these species are much more prone to over supplementation and I feel my gut loading methods provide them with a good amount of calcium.

I cant wait for the bugs to come back out

 

[dartfrog]

Hi Cain
I would love to know the answer to this as well. Ive recently bred my Cristatus she has laid me 13 lovely eggs 6 days ago! I wasnt sure how much to feed but let her eat as much as she wanted in the end I gutloaded really well & only dusted with extra calcium nothing else the only worry I had was that she developed some gular edema about 10 days into her pregnancy so dont know if I over did the calcium? She has lost a lot of the edema after laying but still has some I think she may be producing another clutch thou as she is still plump! I also have Tenuis as well a trio none gravid at the moment but really want to do right by them wish there was more info around! Heatherx