feeding s'lings

[Arachnomania]

Please post your methods of picking up and using PINHEAD crickets to your T's. I find this part of this hobby the most teadious of them all and I am wondering if any of you have an efficient method of doing this. I've tryed everything from needle nose tweezers to pick them up, scoop them up with a piece of wood shaving.

 

[nemesis6sic6]

hmm

If it's for the slings...Kill the crix, then feed it to them...they will eat take it..simple answer..


have a nice day



geo

 

[noboyscout]

It's easy to pour a bunch of crickets into a small cup and to just tilt it slightly. Some of the crickets should make their way to the top of the cup and you can allow one or two to fall into the container housing you T.

 

[Buspirone]

I gave up on pinheads almost as soon as I tried feeding them to my first batch slings. I just crush the head on a small cricket and split open the body or cut up meals worms for slings. When I tried using pinheads I had them all over, climbing up my arms and they would go everywhere but into the sling vials.

 

[Kristen]

I have 6 A. Seemani slings to feed and I always use a small pill vial to scoop up a few crickets, give the vial a couple shakes to stun the cricket a little, then just drop them into each enclosure! I use this method as I'm not too keen on touching crickets.


Kristen

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Freezer!!!

 

[Hogge2k]

I use medium sized crix, chrush their heads and slice them up. My smallest spiderling gets the jumping legs.

 

[Telson]

I take an empty sling vial, put a little bread in, pressed it fairly tight against the bottom, a drop or two of water to moisten it and attract the crix, and then set it in the bottom of my tailess whip scorions tank. Several female crix have decided that tank is perfect for breding. In no time I've got anywhere from 5 to 50 pins in there going after the moist bread. I just snatch it up, and tap a few pinheads out in to each slings enclosure as if I were adding seasoning to something while cooking. Works great and it's super easy.

 

[MrFeexit]

Originally posted by Buspirone
I gave up on pinheads almost as soon as I tried feeding them to my first batch slings. I just crush the head on a small cricket and split open the body or cut up meals worms for slings. When I tried using pinheads I had them all over, climbing up my arms and they would go everywhere but into the sling vials.

This is the same method I have used and they all eat them. It is a bit funny to watch a small sling "protect" such a large piece of food. This works, try it.

 

[Nixy]

Agree with the other that say just slice up a med/small cricket. Much easier then chasing pinheads.
Or just use a pair of snips and cut meal worms in half. S'lings will eat them, no problems.
I hardly bother with crickets since the twins superworm colony took off running. But I still buy some for variaty and the twins talked me into attempting a colony again... so.... we'll see how That goes.
The cricket/worm pieces do not need to be bite sized for the s'lings. Just toss a hunk in and when it's full, take out the leftovers.

Good luck and remember a pair of friskars sissors or another nice sharp pair makes cricket/worm cutting extremly quick and easy.

 

[ArachnoPapa]

Hi,

Man these are all great ideas. We use a 6 inch tube which they naturaly hang out in. We then shake it into the cage. Or we slightly crush older crickets in drop them in. I like the freezer idea also.
Papa.

 

[Kopys creepers]

When I have to feed from two hundred or possibly many more spiderlings and they are all in vials, the fastest way for me is to take a drinking straw find a small piece of screen and a piece of aquarium tubing ( air lift tubbing) and insert the tubbing with the screen wraped around it in to the straw. Now you can suck a few up and pop them in the vial. This method has worked well for me. P.S. make sure the screen is correctly in place, oh well a little protein is good for you lol. Hope this is helpful some how. Jaimie

 

[Palespider]

The frozen or dead cricket method doesn't seem to be working for my .75" A. avics. They won't touch them.

Does this method only work for the terestrials?

Jim B.

 

[ahkiu]

i don't bother with pinheads, they are too fiddly to catch and don't keep that long.

i feed my really small slings, just the cricket legs from larger to medium crickets depending on the size of the sling and feed really well on them.

 

[Arachnomania]

Thanks for ALL the great advise. I have tryed many prey items but wanted to stick with pinheads. I beleive I will try Kopys creepers idea.
Thanks again to all,

 

[LPacker79]

The frozen or dead cricket method doesn't seem to be working for my .75" A. avics. They won't touch them.

When one of my A. avic slings was little (.5") I would just put a cricket with a crushed head on it's web. It always ate. I also use that method for my T. cupreus sling. Sometimes the cricket falls to the substrate but the sling still eats it. If you just crush their heads, the crickets will still wiggle.

 

[DR zuum]

scoop up in a cup stick in the freezer 5 minutes,take out crush heads feed to slings.simple solutions for simple problems thatll be 50 cents please for this infomercial.

 

[Inuleki]

all of my pinheads come in plastic bags, so i just section out the ones i want by tilting the bag and pinching an area behind the ones i want, but before the others so i don't crush them. then i just tilt the bag into the enclosure... bam, i can control just how many go in, i don't have to touch them... i do this with larger crickets as well...

 

[Mendi]

I mostly use sliced crickets for my slings, and if you wave a leg over the head of your Avics, mine gladly take them. I've also used termites to feed slings with and they really like eating those. Chip was nice enough to come up with a Sticky on them you can read
Culturing termites
Termites are IMO 100% easier to use as a live food item than pinheads. And if you have any roach colonies going you can always you the smallest nymphs as well. You can also use tiny pieces of beef heart or other very lean beaf too...