Feeding Versicolor sling

WhitenerJ

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So I just got a Versicolor sling that's about 1.5 inches. I have it in one of Jamie's tarantulas arboreal sling cages. Seeing that the top part slides off and only leaves the small bottom portion open where my water dish is, do I just leave cricket parts in the bottom as well to feed it? Any other suggestions on feeding an arboreal in a cage like this?

Jason
 

Trenor

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So I just got a Versicolor sling that's about 1.5 inches. I have it in one of Jamie's tarantulas arboreal sling cages. Seeing that the top part slides off and only leaves the small bottom portion open where my water dish is, do I just leave cricket parts in the bottom as well to feed it? Any other suggestions on feeding an arboreal in a cage like this?

Jason
I have a few of these. Yes, I just leave the food in the bottom part and out the top back on. The A.versicolor will come down to hunt food when it wants to.
 

cold blood

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A 32oz deli cup is a far superior enclosure...I hate those mesh circles...when there's 2, they are over ventilated, when there's one, there's no cross ventilation and ts can get claws stuck in them. We've seen a lot of people have trouble keeping avic slings in those enclosures.
 

WhitenerJ

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Does it matter if the cricket is alive? I froze some in the freezer and was going to use those. Wondering if he/she is used to eating crickets that are alive or not.

Jason
 

Trenor

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I've never froze any but most tarantulas will take prekilled food. I usually just crush the heads of the prey and put them in that way.
 

Venom1080

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+1 for 32oz deli. much better and cheaper, never heard of people having difficulty with those, but have heard complaints about the cage youre currently using. prekilled should work just fine, but at 1.5" it can take down criks of any size. no need for prekilled.
 

Storm76

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At 1.5" of size, they'll happily hunt down live prey items of appropriate size! Avics really aren't to hard to feed, if in doubt offer the jumping leg of a cricket with tongs carefully. If you don't spook your T, it'll grab it happily.
 

Jolan Neumann

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I'm going to tag along and ask a question as this is about feeding a versicolor as well. i have 4 avics that are about a half inch, their in 32oz deli containers, got them 2 days ago, no webbing yet so how would i feed them? and when should i feed them? should i just leave them alone for a while a let them create some webs before feeding? iv never owned small avics before just ones that are about 2 to 3 inches.
 

Storm76

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You can either throw a few micro sized cricket babies in there (the T -will- notice them) or try tongfeeding (be prepared to catch them running up your tongs or simply out of the cup and going on a race outside :D).
 

Trenor

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I'm going to tag along and ask a question as this is about feeding a versicolor as well. i have 4 avics that are about a half inch, their in 32oz deli containers, got them 2 days ago, no webbing yet so how would i feed them? and when should i feed them? should i just leave them alone for a while a let them create some webs before feeding? iv never owned small avics before just ones that are about 2 to 3 inches.
I would add enough cover items (leaves) to clutter the enclosure. This should help them web. As far as food I'd go prekilled cut to the right size and leave it where they can access it. make sure they have water and good ventilation.
 

Jolan Neumann

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I would add enough cover items (leaves) to clutter the enclosure. This should help them web. As far as food I'd go prekilled cut to the right size and leave it where they can access it. make sure they have water and good ventilation.
awesome thanks for the info! , i have a thread i posted yesterday with pictures of the enclosures if you want to check them out.
 

Trenor

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awesome thanks for the info! , i have a thread i posted yesterday with pictures of the enclosures if you want to check them out.
Yeah, I saw those. They look good and your guys should be webbing up soon. How long have you had the slings in there?
 

Poec54

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I'm going to tag along and ask a question as this is about feeding a versicolor as well. i have 4 avics that are about a half inch, their in 32oz deli containers, got them 2 days ago, no webbing yet so how would i feed them? and when should i feed them? should i just leave them alone for a while a let them create some webs before feeding? iv never owned small avics before just ones that are about 2 to 3 inches.

There should be some cork and/or pieces of plastic plants in with them. The spider will hang out on those, and come down and catch crickets when it's hungry. Versicolor tend to spin sooner than most Avics. I've had juveniles start spinning within minutes of entering a new deli cup.

Versi's have very good appetites. If they're not eating, and not premolt, then probably the cage is too moist or the room is too cool.
 

WhitenerJ

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If you leave cricket parts say on the leaves. How long should you leave them in there before removing if the sling will not eat?

Jason
 

Jolan Neumann

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There should be some cork and/or pieces of plastic plants in with them. The spider will hang out on those, and come down and catch crickets when it's hungry. Versicolor tend to spin sooner than most Avics. I've had juveniles start spinning within minutes of entering a new deli cup.

Versi's have very good appetites. If they're not eating, and not premolt, then probably the cage is too moist or the room is too cool.
thanks for the info! like i told Trenor i posted a thread with pictures of the enclosures yesterday, the room i keep my Ts in is around 80F day and 75F at night
 

Poec54

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If you leave cricket parts say on the leaves. How long should you leave them in there before removing if the sling will not eat?

There's no need to leave cricket parts around the cage. Avics stay up higher, and come down and snatch the live crickets on the substrate, as long as they're a reasonable size. If the cricket's a little too big, pinch off it's large rear jumping legs.
 

Poec54

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thanks for the info! like i told Trenor i posted a thread with pictures of the enclosures yesterday, the room i keep my Ts in is around 80F day and 75F at night

Temps are very good. Substrate's dry, right? With a small waterbowl?
 
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