First Week With Spiderlings

[Trenor]

Y'all ready for Eulers to get jumped? I have a spray bottle in my arsenal of tools! I actually use it fairly often. Not for moisten in substrate, no, that's a terrible idea. I use it to give the itty bitty slings water to drink from the side of the enclosure. I've found refilling tiny water dishes is much, much more work.

As long as you are not spider spritzing I'll let it slide.

 

[Robotic Cook]

I have all the same tarantulas - my guess is that you got them from Tarantula Canada?
The two Euathlus sp Red are extremely tiny. I have to cut up mealworms for them as well - one has eaten, but the other hasn't.
You will LOVE your G. pulchripes when they reach juveniles because their markings are stunning. And the B. albopilosum will always be at the top of my favourites - forgiving, lovely to look at, and eat everything in sight! They are never a disappointment.
You're doing great and have obviously done your homework. Keep asking questions and everything will be fine.

Yep, I got mine from Tarantula Canada. Esme is so tiny. Was terrified I was going to crush her when trying to coax her into the next container with a paint brush. Takes me a few seconds to even find her inside the enclosure she is so hard to spot.

 

[Robotic Cook]

Y'all ready for Eulers to get jumped? I have a spray bottle in my arsenal of tools! I actually use it fairly often. Not for moisten in substrate, no, that's a terrible idea. I use it to give the itty bitty slings water to drink from the side of the enclosure. I've found refilling tiny water dishes is much, much more work.

Ya that was what I was thinking as well cause the Vile is too small for a bottle cap lid.

 

[Trenor]

Ya that was what I was thinking as well cause the Vile is too small for a bottle cap lid.

You can do the same thing with the dropper. You have less of a chance of misting the T with back spray that way. I'm heavy handed so there will be no light spraying going on while I hold the bottle.

 

[EulersK]

You can do the same thing with the dropper. You have less of a chance of misting the T with back spray that way. I'm heavy handed so there will be no light spraying going on while I hold the bottle.

And that's the thing, not only is it a small bottle, but it's a very fine mist. I don't like doing g the dropper because it doesn't give the sling enough of a chance to find the droplet in the first place.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

I always used plastic pipette like those, or a syringe (and a water dish, of course).

 

[EulersK]

I always used plastic pipette like those, or a syringe (and a water dish, of course).

View attachment 210079

I used to use those all the time! Except, not in the way we're talking about. I'd cut off the 'bubble' end of the pipette and use that as a water dish. It's cute and it worked, but I was refilling them daily. Way too much work for my taste.

 

[Sana]

I have heard of using wet sphagnum moss for drinking water. I did it for a while with the tiniest slings I've ever worked with. It apparently worked since they survived but I'm definitely in preference to finding a tiny dish that fits the space and dripping water in it.

 

[Robotic Cook]

Whelp my meal worms are dying in mass. Don't know what's killing them so I'm not going to feed any more of them to my slings. Ordered some micro-meal worms and Fruit flies from an online feeder shop, but they wont arrive until the eleventh. You think the little guys will be fine or should I buy one or two adult crickets from pet-land to rip apart for them to scavenge on till then?

 

[EulersK]

Whelp my meal worms are dying in mass. Don't know what's killing them so I'm not going to feed any more of them to my slings. Ordered some micro-meal worms and Fruit flies from an online feeder shop, but they wont arrive until the eleventh. You think the little guys will be fine or should I buy one or two adult crickets from pet-land to rip apart for them to scavenge on till then?

You have a pet store near you and you're paying for shipping on feeders? No, don't waste your money. Remember, slings will scavenge! Get yourself a cricket, tear off the rear jumping legs, and feed those legs to your slings. Way, way cheaper than what you're doing.

 

[Robotic Cook]

You have a pet store near you and you're paying for shipping on feeders? No, don't waste your money. Remember, slings will scavenge! Get yourself a cricket, tear off the rear jumping legs, and feed those legs to your slings. Way, way cheaper than what you're doing.

The pet store is not actually near me, about half the city away. Also they sold me the batch of meal worms that are currently dying, so I'm wary of buying any more feeders from them.

 

[EulersK]

Like cold blood said, they were likely just old. Just like any other animal, they die without food. Let me guess - there was nothing but sawdust in the mealworm enclosure, wasn't there? They can't eat that, it's just so they can burrow. What happened to you is the same as buying an expired gallon of milk at the grocery store.

But yes, if it's that far, mealworms are a good choice. You can keep many of them in the fridge to keep them alive much longer. Just be sure to always crush the heads when you start feeding them to larger tarantulas.

 

[Robotic Cook]

Like cold blood said, they were likely just old. Just like any other animal, they die without food. Let me guess - there was nothing but sawdust in the mealworm enclosure, wasn't there? They can't eat that, it's just so they can burrow. What happened to you is the same as buying an expired gallon of milk at the grocery store.

But yes, if it's that far, mealworms are a good choice. You can keep many of them in the fridge to keep them alive much longer. Just be sure to always crush the heads when you start feeding them to larger tarantulas.

Almost, they where in topsoil. I moved them to oatmeal and they started to plump up quite fast, but now they are all starting to die off. Going to try oat bran next time and see if that is more successful.

Already in the habit of crushing their heads, even on the ones that I have cut up.

 

[cold blood]

Are you keeping the mealies in the fridge? They go dormant if you do that, I've never seen mass die offs of them.

On another note, you are in Canada, so chances are there is a bait shop much closer....many sell wax worms, which is an excellent feeding option....small red worms can also be diced up and used...heck, for slings I've put in small pieces of chicken and had them readily eat it....you do have other options.

 

[saturnthegrey]

If the mealworms are turning black their dying but if they are on the top of the oatmeal flakes and not moving but really light colored, then they are pupating. They turn into black beetles and from my experience none of my T's have eaten them. Crickets are a lot easier to deal with, however they will do their very best to eat each other.

 

[saturnthegrey]

Also if you're keeping the mealworms for longer than a week you should put a piece of potato or carrot in there. They need moisture and the vegetable pieces will do perfect for them.

 

[Robotic Cook]

Are you keeping the mealies in the fridge? They go dormant if you do that, I've never seen mass die offs of them.

On another note, you are in Canada, so chances are there is a bait shop much closer....many sell wax worms, which is an excellent feeding option....small red worms can also be diced up and used...heck, for slings I've put in small pieces of chicken and had them readily eat it....you do have other options.

Ya I thought about bait shops but I'm worried about the nutrition and possible parasites. After all when fishing you hardly care if your bait is healthy for the fish.

If the mealworms are turning black their dying but if they are on the top of the oatmeal flakes and not moving but really light colored, then they are pupating. They turn into black beetles and from my experience none of my T's have eaten them. Crickets are a lot easier to deal with, however they will do their very best to eat each other.

Yes that is what I'm wondering, but they haven't molted into something out of HR Giger yet. I'll leave them alone for now. Also I give them apple slices so they should be good for moisture.

 

[Robotic Cook]

Any one know what this could mean? Esme (E. SP. Red) spends a lot of her time near an air hole sticking one of her legs into it. Just trying to get out, or does this signify something more important?

 

[Trenor]

Ya I thought about bait shops but I'm worried about the nutrition and possible parasites. After all when fishing you hardly care if your bait is healthy for the fish.

If it's anything like it is here the same distributor that supplies the pet shop also supplies the bait shop. I have bought both places here and the box is the same and so is the distributor information on the back. You should be fine with either.

 

[Oroborus]

Has anyone tried Black Soldier Fly larva ( pheonix worms)? They supposedly live for weeks at room temp and the nutritional content seems well balanced.