First Week With Spiderlings

cold blood

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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.
They get them from the same places the pet stores do.
 

saturnthegrey

Arachnosquire
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Jan 15, 2016
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@Robotic Cook they can stay in the pupae stage anywhere from a week to a month but you will notice they will look like the pokemon kakuna when in the pupal stage(if you are familiar with pokemon).
 

Haemus

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Feb 11, 2016
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Canada eh? I live in Ontario and I keep meal worms in flat pyrex's (open lids) with oatmeal aboot half an inch thick on the cool basement floor. Every few days I throw in pieces of old celery and carrots and I've keep them going like that for most of the winter with only a few corpses.

I do wonder how they'll do as the temperature picks up...I kinda like caring for them too lol
 

Robotic Cook

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Well I gave all three of the slings cricket chunks last night but, only Esme seamed to show any Interest. She was standing onto of the food so I amuse she ate some. No interest from Marat, who has turned brown in addition to having a shiny black abdomen. Ridcully is still at the bottom of his closed off burrow. Thankfully I can still see him though the plastic and he tends to move around inside the burrow from time to time so at least I know he is healthy. I may just be imagining it but I think his abdomen is starting to darken.
 

Trenor

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Well I gave all three of the slings cricket chunks last night but, only Esme seamed to show any Interest. She was standing onto of the food so I amuse she ate some. No interest from Marat, who has turned brown in addition to having a shiny black abdomen. Ridcully is still at the bottom of his closed off burrow. Thankfully I can still see him though the plastic and he tends to move around inside the burrow from time to time so at least I know he is healthy. I may just be imagining it but I think his abdomen is starting to darken.
I like naming Ts as much as the next guy but it really helps us follow which T you are referring to if you use their scientific names in the posts. This will allow us to keep up when we are unfamiliar with their "names" and we can then help you better. They sound like they are coming along nicely. Good luck.
 

Robotic Cook

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Feb 3, 2016
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Breaking news. My Gramastola Pulchripes a.k. Magrat is starting to molt! She molting upright though... I thought tarantulas molted on their backs or hanging off a wall.

In other news how the hell do you keep fruit flies from just crawling up the walls of the enclosure and away from the spider?
 
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EulersK

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An upright molt is uncommon, but not unheard of. Hopefully no complications arise - keep us posted. Given that it's a sling, it shouldn't take too long.

As for your second question... you prevent it by not feeding fruit flies ;) They're a terrible feeder, anyway. Very low nutritional value.
 
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Trenor

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I don't use fruit flies only roaches. If the feeder is too big for the spider I chop it up till it's the right size. Cut meal worms seems to be a favorite on here for small T feeding.
 

Robotic Cook

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So far so good most of the leg sections have been pulled from the husk. Just looks like its the last segment left.
 

Trenor

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You should grab a photo or two if it is accessible without disturbing the tarantula too much.
 

Robotic Cook

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Feb 3, 2016
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Update: Legs are out and the sling is lying on her side. Still a bit of loose molt on her abdomen but hopefully that will come off once she is up and about.
 

Robotic Cook

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You should grab a photo or two if it is accessible without disturbing the tarantula too much.
Just tried but my camera's resolution is not good enough for such a small sling. Once the sling has recovered Ill pull the molt out and measure it.
 

Robotic Cook

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Ok my G. Pulchripes sling is up and moving around. Looks like my first ever molt was a success. (Breaks out the virtual cigars and champagne.) Pulled out the molt it was around half an inch. Eyeballing the sling I would hazard maybe about 3/4 of an inch now. A bit hard to tell as she is scrunched up defensively, but she is noticeably bigger.
 

Robotic Cook

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Haven't posted any thing in a while due to a very long cold.

Good news: My Brachypelma albopilosum molted 2 days ago. His legs are a grayish blue now with a brown thorax. Still sealed off in his burrow but hopefully he will emerge soon to eat.

Bad news: I think my grammostola pulchripes is dead not sure why.

I had not been able to get her to eat once since she molted near the beginning of this month. Ive tried cut up meal worms, fruit flies and pin head crickets. Two days ago I rehoused her as the substrate I am using is utterly crap for burrows and it kept caving in on her. As I did not have any other substrate at the moment, I used a folded piece of card board to create a burrow for her. She took to it immediately so the next day I tried to feed her. I accidentally dropped the piece of meal worm down the burrow. Not wanting to disturb the spider I left it there until tonight. To avoid hurting her while trying to fish for the old piece of food I tried nudging her with my paint brush. She did not move. After several attempts I carefully removed the substrate and pulled out the cardboard. She was not In a death curl or stiff but would not move. I have placed her in a deli cup lined with moist paper towel. Now all I can do is wait.
 

EulersK

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Haven't posted any thing in a while due to a very long cold.

Good news: My Brachypelma albopilosum molted 2 days ago. His legs are a grayish blue now with a brown thorax. Still sealed off in his burrow but hopefully he will emerge soon to eat.

Bad news: I think my grammostola pulchripes is dead not sure why.

I had not been able to get her to eat once since she molted near the beginning of this month. Ive tried cut up meal worms, fruit flies and pin head crickets. Two days ago I rehoused her as the substrate I am using is utterly crap for burrows and it kept caving in on her. As I did not have any other substrate at the moment, I used a folded piece of card board to create a burrow for her. She took to it immediately so the next day I tried to feed her. I accidentally dropped the piece of meal worm down the burrow. Not wanting to disturb the spider I left it there until tonight. To avoid hurting her while trying to fish for the old piece of food I tried nudging her with my paint brush. She did not move. After several attempts I carefully removed the substrate and pulled out the cardboard. She was not In a death curl or stiff but would not move. I have placed her in a deli cup lined with moist paper towel. Now all I can do is wait.
Leave the B. albopilosum be for about two weeks. Just because they're out and about doesn't mean they're ready to eat - better safe than sorry. That grayish-blue is not a natural color, that means the exoskeleton is still very soft. It'll darken within a couple days.

As for the G. pulchripes, it would be very strange indeed if there was no death curl. I've seen some of my slings "play dead" when bothered, but they always start moving again within a day. Any movement since you rehoused it? Good call on the paper towel, just ensure that it's not sopping wet. Damp is enough, with plenty of ventilation. Creating a stuffy cage is the last thing you want to do.
 

Blackout14

Arachnoknight
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May 12, 2016
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Did you try giving the mealworms a form of moisture...they won't live long outside a fridge without it usually a slice of potato or Apple works well change it every few days so it doesn't mold
 
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