G. pulchripes sling enclosure

[AutumnalWhisper]

Hey guys! New soon to be Tarantula Mama but before I ordered my sling, I had a couple of questions I hoped you guys could answer.

I was wondering what your guys suggestion would be for an enclosure for a g. pulchripes sling? Also suggestions for substrate and watering would be greatly appreciated. I want to make sure I have all of the information prior to actually getting one. I'd prefer to learn before hand rather than making a huge mistake and potentially hurting my poor child. Also what would be the best food type?

Thanks!

 

[NewAgePrimal]

Get a plastic food container and make some holes in the lid. Coco fiber is a good substrate. G. Pulchripes like dry substrate and most will excavate, so ensure there is enough room for them to dig. You can use a bottle cap for a water dish, but I find a water dish unnecessary. All I do is pour a little water in a corner and they find it.

 

[Chickenfeeder100]

Most will disagree and I disagree, always have a water dish at all times.

Get a plastic food container and make some holes in the lid. Coco fiber is a good substrate. G. Pulchripes like dry substrate and most will excavate, so ensure there is enough room for them to dig. You can use a bottle cap for a water dish, but I find a water dish unnecessary. All I do is pour a little water in a corner and they find it.

 

[AutumnalWhisper]

Most will disagree and I disagree, always have a water dish at all times.

If I'm putting the sling into a tiny container, what should I have as a water dish? Or should I just put them in something like an 8oz deli dish.

 

[Chickenfeeder100]

I heard/read that tarantulas can't really drown that easily so a water bottle cap would be good.

 

[NewAgePrimal]

You can use a water dish if it makes you feel better, honestly it really doesn't matter, especially for many species which come from arid environments. For keepers it is a matter of preference in many cases. There are species which require more water than others, so for those cases it would be good to have a water dish. For what the O.P. was asking about, though, I don't see a need.

 

[Chickenfeeder100]

Lets see what other tarantula keepers have to say, except I don't know any who keep them.

 

[NewAgePrimal]

I raised my G. pulchripes from a sling. She's a big, beautiful girl now. I even have avics without water dishes. It's ok once you figure things out. I won't tell anyone to NOT use a water dish, especially starting out in the hobby, just that there are different ways of doing things.

 

[aphono]

What size will the sling be? Cocofiber, deli cup, small tupperware, little acrylic display boxes(best for visibility without opening the lid) are fine, much easier to feed tiny slings if the container is not terribly larger than the sling- a few times the body size is good. Some like to give them deep substrate as they will dig burrows. The one drawback is they probably will tunnel down and seal it off for weeks. Which is perfectly allright, as they have low metabolism. However if they do that.. they encounter prey less often and tend to grow a little slower plus a new owner like you might start to worry and want to "do something".

I have two G pulchripes slings bought at half inch.. one was in an amac(vertical display case for beanie bears etc) with couple inches of substrate, the other was in a condiment cup with not much substrate. After several months, the condiment cup is easily three times the size of the one in amac- this one liked to tunnel down and close it off for weeks between molt and feedings. Both look equally great n healthy though.

Tiny little slings do need water/humidity as their skins are not exactly water proof yet. you can moisten a spot in the enclosure- don't wet the whole thing.. best to have a large dry spot with a little moist spot. Some like to mist on the side for the spiderling to drink the water drops.

I did that for the first three spiderlings.. they did well. However I eventually started to put in a water dish for everything, no matter their size.. I'm now convinced they do appreciate a water dish as I've seen them drink from it several times, even the 1/4 inch super tiny ones. Also it is nice for taking away the worry of not giving enough water also about keeping the substrate appropriately moist- just overflow the water dish occasionally to create a moist little spot around it.

Food- crickets, waxworms, little roaches(dubia or red runners) are all good. you can feed just one kind or mix it up. for mealworms and dubia... you do need to crush their head before feeding. That's because they are diggers and will burrow down out of reach immediately. Crickets and red runners are not diggers so you don't have to do that.. however it is fine to crush their heads anyways- the sling will dine on them plus it prevents any chance of the prey harming the sling.

 

[AutumnalWhisper]

What size will the sling be? Cocofiber, deli cup, small tupperware, little acrylic display boxes(best for visibility without opening the lid) are fine, much easier to feed tiny slings if the container is not terribly larger than the sling- a few times the body size is good. Some like to give them deep substrate as they will dig burrows. The one drawback is they probably will tunnel down and seal it off for weeks. Which is perfectly allright, as they have low metabolism. However if they do that.. they encounter prey less often and tend to grow a little slower plus a new owner like you might start to worry and want to "do something".

I have two G pulchripes slings bought at half inch.. one was in an amac(vertical display case for beanie bears etc) with couple inches of substrate, the other was in a condiment cup with not much substrate. After several months, the condiment cup is easily three times the size of the one in amac- this one liked to tunnel down and close it off for weeks between molt and feedings. Both look equally great n healthy though.

Tiny little slings do need water/humidity as their skins are not exactly water proof yet. you can moisten a spot in the enclosure- don't wet the whole thing.. best to have a large dry spot with a little moist spot. Some like to mist on the side for the spiderling to drink the water drops.

I did that for the first three spiderlings.. they did well. However I eventually started to put in a water dish for everything, no matter their size.. I'm now convinced they do appreciate a water dish as I've seen them drink from it several times, even the 1/4 inch super tiny ones. Also it is nice for taking away the worry of not giving enough water also about keeping the substrate appropriately moist- just overflow the water dish occasionally to create a moist little spot around it.

Food- crickets, waxworms, little roaches(dubia or red runners) are all good. you can feed just one kind or mix it up. for mealworms and dubia... you do need to crush their head before feeding. That's because they are diggers and will burrow down out of reach immediately. Crickets and red runners are not diggers so you don't have to do that.. however it is fine to crush their heads anyways- the sling will dine on them plus it prevents any chance of the prey harming the sling.

The sling will be 1/3". I've been looking up just a few DIY type sling enclosures and I've come across a couple of neat ones. But because the sling is going to be so small, I think that a plastic dram is going to be the easiest option? I saw one with a plastic acrylic display box used for toy cars that I really like (

), but I'm concerned again that its going to be far too big for mine.

 

[NewAgePrimal]

I like the setup in the video. That shouldn't be too big for the sling and has growing room.

 

[cold blood]

I've raised huge numbers of these. Theyre very good eaters and if kept warm, will grow at a decent pace until 2-3", then it will slow more and more as the t grows.

Start it in a condiment cup, very easy and simple. I keep part of the sub damp, and when it dries, I just add a little more water. Ventilate with 3 pin holes on the sides and 2 or 3 on the lid (this is to prevent condensation from forming, which is bad)...This is very simple and effective, and the small cup keeps them from chronically hiding, so you can monitor them easier and they will be more aggressive with food (the only ones that I had that grew slowly were in over-size containers).

IMG_0472

• cold blood
• Feb 7, 2017

Keep your small terrestrial slings like this.

Resized952017020795002601

• cold blood
• Feb 8, 2017
• 1

genic

Once they get to an inch or a little over, move them to a 16oz deli cup, at this time you now have room for a hide, some extra sub, and that water dish. I still dampen an area, but less than I would in the previous condiment cup as the water dish is now available. Ventilaton is a ring around the side and a few on the lid...but just a few.

Deli Cup Setup for Terrestrial Slings 1-3"

• cold blood
• Mar 13, 2017
• 6
• enclosure

Deli cup set up for terrestrial slings 1-3"

The water dish will be buried or filled frequently.

These are standard terrestrial set ups that apply almost across the board (baboons require less moisture, so they wouldn't get dampened sub) with terrestrial species.

Resized952017031295225612

• cold blood
• Mar 13, 2017
• 3

Re-housed 40 min ago...already blocked the hide, moved the plant, dug a hole (behind the glare)...

Resized952017040795223626

• cold blood
• Apr 8, 2017
• 3

Starting to look like a genic

chromatus 3i

• cold blood
• Aug 28, 2017
• 15

the first 2 chromatus molted to 3i today...585 to go...lol

gained a ton of size...already 5/8" now.

enjoy your pulchripes, great species and a great species to start with.

pulchripes

• cold blood
• Jun 20, 2017

G.p.

Resized952017031995214443

• cold blood
• Mar 19, 2017
• 5

 

[The Grym Reaper]

4oz deli cup, I use upturned Monopoly houses/hotels as water dishes but you can just put a small clump of sphagnum moss in there and pipette a few drops of water onto that every few days or so, either approach works just fine, I've raised slings both with and without water dishes.

 

[Trenor]

You can raise them with and without water dishes. Either way they need moisture and should not be kept dry (even if they are from dry places) as slings. I keep a water dish in all my Ts enclosures as it makes for a good safety net. My T room is not climate controlled during the summer (its heated in the winter) and some days it can get pretty warm. A water dish dries out much slower than the substrate and ensures they have water if they need it. It also helps if I can't do a daily check on them because of life.

They can't drown, it's easy to find a water dish for any size enclosure, and it ensures the sling has water should it need it. It's a win in my book.

Here is a Euathlus sp. Yellow sling with its pool of a water dish in a 2oz deli cup. That's a tattoo ink cup btw.

Here is all 4 of them in their cups with the dishes.

 

[Ant]

As all my slings are in the 25ml sling pots, I was struggling to find something to use that was small enough until someone suggested the little ink pots that tattoo artists use. They work a treat and can be found very cheap on eBay.

 

[viper69]

I heard/read that tarantulas can't really drown that easily so a water bottle cap would be good.

Avics can swim in rivers.

 

[miss moxie]

Avics can swim in rivers.

Yep. There was even an article written about swimming in tarantulas, proving that the way they move their legs to walk on land is different than the way they move their legs to tread water.

http://atshq.org/articles/swimming.pdf