Geniculata sling

aj4104

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 19, 2018
Messages
0
Hey my geniculata sling just molted. need to know if I need to change her food source from fruit flies to pinheads please answer

Hey my geniculata sling just molted. need to know if I need to change her food source from fruit flies to pinheads please answer
 

Attachments

Last edited by a moderator:

Theneil

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 18, 2017
Messages
1,292
Supposedly fruit flies are nutrient deficient and should not be used as a staple food sor any tarantula.

Yes you should switch to a different feeder. Crickets, super worms, mealworms, or roaches all work great. If you cannot get an appropriate size feeder for your sling (about the size of the carapace) simply use a prekilled one.
 

Gaherp

Arachnofarmer
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 27, 2007
Messages
218
Fruit flies are fine and balanced enough to get any sling on the right track. As for your sling you have there it is plenty large enough for larger feeders like small crickets, mealworms, and roaches. I go through TONS of fruit flies for my dwarf species like elegans, diamantinensis, and many others. I culture both hydei and melanogastor to give a range of size for smaller slings. The best thing they have over other prey is the fact it is softbodied and is totally defenseless to any sling. As I mentioned above they do make fantastic first prey items, but once that sling gets a molt of two under them it is time to go to the next step up. If it is a larger growing species this may be a lot faster then some of the dwarf ones.
 

boina

Lady of the mites
Active Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2015
Messages
2,217
Somewhere on this board there's a post of mine where I've researched this fruit fly thing extensively, citing scientific sources and all... of course I can't find it.

The gist of it: A fruit fly is as good as the medium you feed it on. Their nutritional value can vary wildly. Fruit flies kept on your usual substrate, the stuff you buy them on in a shop, will get your spiders through a couple of molts but then they will invariably die because the feeders are not nutritionally complete. This is why a lot of people recommend against using them. As @Gaherp stated fruit flies are not the worst feeder possible (aphids are much worse), but they are not something you can feed long term. If you've already used fruit flies for one molt cycle it is time you switched to something really nutritionally complete, like cut up mealworms or pinheads. Since we are talking about A. geniculata here you can even use larger live prey - they will tackle and subdue prey up to their own size.
 

weibkreux

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 26, 2018
Messages
232
Since we are talking about A. geniculata here you can even use larger live prey - they will tackle and subdue prey up to their own size.
My genic sling tackles and wrestles a dubia nymph to submission (same size and crushed head but can still move nonetheless). So fun to watch, little thing is never afraid. :astonished::vamp:

@aj4104 you can also cut up mealworms, as slings are also scavengers.
 

The Grym Reaper

Arachnoreaper
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Messages
4,835
I would go with mealworms personally, pinhead crickets will quickly outgrow your sling and then you'll just have a surplus of adult crickets, mealworms will last you from months (if you put them in the fridge to slow their growth) to indefinitely (if you keep them at room temps and breed them, they are heinously easy to breed), just cut a small chunk off of one to feed to your sling every few days.
 

antinous

Pamphopharaoh
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 28, 2013
Messages
1,668
Like other have said, I’d switch to a different feeder mainly because I feel like fruit flies are a pain in the ass to work with. You could always cut a mealworm in half or into an appropriate sized piece if it is too big and they’ll just scavenge off it.
 

Teal

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 11, 2009
Messages
4,096
I don't think an A. genic sling was ever small enough to require fruit flies. I save that immense hassle for tiiiiny dwarf slings if I cannot find anything else (and by tiny, I mean the size of one of these letters on your phone screen).

Roaches, in my opinion, are the way to go. I hate dealing with cutting up worms... I feel like that isn't a nutritionally complete food either because the sling is only getting part of the body.
 

Dovey

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 9, 2016
Messages
541
I probably have the only shy geniculata sling on the planet. She's finally approaching an inch and some, but she has been a slow grower, largely because she simply does not get excited about eating. Yet another example that each spider is an individual.

However, I totally agree with Teal. Go with roaches. I would recommend pre killing initially until you see what your spider is capable of as a predator at this size.
 

Dovey

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 9, 2016
Messages
541
Viper, whenever I see an update that you have commented on a thread, I click on it and while the screen is changing, I bet whether or not your response is a one word answer....I usually bet yes and I'm usually right! :p :D :wacky:
 
Top