How often is too often.

[WelshTan]

I dont handle my slings, but i tend to move the deli cup theyre in when its feeding time when im moving the cup to the floor in case a cricket escapes and this is about every day, and if they are hungry 2 times a day.

Do you feed your slings everyday or sometimes twice a day? That seems a bit excessive to me and would be considered extreme powerfeeding

 

[BorisTheSpider]

2 times a day does seem a but much .

 

[WelshTan]

2 times a day does seem a but much .

Once a day is also too much lol

 

[Jackuul]

I check on my slings about every week or so, I just do it on a large open table with my hand over their housing. They crawl on my finger, I check them over, they crawl off my finger back into their housing, and get a cricket.

I'm hoping they associate me with giving them crickets after doing this for the next five years as they mature. Or ten years really. Yay for extremely slow growing Ts.

 

[Avicularia Man]

Thanks for all the responses.

I got all five of my Tarantulas yesterday. I will be trying to feed them today. I got 2 dozen pinhead crickets to last me until my Turkestan Roaches start popping out babies.
I am a bit nerves for my Avicularia Metallica and my youngest daughter's Aphonopelma Hentzi. Both are really really small. So small that I am thinking the pinhead crickets are bigger than them. Anything I should know before trying to fee the two smallest ones? I want to prevent them from being injured. Like should I take everything (hide, water dish, and climbing bark) out of the cages before I put in the cricket? I am guessing by removing these things, it will give them less things to bang into as the small t's fight with the pinhead cricket. My Metallica is .5" and the Hentzi is .25".

 

[Avicularia Man]

I check on my slings about every week or so, I just do it on a large open table with my hand over their housing. They crawl on my finger, I check them over, they crawl off my finger back into their housing, and get a cricket.

I'm hoping they associate me with giving them crickets after doing this for the next five years as they mature. Or ten years really. Yay for extremely slow growing Ts.

How do you get them back in their cage so easy?. I am having a heck of a time getting them back in once I get them out. So far, the only way I have figured out to do (and it works), is take a small pair of tweezers and let the spider climb on it, then put the tweezers in the cage and remove it once they crawl off it.

 

[jallen]

Feeding slings is a trial and error process. Some slings like live food and can take down larger prey than you may realize but when they are around .25 inch sometimes pre killing the food is a good idea they will eat it even if its dead. Some actually freeze the pinheads so they dont grow to large for the slings over time. In my experience using small containers are best for many different reasons, Easier for the sling to find its prey easier for you to see the sling without disturbing it too much also. I would strongly recommend no water dish for anything under 2 inches. They can drown very easy. High humidity and ventilation for the avics is a must.

 

[paul fleming]

Could try them on small meal worms and crush their heads before you shot them in or even just yank the jumping legs off crix and shot those in.
Like was said earlier,try different things and see what works for you.
I am sure you will find out what your slings like.

 

[Jackuul]

How do you get them back in their cage so easy?. I am having a heck of a time getting them back in once I get them out. So far, the only way I have figured out to do (and it works), is take a small pair of tweezers and let the spider climb on it, then put the tweezers in the cage and remove it once they crawl off it.

They're G. pulchra. They're like Garfield. They eat. They sit. They make a poopie. They sit. They get a drink. They sit.

On my fingers they just sort of chill for a moment while I look them over, and do a slow-mo run-away.

However the exception to the rule is Gamma, which is lightning fast for a G. pulchra. He/she goes at half-warp speed when disturbed and will sprint, so for caution's sake I examine it quickly, and then shoo it back into the containers.