New P. Irminia sling help

[JonoAndHisTs]

Hey guys! Just ordered a 1” P. Irminia and was wondering what’s the best size enclosure for it. And what I can feed it. Ps. First arboreal sling

 

[chanda]

Hey guys! Just ordered a 1” P. Irminia and was wondering what’s the best size enclosure for it. And what I can feed it. Ps. First arboreal sling

Sigh... another year, another round of unprepared keepers buying the spider first and researching after...

It's generally a good idea to research any new species before buying it, so you can have the enclosure set up and ready when the spider arrives and are generally prepared to feed and care for it properly.

At 1" it won't need a terribly large enclosure - an acrylic sling box, a deli cup, or small kritter keeper should be adequate. It will want enough substrate (such as coconut fiber) to dig in, because slings (even arboreals) spend a fair amount of time underground. It will also need something to climb on and web up, such as a small piece of cork bark or artificial plants. P. irminia are pretty heavy webbers and will eventually make an elaborate web tunnel system. It can eat crickets, roach nymphs, or mealworms - whatever sort of feeders you have available.

 

[McSP1D8R]

Hey Jono great choice for your 1st arboreal, I chose the same and they quickly became a favourite species of mine. For 1" legspan I use a 5 litre plastic sweet jar with a good few rows of small ventilation holes as the air in them can get a tad stagnant without adequate ventilation.

About 3 or 4 inches of substrate with a piece of cork bark leaning against 1 of the sides and a twig from a plastic plant and it will make a nest against the bark with substrate and leaves incorporated in to the webbing. A good sized waterdish overflowed once a week should do well for humidity purposes.

Feeding wise I use mealworms quite a lot as I cultivate them, these get dropped onto the entrance of the nest to be taken immediately as they can be a danger to a moulting spider if left loose. To be honest though this species are good eaters they will take any prey items that are offered.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

32oz deli cup/1 litre lock & lock tub - Give it a couple of inches of substrate in case it wants to burrow, a cork flat leant at an angle against the side and a bottle cap water dish.
Feed mealworms, small crickets/roach nymphs twice a week until 2".

In future, it's better to research a species before ordering it.

 

[grayzone]

Doesnt matter what you keep it in as long as it has decent ventilation. Theyre pretty hardy slings and theyre rarely visible so be prepared to stare at a container of dirt. Once it gets a couple molts under its belt be prepared to be wowed.

Theyre a staple in the hobby for a reason

 

[JonoAndHisTs]

Thanks for the information guys. I know I sound like I haven’t researched anything but I’ve been looking into this guy for a while now but YouTube or google didn’t really have information I needed but this really helped out. Gonna use my amazon prime to order everything quick before it arrives.

 

[viper69]

Thanks for the information guys. I know I sound like I haven’t researched anything but I’ve been looking into this guy for a while now but YouTube or google didn’t really have information I needed but this really helped out. Gonna use my amazon prime to order everything quick before it arrives.

Do your T a favor and start using AB as your first source of info and NOT YouTube.

 

[JonoAndHisTs]

Do your T a favor and start using AB as your first source of info and NOT YouTube.

Yeah everyone here responds quick

 

[viper69]

Yeah everyone here responds quick

That is not why I recommend. The info elsewhere is always suspect. Only a few YouTubers worth watching. And never rely on FB.

 

[JonoAndHisTs]

That is not why I recommend. The info elsewhere is always suspect. Only a few YouTubers worth watching. And never rely on FB.

I watched Tom Moran’s video, the dark den, tarantula dans which is what got me into tarantulas and I’ve kept other animals so I know that I won’t kill my sling

 

[viper69]

I watched Tom Moran’s video, the dark den, tarantula dans which is what got me into tarantulas and I’ve kept other animals so I know that I won’t kill my sling

The first two I'd recommend, the last one I don't know. We observe a lot new tarantula owners quoting YouTube ending up with dead Ts or close to it. Woudn't want you to be the first.

As for other animals, at least for me, all the combined knowledge I have for herps/amphibians was useless (decades worth). Some of the info from herps can kill Ts.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Sigh... another year, another round of unprepared keepers buying the spider first and researching after...

They are my fav. kind of users and I'm happy that, thankfully, traditions are respected

 

[Ddannison]

Yeah everyone here responds quick

For an even faster response, I'd recommend typing whatever you have planned for a thread title into the search box before making a thread. Instant reaponses!

 

[Andrea82]

I'm not a big fan of Daniel 'Tarantuladan' Oakley. He handles everything. Trapdoors, Pokies, Baboons..it sets abad example even though he puts 'I'm a professional and know what I'm doing, don't handle your spiders' in pretty much every vids. I'm always a bit sceptic about the effectiveness of that sort of lines. Viewers see a 'cool guy' handling potentially dangerous animals and will try to copy, since they want to be the cool guy as well. It's just covering the ass of the uploader so he can claim ' i didn't make them do it'.

 

[JonoAndHisTs]

I'm not a big fan of Daniel 'Tarantuladan' Oakley. He handles everything. Trapdoors, Pokies, Baboons..it sets abad example even though he puts 'I'm a professional and know what I'm doing, don't handle your spiders' in pretty much every vids. I'm always a bit sceptic about the effectiveness of that sort of lines. Viewers see a 'cool guy' handling potentially dangerous animals and will try to copy, since they want to be the cool guy as well. It's just covering the ass of the uploader so he can claim ' i didn't make them do it'.

I still like his videos tho but yeah I know not to handle the tarantula. I’m more of an observer not a handler

 

[iPocalyspe]

I'm not a big fan of Daniel 'Tarantuladan' Oakley. He handles everything. Trapdoors, Pokies, Baboons..it sets abad example even though he puts 'I'm a professional and know what I'm doing, don't handle your spiders' in pretty much every vids. I'm always a bit sceptic about the effectiveness of that sort of lines. Viewers see a 'cool guy' handling potentially dangerous animals and will try to copy, since they want to be the cool guy as well. It's just covering the ass of the uploader so he can claim ' i didn't make them do it'.

I know he handles some Ts that most people shouldn’t, but I don’t think that discredits him as a source of information. There are shows where people handle venomous snakes, for example, just because they handle an animal the average snake enthusiast doesn’t start handing venomous snakes. I’m sure there are people who want to do stupid stuff regardless of if a well known person also does it. People find it easier to blame their actions on others rather than take responsibility for their actions. I believe recently TarantulaDan made a 20 minute video about handling.