sling advice

[seanlr27]

can anyone give me any advice on slings? i want to start keeping some and want to know what the best way to raise indian and fringed ornamentals,martinique pinktoes and colombian giant,any advice on those 4 would be greatly appreciated

 

[SamuraiSid]

For the most part, you dont need tro worry about specific care needs for specific species. I have slings from several different genus and with the exception of terrestrial / arboreal differences, I care for them all the exact same way.

Smaller containers work better than larger. Slings feel more comfortable, and dont need much room anyways. I could very well be wrong, but its my understanding that in the wild they will remain in hiding indefinately until they gain some appreceable size. I keep them in roughly something that has floor space 3-5x their DLS.


You can feed them pinheads, crushed head crickets, or my preferance, giving them adult cricket legs (mature T's get the crickets).
You could feed as often as you care too, assuming you do the research and understand the pro's and con's of feeding more/less often. I aim to feed my slings twice per week, but will feed less if they're really fat. (Search: Power feeding)

I mist the substrate during feeding (misting the walls does nothing for raising humidity), but for some arboreals I will occasionally mist the walls/webbing to provide drinking water. Once my terrestrials have leg span slightly larger than a pop bottle top, that becomes their drinking dish, and once the terrestrial T hits approx. 1/3 of its adult size I usually stop misting all together. T's develop a waterproof layer as they age, and there is speculation (By some very trusted people in the field) that lower humidity will cause them to develop the waterproof...ness.... faster and more substantially than if you follow humidity requirements in care sheets.

Care sheets: Completely ignore them. Anything that provides pinpoint accurate formula's and routines are stupid. STUPID.

 

[jayefbe]

Buy the Tarantula Keeper's Guide and don't use common names.

 

[seanlr27]

thanks for that its a great help.i found somewhere that sells bean weevils which are supposed to be more nutritious than crickets and perfect for slings,i also found a supply of hatch crickets which i am going to look into,i am going to get some little pots for them tomorrow and i was thinking the same of feeding them 2 to 3 times a week as i dont want to power feed as i read it can shorten their lifespan and i want to see these grow and have a long life in my care i intend on misting when i feed if it looks dry and am going to mist the walls purely as a drinking source for them i have everything on the way that should give them a good little home and you have affirmed what i already thought,your helps been greatly appreciated

 

[kinglaz85]

I keep all my sling in small deli cups...moist substrate (water them every few weeks) with a lil plastic leaf to hide under. I feed all my T's (even my slings) every two weeks...they seem to be doing great...TKG is a must read if new to the hobby....down with common names! Lol

 

[kkmmnn]

i, too, was wondering about info on sling care. thanks for the advice guys, and thank you for not just telling him to learn how to google or use the search function. your answers have helped, and i realize after seeing so many recommend it i NEED to get myself a copy of TKG

 

[Storm76]

can anyone give me any advice on slings? i want to start keeping some and want to know what the best way to raise indian and fringed ornamentals,martinique pinktoes and colombian giant,any advice on those 4 would be greatly appreciated

A word of advice: Please get used to use the scientific names (i.e. Brachypelma smithi, Poecilotheria regalis, Psalmopoeus irminia and so on) instead of their common namese. Those are often made up by petstores only and can lead to quite some confusion.

 

[SamuraiSid]

thanks for that its a great help.i found somewhere that sells bean weevils which are supposed to be more nutritious than crickets and perfect for slings,i also found a supply of hatch crickets which i am going to look into,i am going to get some little pots for them tomorrow and i was thinking the same of feeding them 2 to 3 times a week as i dont want to power feed as i read it can shorten their lifespan and i want to see these grow and have a long life in my care i intend on misting when i feed if it looks dry and am going to mist the walls purely as a drinking source for them i have everything on the way that should give them a good little home and you have affirmed what i already thought,your helps been greatly appreciated

I'd think when someone says bean weevils are more nutritious, they say it for marketing pruposes. If you want to try them out as feeders, then go for it. Certainely cant hurt, however 30 years of feeding crickets as the primary staple, and as the only food source in some instances, cant be wrong. A varied diet is probably the best way to go. For myself, I would choose bean weeivls over crickets ONLY if the weevils are easier to maintain and if they smell less than crix.

Feeding 2 - 3 times per week may count as power feeding, depending on who you talk to. There are no hard-and-fast guidelines when it comes to our hobby, no matter how much some people would like to think otherwise. I only bring this up because of your mention that it lowers life span. Scientifically speaking its bang on. However it cant be said by how much it lowers the life span, and IMHO its by a negligeble amount, and the benefits outway the negatives.. Many well known and respected enthusiasts do powerfeed for the first 1/3 of the T's size. They do this because T's are most delicate at this stage, and are more likely to die of unexplained causes, but again, thats not to say non-powerfed slings are far more likely to die. (Like I said earlier, there are no rules, just some guidelines)

 

[Phlerr]

can anyone give me any advice on slings? i want to start keeping some and want to know what the best way to raise indian and fringed ornamentals,martinique pinktoes and colombian giant,any advice on those 4 would be greatly appreciated

First off welcome to the hobby. Here's some words of wisdom; if you plan on getting pokies just be prepared for their speed and also the fact that they have medically significant venom. Just some food for thought. Anyways good luck on getting your new T's, just remember their very addictive so be prepared