Sling dispersal in the wild

[AntlerAlchemist]

I am curious if there is any documentation of slings dispersing away from the mother in the wild. Like how far do they venture before they make there own burrows, do they move in particular directions ( Down hill or up hill). I found a sling burrow in my yard about a week ago here in Arizona. So I dug the little bugger up and added it to my collection. But now I am finding more because they are getting more active as it warms up! I just looked around the yard and found at least two possibly three tarantula burrows. They are even smaller than the first I found. But they are all in one area of the yard. Which leads me to believe that the mother tarantula must be close by, but where? I would love to be able to observe all these guys during the course of the year. I also wonder if the larger tarantulas are slower to wake up because they are buried deeper?

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

Oh and here is the little guy, I'm probably going to name it Lucky. Since it will have an easy life compared to it's siblings in the yard.

 

[cold blood]

Many NW terrestrials do not move very far. You need look no further than the colony of B. vagans discovered 30+ years ago in an orange grove in FL. After all these years, that colony still exists....and hasn't left that one part of that single orange grove. So dispersal is obviously minimal....but I would assume there are arboreals that have a much wider dispersal zone...but that's just an assumption.

 

[cold blood]

View attachment 266057 Oh and here is the little guy, I'm probably going to name it Lucky. Since it will have an easy life compared to it's siblings in the yard.

looks more like a juvie....slings are usually lacking much color.

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

looks more like a juvie....slings are usually lacking much color.

I guess I don't know where the sling and juvie line is. This is maybe 1- 1 1/2 inches. Does that count as a juvie?

 

[cold blood]

I guess I don't know where the sling and juvie line is. This is maybe 1- 1 1/2 inches. Does that count as a juvie?

its really a subjective term with no firm definition....you can call it a sling if you like

 

[darkness975]

Like @cold blood said NW terrestrials dont really move that far usually.

I would love to visit the colony in FL

 

[Andrea82]

I would give it some more dirt/substrate so it can make a burrow to retreat to. And a piece of corkbark/half a flowerpot to burrow under. It will be more secure like that. Considering your location it's likely an Aphonopelma species, which grows slowly so it will be with you for a looooong time. Unless it's a male. If it's male, i would put him back out when he's mature so he can continue the species

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

I am curious if there is any documentation of slings dispersing away from the mother in the wild. Like how far do they venture before they make there own burrows, do they move in particular directions ( Down hill or up hill).

There sure is.

Reichling, Steven B. "Group dispersal in juvenile Brachypelma vagans (Araneae, Theraphosidae)." Journal of Arachnology 28.2 (2000): 248-250.
Link

Shillington, Cara, and Brian McEwen. "Activity of juvenile tarantulas in and around the maternal burrow." Journal of Arachnology 34.1 (2006): 261-265.
Link

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

I would give it some more dirt/substrate so it can make a burrow to retreat to. And a piece of corkbark/half a flowerpot to burrow under. It will be more secure like that. Considering your location it's likely an Aphonopelma species, which grows slowly so it will be with you for a looooong time. Unless it's a male. If it's male, i would put him back out when he's mature so he can continue the species

Yes I did move it to a new container, with a half round cholla wood and a tiny lid for water. It has already dug out a huge burrow and nearly buried the water dish. I have another A. chalcodes I caught from further south, she (molt confirmed female) is about 3 inches now. I am considering just digging this one a new burrow outside since I can't take them all in! I feel guilty because I keep finding new burrows and this guy was the lucky one, it just doesn't seem fair to the others :-/

 

[AntlerAlchemist]

There sure is.

Reichling, Steven B. "Group dispersal in juvenile Brachypelma vagans (Araneae, Theraphosidae)." Journal of Arachnology 28.2 (2000): 248-250.
Link

Shillington, Cara, and Brian McEwen. "Activity of juvenile tarantulas in and around the maternal burrow." Journal of Arachnology 34.1 (2006): 261-265.
Link

Thanks I will take a look at these links!