Water Bowls for Slings

[xhexdx]

That's because they're not equally as bad as each other.

 

[Malhavoc's]

as I was digging this up for another thread, I thought I would add it here aswell.

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/sho...gas-Project./page5&highlight=gigas+fish+water

The Swimming H gigas enclosure experiment...WARNING most of the fish died, do not keep fish as he did... lol..

 

[baboonfan]

Both can create a similar problem with bacteria. Yes the rocks are easier to clean and there are a few benefits to having them in a water bowl. There is however the issue of having more to clean. Its a great idea for an adult Ts cage if you are concerned about the crickets drowning, but it seems like a make work project for a sling.

Spiderlings dont really need the water bowl so why increase cleaning and risk for escape when a simple misting works fine?

 

[xhexdx]

I find I get the same bacterial issues when using water dishes without rocks. The spider will fill it with dirt and/or drop boluses in there. Feeder insects will fall in and drown. The spider will defecate in it.

Yeah, you have to clean a bit more if you add rocks. Otherwise I really see no difference when it comes to bacterial issues.

 

[Stan Schultz]

I was elated. Exactly the sort of thing I was hoping for, even if I didn't agree with it 100%
I don't see how rocks and cotton are just as bad as each other. You can't wash cotton and cotton holds water and has a massive surface area when you consider all the pore space. Rocks and gravel are inorganic, do not absorb or hold water, and have a much smaller surface area, which is why I do use them for my T's who don't eat their crickets right away.

One rock, say the size of your thumb, has limited surface area, limited pores to accumulate dirt, etc., little or no chance of collecting dead crickets, cricket excrement, spent food boluses, etc., and is easily cleaned in 15 seconds with an old toothbrush.


(Brachypelma emilia)

On the other end of the spectrum, a tablespoon of coarse aquarium gravel in the bottom of a water dish has a much greater surface area on which bacteria can grow, a plethora of little cavities in which organic "junk" can lodge and putrefy, and the individual grains are far too small to be cleaned effectively without some sort of Herculean effort.

An intermediate condition involves the use of ordinary playing marbles, but they're not a lot better than aquarium gravel for all the same reasons.

Simple is better.

 

[OBT1]

They could get it in there book lungs

 

[Liam F geordie]

Personally Ive watched alot of slings under 1cm run straight across bottle caps of water, to suggest slings are more likely to break the surface tension of water than specimens of a larger size is simply untrue ...

 

[Trenor]

Personally Ive watched alot of slings under 1cm run straight across bottle caps of water, to suggest slings are more likely to break the surface tension of water than specimens of a larger size is simply untrue ...

This was a long dead post. We now have photos and videos showing slings (and Ts in general) can't drown. Every tarantula I own gets a water dish, regardless of size, which makes care easier.

 

[Gavhasacurly]

Realise it's a bit of an old thread, but I'm still a noob and kind of doing my research. I have a B.Albo, just over a month old from when I bought it as a 1cm sling [which in my opinion it still is - not seen it molt or get any larger yet]. I've been feeding it chopped up mealworm now and again. Never seen it eating, but I'm pretty sure sometimes the mealworm pieces look smaller. It's not the most sprightly spider I've ever seen but (touch wood) it's still alive in a small 3x3" perspex toy display box. I'm in the UK, it's spring and I rarely have the heating on, but I do often place two hot water bottles about a foot from the enclosure and I have a pack of heat pads and occasionally use one near the enclosure when it feels particularly chilly to me. I've read that if I'm fine sat in a T-Shirt, chances are the T. is probably fine too. The sling spends 90% of its time down a hole in the Spider Life substrate anyway. But what I HAVE seen it do is drink and I'm presuming it drinks a fair bit. I don't really mist the enclosure - I find that the Spider Life stuff is very moist anyway. But I have a small pipette in a bottle of water and drip some in the substrate every day or two and I have an empty blister from a pack of Zirtek tablets resting in the substrate, where I drip a few droplets each day too (I've read elsewhere on this site that that is fine) and I have several times seen the sling at the edge of this blister, presumably drinking. It can be very confusing reading conflicting advice when the thing is so damn tiny. Just wish it would molt so it is (at the very least) bigger than a woodlouse!

 

[apoohneicie]

Has anyone ever witnessed an early instar tarantula drown? Just curious.

My first sling drown in its bottle cap. It broke my heart.