# Sling won't eat



## Necromion (Dec 19, 2011)

Help, I have a S. calceatum sling that I just cannot get to eat anything. Ive tried feeding mealworms, pinheads, dead pinheads, and dubia but it just wont eat anything I feed it. Normally I wouldn't be to worried as it could be in premolt but it looks like the sling is emaciated. I've included the best pic I can get atm of the sling. Any help would be appreciated.


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## Ultum4Spiderz (Dec 19, 2011)

thats so weird I tossed one of my H macs(just molted last week) leftovers another sling couldnt finish.... and the H mac practically tackled the dead cricket it was so hungry
Sometimes my Baby Ts eat cricket legs...  thats strange.  I rarely have skinny Ts refuse dead pinheads:bruised:


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## jayefbe (Dec 19, 2011)

Ultum4Spiderz said:


> thats so weird I tossed one of my H macs(just molted last week) leftovers another sling couldnt finish.... and the H mac practically tackled the dead cricket it was so hungry
> Sometimes my Baby Ts eat cricket legs...  thats strange.  I rarely have skinny Ts refuse dead pinheads:bruised:


Apologies to the OP for taking this off-topic - You're feeding "leftovers" from one tarantula to another? And this is with "DKS" or something else causing unknown deaths in your collection? 

Back on topic - Could the sling be dehydrated? Is there no evidence of any feeding on cricket legs/dead crickets? For small slings (mostly just Cyriocosmus elegans) I've had good success with fruit flies, so that's another prey item you could try.


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## mitchrobot (Dec 19, 2011)

is it super tiny? try fruit flies, theyre small and move a lot, i havnt had a sling refuse them, if it takes em stuff it full and then try offering it other food items again, they seem to burn up the feul they get from FFs faster than from other bugs.


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## Necromion (Dec 19, 2011)

Ill have to see if I can pick up some FF as for being dehydrated its possible but I doubt it as the sub is rather moist.


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## jayefbe (Dec 19, 2011)

If you have trouble finding fruit flies, look for a dart frog hobbyist in your area. They always have thriving cultures on hand (not the junk you'll get in a pet store) and are usually wiling to sell an extra culture to a hobbyist in need for a fair price.

Reactions: Like 1


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## 19tarantula91 (Dec 19, 2011)

Maybe you might try throwing something in it's cage a little larger instead of smaller... I could be wrong but I had a sling that size and it didn't seem interested in pin heads but the next size up ( smalls as my local pet store calls them ) he would eat very willingly. Just a thought.


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## Ultum4Spiderz (Dec 19, 2011)

+1
my one h mac killed a cricket twice its size... and my obts kill any prey that so much as move...lol
some slings want a challenge

Reactions: Like 1 | Clarification Please 1


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## happysmile88 (Dec 19, 2011)

try b.lateralis or dangling a small crix in front of it with fine tip tongs. honestly, the only time slings don't eat in my experience is when they've been disturbed too much. maybe you should try being extra gentle with them like picking up and opening the vial very gently so as to cause minimal disturbance. don't fret over the sling not eating for now because it will eat eventually.


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## BimBim (Dec 19, 2011)

cut meal worn in to small pieces and give to sling with tweezers.


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## Earth Tiger (Dec 19, 2011)

Feed it adult cricket jumping legs. Put 1-2 cricket jumping legs on the substrate and don't worry if it doesn't take it immediately. Put the sling aside and leave it alone for 2 -3 days. Don't disturb it at the moment (including picking up the container to check - just don't move anything). It will probably resume eating pretty soon.

Sometimes excessive attentions stress the spiders and the more you are worried the more you will want to disturb it (as I said this includes actions like picking up the container). Putting the sling container in a darker place may also help. Check also if the shelf or table you put the sling on is firm and you can't shake the shelf when you take other things from the shelf/table. 

Also keep the container away from speakers, subwoofers and other appliances that give low frequency sound waves. Hope these help...

Reactions: Like 3


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## catfishrod69 (Dec 19, 2011)

cut a cricket in half...make sure its gooie....stick it to the side of the vial..itll take it.


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## vickywild (Dec 19, 2011)

When my sling won't eat, I tend to cut a cricket and a meal worm in half and stick them both in the tub with him. He normally always goes for it then, as apposed to if I just put one or t'other in.

I dunno if it's quite the right thing to do BUT he eats, and thats important for a growing boy.


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## Necromion (Dec 19, 2011)

well so far to add to the list of things I've tried, cricket legs, diced mealworm, cricket soup, etc. haven't tried FF but I should be able to get some of them tommorrow.
Ive got a whole headless cricket in ther now and Ill leave it in there for a couple days in the dark so hopefully that does the trick.


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## Necromion (Dec 20, 2011)

thought I would give an update on the sling let it sit in the dark with a cricket came in this morning to a find the little sling eating up a cricket. thanks for the help and hopefully the poor little thing keeps eating.


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## Earth Tiger (Dec 20, 2011)

Necromion said:


> thought I would give an update on the sling let it sit in the dark with a cricket came in this morning to a find the little sling eating up a cricket. thanks for the help and hopefully the poor little thing keeps eating.


Glad to know that. If your slings have similar problems (hopefully not) in the future, feeding them cricket parts or jumping legs will help them a lot because live crickets moving around can stress the slings if they don't want to eat, and under the stress they may take longer to resume their predatory instinct. On the other hand, putting dead cricket parts or legs won't stress them at all and once they are ready to hunt, they will start wandering around in the containers (provided that your containers are not too big for the slings) and will readily scavenge the legs/parts. Unless a T is well fed, nearly all Ts scavenge. For burrowing slings, just put the legs and parts at their entrances.

Reactions: Like 1


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## catfishrod69 (Dec 20, 2011)

congrats...hopefully it does keep eating..these are one of my favorite species. I have 2 adult females...had a MM until one of my girls was hungry.


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