A. versicolor sling ?

[ronin]

I have a versi sling ~1" that I have had for about 3 weeks. It ate the first day I got her and hasn't eaten since (offering her food every 3 days or so & taking it out a day later). From reading the searched threads, I know this may be normal behavior especially if coming up on a molt.

My question is do I keep offering her the cricket until she eats it or molts? If a molt is coming up, will the stress of me opening her lid to offer/take out her food & the cricket itself being in there for a day adversely affect her?

 

[Redip Spider]

From my own experience, feeding that often is overkill. I did it for a while, but then ended up with some fat spiders. I have one about that size that I feed every 7-10 days and it stays quite plump.

You might try waiting a week or so and see if it molts. Being that small, it's premolt stage shouldn't be too long. If it doesn't molt then try offering food again.

I guess that you've looked it up and already know the importance of humidity and ventilation.

Best of luck

 

[Mushroom Spore]

My question is do I keep offering her the cricket until she eats it or molts? If a molt is coming up, will the stress of me opening her lid to offer/take out her food & the cricket itself being in there for a day adversely affect her?

Your real concern should be "is the spiderling going to start molting and get eaten by that cricket?"

Slings molt fast and often with very little warning.

 

[Becky]

Don't feed her... try her in a week or so, if she hasn't moulted. Don't leave crickets in there as they will eat the T whilst moulting if given the chance. Not worth the risk. I'm sure she'll be fine. I only feed my slings twice a week.. 2 crix at a time.. dont wanna make them too fat, as can cause ruptures,blisters and problems when moulting...

 

[Talkenlate04]

Food is important.... but with versi slings water is more important. Slings of avics are known to die at that size from not having enough water. Just make sure she does not seem to slow down to much. I find that if they do that and you add a few drops of water they will run to it and start drinking.
The other cool thing is a sling of that size you can tell when its going to molt. You actually can see the second skeleton growing under its current one. With bigger Ts you still can see that happen when you use a highpowered flashlight.

 

[ronin]

Thanks all for the advice. I'll continue to check on water/humidity as her housing is pretty well ventilated. No crix for a while then. I don't want to be known as the guy who keeps pet crickets who feeds them molting spiders.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

I only feed my slings twice a week.. 2 crix at a time..

"Only"? That's still quite a lot.

 

[Mc225]

Crush the heads on your crickets before feeding, then you have no worries of you spider being eaten. Also, try hand feeding. The proper setup and proper tools make for easy feeding IMO. I have 10 Avics about the size of yours and all are in enclosures with bottom access and no loose or movable parts inside. I am able to pick them up in one hand and hold it on its side or upside down and manipulate the cricket into the tube web with forceps or a longer poker type tool using my free hand.