Aggravated over slow sling growth

[Zigana]

My A. hentzi slings (130 of them) are aggravating me to no end with super slow growth. They refuse to grow. I have feed them pinhead crickets, cut up meal worms, cricket parts and fruitless and nothing. A week after coming out of the eggsac they molted, few since then and even those don't look much different from the others that hadn't. I have heard of some genus being slow growers but man these are painfully slow.

I have two G. pulchra slings that are not helping my patience with the A. hentzi. They are growing very fast to me, they have went from 3/4" to 2-1/4" after two molts. I have had the A.hentzi the same length of time. The pulchras have been fed less then the A. hentzi but have grown at a much faster rate. Curious to compare the rate of growth of the hentzi and pulchra with my G. porteri slings once they are are out of the eggsac and start growing.

I don't know if this super slow growth is normal for the A. hentzi or not. On the other hand I think my pulchras are in some kind of race with growth between the two of them. lol I thought Grammastola was supposed to be very slow. The only thing I know to do is move the hentzi to a warmer room. Both the pulchra and the hentzi's have been in the same room and temperature. The hentzi's are 1/4" and so far refusing to grow. Any ideas or is the hentzi just this slow to grow?

 

[jigalojey]

And this is why I keep tropical only.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

my G. pulchripes slings have only molted once since I got them .... They are tiny. 1" only.
got them over a year ago...

 

[Mike41793]

I feel your pain haha. Can't stand the slow growers

 

[CBickert]

Patience is a virtue my friend.
On a side note, I actually am very fond of the slow growers myself. The long lifespan may have something to do with it. Just hope they turn out to be females after that long waiting period.

 

[pyro fiend]

hahahaha i feel ya on the slow growth it kills me!!! and im rather patient too but when its taken a brachy 6ish months to go from 1/2ish to 2" gah! what a pain! just shoot me now! XC i used to love hentzi but after finding out how slow brachys grow i dont think id purchase anything short of mf in a aphonopelma. lol

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

hahahaha i feel ya on the slow growth it kills me!!! and im rather patient too but when its taken a brachy 6ish months to go from 1/2ish to 2" gah! what a pain! just shoot me now! XC i used to love hentzi but after finding out how slow brachys grow i dont think id purchase anything short of mf in a aphonopelma. lol

My B smithi like never refuse food, except pre molt. They sure do grow slow!!! B vagans is fast though.

Worth the wait though B smithi are looking good at 4".

 

[Zigana]

Thanks for the replies and condolences...lol. Looks like it's going to be a long wait along with more pinhead crickets ..ugh.

I am definitely rethinking future pairing...lol. mature females are very cool with how they like to burrow but getting the slings to maturity may take a decade at this rate.

 

[pyro fiend]

Thanks for the replies and condolences...lol. Looks like it's going to be a long wait along with more pinhead crickets ..ugh.

I am definitely rethinking future pairing...lol. mature females are very cool with how they like to burrow but getting the slings to maturity may take a decade at this rate.

iv heard of 10yrs for females but ofc thats with the 2x a month feedings XD

 

[Arachnomaniac19]

I feel you. My Monocentropus balfouri molts once every 6-8 months at 75f.

 

[Amimia]

All my slings have molted these past two weeks, and almost all of them have gained around an inch, and then I have my B. vagans who looks exactly the same

 

[z32upgrader]

I got a tiny A. chalcodes sling in July, and it's as fat as a tick, and molting is the furthest thing from its mind. I tell it every day that it should molt, but it consistently ignores me. Frustrating little things, but I love them all the same.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

King baboon grows slower, or the same rate. My 2" juvie is 4" after 2 years+ , G pulchripes are growing even slower.

 

[Poec54]

And this is why I keep tropical only.

You certainly develop an appreciation for species in which males mature in a year.

 

[Smokehound714]

Hahaha.. aphonos grow slowly. At about three years of age, they're generally no larger than 2.5 inches in legspan. power feeding and warmth mean nothing with this genus

 

[johnny quango]

My A. hentzi slings (130 of them) are aggravating me to no end with super slow growth. They refuse to grow. I have feed them pinhead crickets, cut up meal worms, cricket parts and fruitless and nothing. A week after coming out of the eggsac they molted, few since then and even those don't look much different from the others that hadn't. I have heard of some genus being slow growers but man these are painfully slow.

I have two G. pulchra slings that are not helping my patience with the A. hentzi. They are growing very fast to me, they have went from 3/4" to 2-1/4" after two molts. I have had the A.hentzi the same length of time. The pulchras have been fed less then the A. hentzi but have grown at a much faster rate. Curious to compare the rate of growth of the hentzi and pulchra with my G. porteri slings once they are are out of the eggsac and start growing.

I don't know if this super slow growth is normal for the A. hentzi or not. On the other hand I think my pulchras are in some kind of race with growth between the two of them. lol I thought Grammastola was supposed to be very slow. The only thing I know to do is move the hentzi to a warmer room. Both the pulchra and the hentzi's have been in the same room and temperature. The hentzi's are 1/4" and so far refusing to grow. Any ideas or is the hentzi just this slow to grow?

I hate to break the bad news Zigana but in the not too distant future your pulchra will hit a brick wall as far as growing is concerned (still beautiful though) my female stands around the 6" mark and asnt moulted for 13 months give or take a few days. Sorry for the bad news

 

[Poec54]

power feeding and warmth mean nothing with this genus

That's evolution at work. In their harsh climate, if they took advantage of occasional plentiful food and water and started to grow fast, they'd inevitably be caught post-molt without them as conditions returned to normal. The ones that did that have been killed off over thousands of years. Species from higher rainfall areas also benefit from the additional prey that lives there (supported by the greater resources), and have little to lose by kicking growth into high gear.

---------- Post added 11-10-2014 at 06:11 AM ----------

I hate to break the bad news Zigana but in the not too distant future your pulchra will hit a brick wall as far as growing is concerned (still beautiful though) my female stands around the 6" mark and asnt moulted for 13 months give or take a few days. Sorry for the bad news

Of course it's slowed down. How big do you think pulchra get? It's an adult, and it's resources are focused on reproduction, not growth.

---------- Post added 11-10-2014 at 06:14 AM ----------

King baboon grows slower, or the same rate. My 2" juvie is 4" after 2 years+ , G pulchripes are growing even slower.

Not for me. I have a KB that was 1 1/2" at the beginning of the year, that's over 3" now. That's not a wet tropical rate, but it's moderate growth. I also have a couple of pulchripes that I got last year at around 3-4" that recently molted into adult males. Most species respond to warmth and food.

 

[johnny quango]

---------- Post added 11-10-2014 at 06:11 AM ----------

[/COLOR]

Of course it's slowed down. How big do you think pulchra get? It's an adult, and it's resources are focused on reproduction, not growth.
Forgive me if I'm wrong but I was lead to believe that some female pulchra hit upto 20cm dls which is around the 8" mark. As for the pulchra Zigana mentioned I was referring to them slowing down way before they hit the 6" mark. I should have been a little clearer on that

---------- Post added 11-10-2014 at 06:14 AM ----------

 

[Poec54]

Of course it's slowed down. How big do you think pulchra get? It's an adult, and it's resources are focused on reproduction, not growth.
Forgive me if I'm wrong but I was lead to believe that some female pulchra hit upto 20cm dls which is around the 8" mark. As for the pulchra Zigana mentioned I was referring to them slowing down way before they hit the 6" mark. I should have been a little clearer on that

I've only see a few adult female pulchra, and they've been 6". They get confused with pulchripes, which is a 7-8" species. I bet that's what's happened here.

 

[CEC]

My B smithi like never refuse food, except pre molt. They sure do grow slow!!! B vagans is fast though.

Worth the wait though B smithi are looking good at 4".

My B. annitha is over two years old and about 1". At this rate it will be 8-10 years old before it reaches 4". Spending so much time with it definitely gives it sentimental value.