Aphonopelma chalcodes

[Mushusmum]

Hi if all goes well I should be getting Aphonopelma chalcodes sling at the end of the week
It will be about 1cm in size, I am looking forward to watching him/her grow. lol I have almost everything planned out. Quick question… will a spider this size eat a wax worm/mealworm or should I get smaller food?

 

[viper69]

No - smaller

 

[Mushusmum]

Would fruit flies be better?

 

[Gevo]

Tom Moran’s sling guide is excellent: https://tomsbigspiders.com/2016/08/26/tarantula-sling-husbandry/#:~:text=Just%20take%20a%20small%20cricket,a%201%2F3″%20sling.

Fruit flies can work, but what a lot of people do is prekill a mealworm or something, cut it up, and give the sling a piece of it. They will scavenge and take pre-killed prey at that size.

A 1cm sling is very small, and this species takes a long time to grow, so just be prepared for that.

 

[Mushusmum]

I like slow growing lol I told my daughter we are getting one, she immediately thought it would be big and hairy so it will give us plenty of time to learn more as we go

 

[sparticus]

I feed very small slings with fruit fly maggots, baby isopods, and cut up mini mealworms. Occasionally a cut section of dubia roach or a pinhead cricket. It will most likely grow very slowly and may not need to eat as often as you would think.

 

[Mustafa67]

Hi if all goes well I should be getting Aphonopelma chalcodes sling at the end of the week
It will be about 1cm in size, I am looking forward to watching him/her grow. lol I have almost everything planned out. Quick question… will a spider this size eat a wax worm/mealworm or should I get smaller food?

Cut it up and give it to the T once it has settled down in its new enclosure

 

[Andrew Clayton]

I use maggots for ones this small there totally harmless to the spider and get them from any local fishing store. Keep them in the fridge and they last for months.

 

[fcat]

Sliced up mealworm will be the easiest option by far. You can grow your own colony or keep them in the refrigerator.

The sling might only eat once a month. FF would be a nightmare IMO and your maggots might complete their life cycle in between feedings

 

[sparticus]

Sliced up mealworm will be the easiest option by far. You can grow your own colony or keep them in the refrigerator.

The sling might only eat once a month. FF would be a nightmare IMO and your maggots might complete their life cycle in between feedings

The nice thing about the fruit fly maggots is that if not eaten immediately, they pupate in the enclosure and then hatch out into a fruit fly, also edible and harmless. Then if still not eaten they just die off after a few days. I don't find them difficult at all, the maggots climb toward the lid when preparing to pupate and are easy to grab. I find the movement stimulates feeding in tiny slings more readily than scavenge feeding, but everyone has their own way of doing things. They are ideal for my 1/4" slings that struggle with bigger prey items.
But if you're only feeding one sling, a lot would go to waste for sure. I buy a tiny culture in a pet shop marketed as "betta fish treats".

 

[Mushusmum]

I have mushu the scorpion too so he might enjoy a tiny snack if the spider refuses them

 

[cold blood]

will a spider this size eat a wax worm/mealworm or should I get smaller food?

Diced mealworms are best....cheap, they can be kept in the fridge for months on end, they're fatty, and a diced mealworm is a big meal, so you need to feed less often and still maintain good growth rates.

nom nom (Nhandu chromatus)

• cold blood
• Jun 8, 2018
• 1
• brazilian red and white tarantula chromatus feeding nhandu nhandu chromatus sling

Would fruit flies be better?

NO!! Fruit flies are not only an unnecessary pain in the backside, but they are nutritionally deficient, making them the worst, least healthy thing you could possibly feed your sling.....the maggots are likely much better.

 

[Nitroxide]

For my very small slings I'll usually do pinhead crickets or even the leg of a full grown cricket when I can't get my hands on pinheads.

 

[Mushusmum]

Lol my sling will be getting a neighbour… ceratogyrus darlingi. While researching… i saw ceratogyrus darlingi it is a juvenile so what 1 doesn’t eat, can go in with the other. My daughter will be surprised (in a good way) she wants to help look after them.

 

[Andrew Clayton]

Lol my sling will be getting a neighbour… ceratogyrus darlingi. While researching… i saw ceratogyrus darlingi it is a juvenile so what 1 doesn’t eat, can go in with the other. My daughter will be surprised (in a good way) she wants to help look after them.

Heads up, you do know that's an old world? This is the same thread we were talking about one of the most beginner friendly species, now jumping to this and you're kids helping? Definitely do not advise this.

 

[Kada]

I use pinhead crickets and baby red runner roaches. Mealworms are certainly easier for many. But I'm not into chopping and cleaning worm peices hehe. All work well, depends on what you want to do.

I wouldn't let you kiddo get hands on with the spiders, for their sake. C. darlingi can be pretty quick and probably a pretty uncomfortable bite. I wouldn't let the kiddo help with that unless she is older. However, on that note. I really like you approach with the kid angle, I do the same with mine. So don't stop at just the spider. Part of the fun can be raising rewire food together. No one said a feeder species cannot be setup in a pretty enclosure as well and she can learn the life stages and habits of an insect as well. 2 birds, 1 stone type of deal. Cockraoches hide a lot, kinda boring. Crickets don't live long and stink when dead. Mealworms are kind of cool to watch as the beetles are related active and you can breed them for their larvae super easily. They don't need to be kept in boring grian bins with sweet potato. A soil setup with plants and lights are easily doable and pretty cool for a kid to watch things grow up, change form, mate, die and repeat.

Might be fun?

 

[Mushusmum]

It’s ok, she’s 16 so not likely to grab at one and I will be there with her

 

[Andrew Clayton]

I use pinhead crickets and baby red runner roaches. Mealworms are certainly easier for many. But I'm not into chopping and cleaning worm peices hehe. All work well, depends on what you want to do.

I wouldn't let you kiddo get hands on with the spiders, for their sake. C. darlingi can be pretty quick and probably a pretty uncomfortable bite. I wouldn't let the kiddo help with that unless she is older. However, on that note. I really like you approach with the kid angle, I do the same with mine. So don't stop at just the spider. Part of the fun can be raising rewire food together. No one said a feeder species cannot be setup in a pretty enclosure as well and she can learn the life stages and habits of an insect as well. 2 birds, 1 stone type of deal. Cockraoches hide a lot, kinda boring. Crickets don't live long and stink when dead. Mealworms are kind of cool to watch as the beetles are related active and you can breed them for their larvae super easily. They don't need to be kept in boring grian bins with sweet potato. A soil setup with plants and lights are easily doable and pretty cool for a kid to watch things grow up, change form, mate, die and repeat.

Might be fun?

My daughter's (11) One is into mantis and the other jumpers, they have had multiple each, my nearly 2 year old son loves the crickets. None of them get near the old world T's there on a separate shelf that my daughter's can hardly reach never mind my son. Another thing to remember there has been reports of some old world species venom being able to kill dogs.

It’s ok, she’s 16 so not likely to grab at one and I will be there with her

I get what you're saying here, but what experience do you have with fast old worlds? This thread was about feeding A. Chalcodes sling now you're getting a juvie old world that's a big jump are you sure you know what you're getting into? It's generally advised to get a fast new world 1st like something from the Psalmopoeus or Tapinauchenius genus.

 

[Mushusmum]

I have experience with exotic animals and tend to be over cautious with all of them out of habit I plan to only open the enclosure inside a second container and have very long tweezers for feeding

 

[Andrew Clayton]

I have experience with exotic animals and tend to be over cautious with all of them out of habit I plan to only open the enclosure inside a second container and have very long tweezers for feeding

That's great that you're over cautious, but still it is very different to exotic animals and slow terrestrial T. I'd keep up the research on it but nothing is going to prepare you for rehousing and such than actually doing the rehouse, that's where it gets tricky considering you wouldn't have rehoused anything that fast before, with potentially medically significant venom, also a bolt up you're hand or something and you get a fright and throw it. Just not something that's advised going from a small beginner friendly T to a juvie old world, just so you know what you're getting into.