B. albo sling behavior

JumpingSpiderLady

Arachnobaron
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so my little guy has made an impressive little mound and buried himself. Cute! I know that's normal, but I wonder if it means he is molting? It doesn't, right? He's at his second instar. Is a second instar? What is the proper way to say that? Anyway, how often should I expect him to molt? I will feed him a big chunk of superworm every few days. Yesterday, he ate quite greedily. So cute! Thanks for helping me out with this. I've never had a sling before.
As an update; all three slings are doing well and plumping up nicely. Did I mention they are cute? So cute!
 

TownesVanZandt

Arachnoprince
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May 12, 2015
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Often a T that buries itself will moult quite soon. However, it is not guaranteed. He might just want some privacy or do whatever T´s does inside their burrows. Only time will tell. As to how often he´ll moult, that depends of how often and how much you feed him and the temperatures. Slings tends to moult quite often, though I´ve never raised a B. albopilosum sling.
 

netr

Arachnoknight
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Sep 18, 2012
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Slings tends to moult quite often, though I´ve never raised a B. albopilosum sling.
I don't know how old you are, though it scarcely matters, for a human life is so short. If you're considering ever raising a B. albopilosum, I recommend getting on with it. If you happen to be very young now and also very lucky later, you might just live to see it reach the juvenile stage.
 

TownesVanZandt

Arachnoprince
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I don't know how old you are, though it scarcely matters, for a human life is so short. If you're considering ever raising a B. albopilosum, I recommend getting on with it. If you happen to be very young now and also very lucky later, you might just live to see it reach the juvenile stage.
Nah, I´m neither young nor old and I don´t have any plans to acquire any "Brachys". I´ll just stick with my "Baboons" and live happily ever after :)
 

Kymura

Arachnoknight
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Oct 1, 2015
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My albo babies preferred to live underground till it got some size. Came out to rearrange things dump it's water dish and bulldoze. As it got larger it stayed out more and more. My babies never hides now. She (?) is about 3" dls now. Grew quick too!
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
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Anyway, how often should I expect him to molt?
Depends on what you feed, frequency and temps. If you feed mealworms w/high fat content compared to crix, it will likely grow faster.

Has your husband owned slings, I forget what Ts he owns, just curious
 

JumpingSpiderLady

Arachnobaron
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Depends on what you feed, frequency and temps. If you feed mealworms w/high fat content compared to crix, it will likely grow faster.

Has your husband owned slings, I forget what Ts he owns, just curious
His G pulchripes was less than an inch when we got her. Maybe pushing an inch. I don't know if that counts, one of the three we just ordered is his. The B smithi. He also owns a B vagans. About two inches, I think. We haven't had her real long yet.
We are feeding the slings superworms about every three days.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
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His G pulchripes was less than an inch when we got her. Maybe pushing an inch. I don't know if that counts, one of the three we just ordered is his. The B smithi. He also owns a B vagans. About two inches, I think. We haven't had her real long yet.
We are feeding the slings superworms about every three days.
What was his advice on your questions? high fat diet, faster growing Ts IMO.
 

JumpingSpiderLady

Arachnobaron
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He had none. If anything, I know more about them than him because I am crazy about research and learning and I have more free time to use on it than he does and I've helped him with his spiders from day one. I bought it for him and set up its first home. Good thing I didn't just find a care sheet and believe everything it said!
 

JumpingSpiderLady

Arachnobaron
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Another question if you'll humor me please. Would I say he is on his second instar? He is a second instar T? I don't know how to use the word properly and I hate not knowing how to use words properly....
 

symbol

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 4, 2016
Messages
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Another question if you'll humor me please. Would I say he is on his second instar? He is a second instar T? I don't know how to use the word properly and I hate not knowing how to use words properly....
I usually hear the latter, but it's possible that both are correct. I don't know for sure.

Also, I'm really glad you posted this thread. I've been vaguely worried about my new (tiny) albopilosum sling for days now. It bulldozed the enclosure the very first night, built a little mound, and I haven't seen it since. I wasn't sure whether it was molting/in pre-molt, hiding, or what. My G. pulchra has been pretty much constantly out in the open, but it's also quite a bit bigger: 3/4" vs. the albo's 1/4". It's very reassuring to know that this is apparently just normal ablopilosum sling behaviour. :)
 

JumpingSpiderLady

Arachnobaron
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I usually hear the latter, but it's possible that both are correct. I don't know for sure.

Also, I'm really glad you posted this thread. I've been vaguely worried about my new (tiny) albopilosum sling for days now. It bulldozed the enclosure the very first night, built a little mound, and I haven't seen it since. I wasn't sure whether it was molting/in pre-molt, hiding, or what. My G. pulchra has been pretty much constantly out in the open, but it's also quite a bit bigger: 3/4" vs. the albo's 1/4". It's very reassuring to know that this is apparently just normal ablopilosum sling behaviour. :)
Apparently, little albos love a nice dig!
 

JumpingSpiderLady

Arachnobaron
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Okay, he's been buried for a few days now. How do I know if he's molted? I guess I don't need to know, but I want to know. I don't want to dig him out. I know he's still okay because I saw a leg today. I kind of want to move him to a home without opaque sides.....
 

symbol

Arachnopeon
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@JumpingSpiderLady: I'm in pretty much the same boat as you. Received and rehoused my albopilosum sling on September 7th. It immediately found the starter burrow I'd made for it and hunkered down for the rest of the day. Then it bulldozed the enclosure overnight. I haven't seen so much as the tip of a toe since then. I was actually vaguely worried that it'd escaped for a while because I never actually saw it after that first day. I've been putting in a pre-killed cricket every three or so days though and they keep disappearing, so it must still be in there and eating. I'm trying to just leave it alone and let it do its thing for now, but I definitely know how you feel! I keep worrying about mine too and wishing that I could see it just to confirm that it's still present and healthy.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
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Okay, he's been buried for a few days now. How do I know if he's molted? I guess I don't need to know, but I want to know. I don't want to dig him out. I know he's still okay because I saw a leg today. I kind of want to move him to a home without opaque sides.....
You don't, no one would know. All you can do is wait. Even with a clear side, there's no guarantee a T will burrow along the glass. Though you can setup the container, depending on size, to force them to do so.

Also, w/clear sides, even with something covering the container wall, they often web over it. Though it seems in such a setup many Ts just take longer to web over it.
 

JumpingSpiderLady

Arachnobaron
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I saw him again today! He was out completely, so I got a better look. I think me may be a bit bigger after all! I think he was about the same size as the smithi sling, but now he looks bigger.
Will he take the molt out of his tunnel himself?
 
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