babyfood jar sling setup question

[kosh]

im mainly worried about the jagged edges (since i used a jigsaw they are very jagged).....i filed the outside so i wouldnt cut myself.....but to file the inside edges of a babyfood jar lid will be very difficult....and i dont want the spiders to be able to possibly injure themselves....if i can figure out how to smooth out the inside edges to where i feel comfortable i think it will work to glue mesh to outside......

 

[conipto]

What I'd do..

Being somewhat mechanically inclined, this is what I would do...

If you can get a dremel tool with a cut off wheel bit, make a hexagonish shape on the top of the lid, as big a diameter as you can without hitting the sides or threads of the lid. Then take a drum sanding bit, and basically smooth out the edges, make it a circle, if you prefer, or if the area is sufficiently big enough, just leave it a hexagon/octagon depending on the jar size (obviously, the more sides the polygon has, the more space will be open. Just make sure the sanding wheel takes care of any sharp edges (a dremel tool can smooth out rough metal edges like you wouldn't believe)

Then, hot glue the screen to the top, and voila. Twenty minutes at most of work.

Three things to mention - One, if you don't have a dremel tool and your standard dremel tool bits, get them.. You'd be surprised how usefull it is.

Two - Put the lid in some kind of vise, or hold it with some locking pliers, because it's metal and going to get hot. Real hot.

Three - Ventilation, for some slings, I'm sure it's adequate, but if you want to use it for something that might require more air like I've read an Avicularia versicolor would, I would forgo the glass. The smallest glass drill bit I've seen is an 1/8th of an inch, which would make me worry about legs getting poked through and torn off. Also, drilling in glass is never fun to begin with, but a rounded surface is a nightmare.

Hope that helps, and I'm not overstating the obvious

Bill

 

[kosh]

yeah..ive got a dremel (very handy tool)....but i moved a few months ago and the dremel is in storage 300 miles away!!!......the problem is......i have already cut the holes in the lids....and need to find a way to fix them without replacing the jars....i bought out all the jars that were reduced at the grocery store ($0.39 each) and new ones cost $0.75 each.....i know thats not much but im not going to replace the jars......if i can't fix the lids then ill just go for an alternative solution (i.e. betta cups or restaraunt condiment containers)....ALL of the lids are ALREADY cut....so i just need to smooth/file out the INSIDE edges (which are cut almost to the edge) and glue the mesh to the outside....shouldnt be too hard once i figure out how im going to do it.......im not going to put too much effort into this since they will just be trash once the slings outgrow them anyway and then ill probably just buy critter keepers...

 

[conipto]

On other thing

If filing down the metal is a problem with the space constraints, and you're not big on going to get more tools/supplies like needle files and emery cloth, There's always the option of using the more flexible plastic screening, and just using a really tight rubber band around the lip of the jar. Since you plan on tossing them out in the end anyhow.

Before I get #3 (I'm so hooked It's sad) I'm going to build myself some nice reusable sling enclosures. I have a few ideas that don't require diesel power that I think might come out good. I'll post pics when I get them done.

Bill.

P.S. - for the more experienced keepers, can hot glue hurt a T? (When it's cooled, obviously ) I once read someone post about how glad they were finding a vivarium without silicon on the edges, what's the meaning behind that?

 

[kosh]

i doubt that dried hot glue can hurt the slings...since it dries hard as a rock (or close to it)......which brings me to another idea.....i can hot glue the mesh on top of the lids...and once that dries i can turn the lids over and use hot glue (very generously) to build-up/cover the rough edges where i cut the holes and screw the lids on while the glue is still soft and that should take care of the sharp edges!!!! they will be encapuslated in hot glue and by screwing the lids on with the glue still soft i am assured that they will still thread on correctly and perhaps even tighter!!
before i run off and do this, anyone got any opinions on this procedure i just made up before i jump the gun again and screw up even worse??

 

[conipto]

Yeah, that was my other Idea, hot glue dries smooth and rounded (as long as It's hot enough when you do it, If it's not quite the right temp you can get long stringy things that are hard and sharp.)

Hence the question on it being dangerous or not..

Bill.

 

[MrT]

Kosh,
You could spent the next two days messing with those jars, or get the betta cups and be done with it. The jars are a good idea, but I think their to far gone.

Ernie

 

[Code Monkey]

Hot glue is nothing more than a low melting temp plastic. Every home made T enclosure and most of my cork bark creations are held together by the stuff. It has been used by many experienced T keepers for doing thing like anchoring plastic plants in cages, to gluing water bowls against the sides of tanks. If it were dangerous, there'd be a lot of dead Ts out there.

 

[Mister Internet]

conipto,

The reason people try to find cages without silicone (or simply remove it), is simply because it's rubbery and somewhat grippy, and T's, centipedes, and other inverts can scale it if they get the notion, some of them quite easily in fact.

 

[Wade]

I second Code Monkey's statements about the usefulness of hot glue. I've used it for years for everything from glueing screening over ventilation openings, to attaching small condiment cups to the sides of aboreal cages to hold water bowls.

The only problem I'm aware of is that sometimes it does't want to stick to very smooth surfaces, at least not long term. When gluing screening over a hole, I always make sure to squirt the glue along the edge of the hole, so glue goes through the screen, and completely covers the inner edge. This does two things, it gives the gule some texture to bond to, and the glue covers and smooths the jagged edge of the metal or plastic. I often use dolops of hot glue to blunt sharp points or edges.

Other types of adhesives, such a sillicone, can be used, but they take a loooong time to fully cure, and even then the fumes may be dangerous, so it must be allowed to sit even longer until the smell is completely gone. This may take up to a week or two, while hot glue is ready in mere minutes.

One tip: the yellow, "heavy duty" glue sticks are much stronger than the translucent white kind.

Wade

 

[Immortal_sin]

I love hot glue! My two tools that I use the most are a hot glue gun, and a soldering iron. I use the hot glue gun to glue things like window screening, plants, cork bark, etc.
And you can't beat the soldering iron for melting holes in plastic. The great thing about these two things is that it's ready in minutes, you don't have to wait days for the smell to go away, or for it to 'cure'.
just my .02

 

[kosh]

well i went to get some baby crickets this morning and the lady didnt have any betta cups other than the ones with bettas in them....so im going with the hot glue idea of putting the mesh on top and covering sharp edges underneath with hot glue.....this will fix the sharp edges and also make the mesh on top adhere better....and i did push the mesh down onto the hot glue so that it came through the holes in the mesh.......anyway.....i gotta get back to fixin jars......gotta go meet airborne dude in 45 minutes to get slings!!!!

 

[kosh]

well the babyfood jars came out great and will work fine.....that hot glue works wonders!!!...........i got my slings and they were smaller than i had anticipated they would be..... so for now im not even using the babyfood jars.....i'm just leaving them in the little containers they came in!!!....all that work for nuthin!!....nahh i will transfer them soon....i just filled the jars with vermiculite (about 2/3 full) and soaked the substrate down REAL GOOD and threw the jars in the microwave and "nuked" them for a few minutes....maybe transfer little critters tomorrow or something......maybe even get a few pics up!!!

 

[Immortal_sin]

for anyone else receiving slings from me:
THEY ARE TINY lol
I am guessing between 1/4 and 1/3" here. Just so nobody is too surprised!
I am sure I posted that before, but it's one thing to read about it, and another to actually see them!
Kosh, glad you liked the hot glue idea, it's great.
If you put them in the baby food jars, they will just burrow even more...unless you have straight vermiculite for them....

 

[kosh]

yeah i use straight vermiculite.......i am probably going to go with a verm/peat mix soon though.....if the straight vermiculite will keep the slings from burrowing...then good!!! that is what i want for now...while they are so small i would rather they be in sight!!

 

[Code Monkey]

A determined sling will burrow no matter what you give them, that's why I switched from straight verm to a 3:1 verm/peat mix. I kept collapsing their burrows on them while working with their vials.

 

[atavuss]

Re: Homes and S'lings

Originally posted by Rookie

As for practical homes, I have one word: rubbermaid. They have clear plastic containers of every size you can imagine that is perfect for both aboreal and terrestrial Ts. Paul

I too was using rubbermaid containers (tall one gallon for versicolors) but I found a generic style that is almost identical at our local "smart and final" grocery store (it is a wholesale type restaurant supply store) the generic style were about half the price of the rubbermaid brand!
Ed

I forgot to mention that they also have deli cups from 3/4 oz up to 5 oz. that make great water dishes, if they get dirty toss em and put a new one in. they also have larger size deli containers for larger lings and juv t's. I even got some opaque 3 gallon or so containers with tight fitting lids for my mad hissers......I drilled several 2" holes in the top with a hole saw and hot glued brass micro-screening in the holes for ventilation.
Ed
Ed

 

[kosh]

yeah i was kinda afraid of that.....the verm is so crumbly......so the peat mix solves this problem??.......i was wondering if that is why my G. rosea doesnt burrow more....mostly he just bulldozes which is probably about all he can do with 100% verm.....what kind of peat do most people use?? and what store do you buy it at??
holley i like the texture of that stuff (peat?) you shipped with the slings.....looks like it would go good with a little verm mixed in....

 

[Immortal_sin]

Kosh,
it's just straight Canadian Peat Moss, I got it in the nursery section at Fred Meyers. You can probably find it at Target, or something like Home Depot as well. I got a HUGE bag for about $8.
I just dampened it with a spray bottle for the slings. There is no verm in their mix, I didn't have time for messing with that.
So it dries out quicker....
They can burrow very well in it though (as you can tell!)

 

[Botar]

Immortal Sin,

I just added a couple of drops of water to the enclosures that needed it this morning. I'm also keeping all the vials in a rubbermaind shoe box (with holes drilled in sides) with about 1/4" of water in the bottom to keep the humidity level up. They seem to be doing great. Will there be any indication as to the nex molt? I've noticed some of them have a very pronounced "black dot". I had another one make a dash for it this morning too. I don't know if it was the same one though.

Botar