Eresus balcanicus "Turkish Velvet Spider" Sling Passed Looking for Guidance

[SunnyD333]

I'm a first time spider owner and had this sling for several months. I did a bunch of research in preparation for his arrival and am not sure what I might have done wrong. I live in an area with highly fluctuating temperatures and don't have a great climate controlled area, I'm worried this may have been too much of a shock to him (my thermometer only showed fluctuation from around mid 60's to high 70's which I thought would be fine). I've also been monitoring humidity as everything I've found online says Turkish Velvet spiders prefer incredibly dry habitats and shouldn't be given water. The only other thing I can think of is quality of feed, my fly colony is not exactly top quality (I get them from PetSmart...) and I'm concerned that maybe there was an issue with them as they live, breed, and die all in the same container. Either way, any advice or notes from fellow velvet spider enthusiasts is appreciated as I definitely want to try raising another sling.

 

[Wolfram1]

do you have any pictures of your setup?

by flies you mean Drosophila melanogaster? Or something else?

how big was it?

i am probably not much more experienced than youself, been keeping 0.0.3 Eresus walckenaeri for a few months now, but i would not have expected those temperatures to be an issue either.

In any case even if i can't give you a sure answer myself i am sure others will need those bits of information too in order to give an informed opinion

personally (in my setups) i do add a drop of water to the moss every month to keep it dry but slightly expanded (the drop is not enough to truly moisten the moss), that way i can tell when to add the next drop once it starts to shrink away from the plastic sides and gets loose. So far so good.

0.0.1 Eresus walckenaeri

• Wolfram1
• Feb 27, 2025
• eresus eresus walckenaeri

feeding on a Alphitobius diaperinus beatle-larvae

it probably wont be able to finish this meal...

 

[Smotzer]

it would be helpful to see the enclosure it was in. its possible if it was only fed fruit flies, and never any other prey, or occasional droplets of water that it could have been dehydrated.