feeding 1/4 to 1/2 inch slings,,,...help?

seanrc

Arachnoknight
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i just gota shipment in today with 6 slings.. but the problem is that my all the petstores around me have no actually PINHEAD crickets there all like small crickets but not pinhead know what im saying? so i heard you can kill bigger crcikets and put them in with the sling or put peices of them in there and theyll eat them .. how long should i wait before taking them out , or what should i do if they dont eat them? am i screwed?... i never had slings this small before...
please help!
 

ErikH

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heres a tip. put adult cricket hind legs. :cool:
Yup. That's what I feed my fingernail sized rosie. It gets a hind leg, and one of the others gets the cricket. If you pinch the leg right near the cricket's body, he'll throw the leg and you can let the cricket live for later if none of your other T's are ready for a meal.
 

seanrc

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i mean is it really enough nutrition in the leg for them to do well?it doesnt even seem anythings in there.... any other input is welcome everyone please im freaking out right now lol....
 

Midnightrdr456

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ive done the leg thing and its worked fine, ive also gottent he smallest crickets in the pet store, crushed their heads and put them in dead. The slings usually start to chow down and just dont finish it all.
 

ironmonkey78

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smal crix

my sling do fine with small crix that Ive crushed the heads on also. havent had a lot of success with legs but they take the prekilled like candy.
 

ScorpionFanatic

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I tried the leg thing too, but none of my slings took to that. I just got crickets smaller or as big as the sling, pinched the head to kill it and removed what was left the next day. Basicly just find what works for your T.
 

Mushroom Spore

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You should take out the dead cricket after 24 hours or whenever it starts to turn black and gross.
 

Mina

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Don't worry. Get the smallest crickets you can and lightly crush the heads, then drop them in with the slings, the slings will eat what they want, and then remove the remains. I usually feed the little tiny ones at night and remove the remains the next day, sometimes little bitty ones don't eat real fast.
 

calyst

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Has anyone tried the flightless fruit flies? Would they be acceptable as food for bitty slings?
 

Selenops

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I am feeding my Singapore Blue s'ling small crushed crickets. Just kill a cricket, chop it or rip it to quarter bits and place said bits somewhere for the s'ling to find usually during it's nocturnal jots in the containers. Or if it is in a vial place inside.

I don't like to feed them legs either because it is not as meaty as the rest.

Oh yeah, please remove (if your s'ling leaves) "boogers" or body parts to avoid mold. It can grow in a 24 hour period. If you feed them overnight check for said waste in the morning.
 

cliff

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Pieces of mealworm works well also. I raised a tiny N.chromatus on those.

Cliff:)
 

funnylori

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I raised my Avicularia purpurea on fruit flys for a couple of molts. I got a larger than pet store sized culture that lasted me 6 months from Ed's fly meat. It lasted long enough for my tarantula to molt a few times until I was comfortable giving it Petco sized crickets. It was also cheaper than paying for the expensive tiny cultures that don't produce well from pet stores. http://www.edsflymeat.com/

There is some debate on using fruit flys though... They are not nutritionally complete and tarantulas that are fed them exclusively as a starter diet have higher rates of molt complications and death. I am not sure if this also causes issues later in their lives...

You can allways order tiny crickets over the internet or by 1800 #. There should be a local supplyer in your area. Also, there are usually cricket and fruit fly supplyers at reptile expos. I usually find the best deals there, so it might be worth checking out if there happens to be a show in your area. Not to mention it would be a good time to oogle more inverts. ;)
 

Tunedbeat

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I've been readin and everyone is tellin you the same thing. You can just go outside get a bug/worm under some rocks/logs, cut them up.
 

ScorpionFanatic

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Has anyone tried the flightless fruit flies? Would they be acceptable as food for bitty slings?
Though many have had success with fruit flies, and flightless fruit flies, I would have to say crickets are a better idea. The main problem with fruit flies is they can easily fit through the holes we use for ventilation in the setups we use. I don't know about you but the smallest hole I use for any T I own is only the size of an 1\8"W nail, anymore than that and you could have a potential escape. Being that I keep mostly old world T's I would not want to wake up at say 3:00am to a sharp painful bite from say a C. crawshayi. or H. lividum, and numorous others that I'm sure can't feel good.
 

midnight_maiden

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Has anyone tried the flightless fruit flies? Would they be acceptable as food for bitty slings?
For my little ones (1/4"-1/2") I alternate between flightless fruit flies and 1/8 crickets if I can find them. Usually my local pet store has the small crickets in, and if they don't, I just get a small vial of the fruit flies from Petco. They usually run about $6.00 and usually last for at least a couple of weeks. I think that by offering both types of food the sling gets adequate nutrition. The flies work well at least until you can find the PH crickets.
 
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Annie3Ponies

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I buy a bunch of big crickets and freeze them all. Then I can slice one up with a scalpel and dish it out.
 

cheetah13mo

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All of my really small T's under 1/2 inch can take small, injured crickets with no problem.
 

Mushroom Spore

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I've been readin and everyone is tellin you the same thing. You can just go outside get a bug/worm under some rocks/logs, cut them up.
If the OP has no problem exposing their pets to pesticides, parasites, or other pollutants, I'm sure they'll be happy to take your advice. :embarrassed:
 

Selenops

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Just give em small crickets with crushed heads. You may have to crush more than that because some times there's "twitchers" or "kickers" just as long as you don't ring out the bug juice outta them. Or cut them up to bits. ;)

Just as simple as drop em in at night before bed and have a fattened s'ling by sunrise the next morning.
 
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