Well, I decided to do it! I got my very first sling and juvie Ts! I ended up going to the expo in 'sauga with Mack&Cass. They brought me a gorgeous 2" LP female, and I am already fascinated by her. I bought one of the $15 T enclosures for her there and set it up with a very pretty sparkling rock and the lid of a vitamin B12 bottle for a water dish along with coco brick substrate. I will be getting her a hide on Wednesday when I go to get my Ts their crickets from the local pet store.
When I went to check Tarantula Canada's booth I had planned to see if they had any larger Ts for sale. Like about an inch and a half to two inches. They didn't have anything I wanted and I saw they had only a couple B. auratum slings left. Since I originally wanted either a GBB, G. pulchra, G. pulchripes or B. auratum and they had none that were not slings. I know I'm careful and pay very close attention to the care of any creature I own. So after some deliberation I decided I would choose my first sling. I talked with the woman behind the booth about the four T slings I was considering. They were out of the pulchripes, so that option was out. I asked her advice on which of the three Ts she would personally recommend as a starter sling. I wanted to go the pulchra since I heard they were a bit less common in the industry. But she assured me that the GBB and pulchra were actually more easy to get and also they had many coming in. So she recommended the auratum, which they had only gotten a few of and which would be harder to get than the other two. So I chose a little B. auratum.
I had seen some of the other users on the site's Ts. But I don't think it could have prepared me for when she handed me the pill vial with the tiniest little T sling I could have ever imagined--or not. I can't believe how something so small could grow into an arachnid as big as the full grown B. auratum! When she handed me it I was suddenly horrified that I would drop the vial, lose the vial, somehow kill my teeny tiny sling through some horrible clumsy accident of my own doing. I didn't let go of the vial for the rest of the expo, keeping it tightly held in one hand. Every few minutes I couldn't help but look at it to see if the sling was still in there and moving!
So happy to say that the 2" LP and tiny auratum sling are safe and sound on a shelf sticking out of the wall that my cats can not get to. Every couple of hours I start to worry and go peer inside the vial and look into the new enclosure to make sure they are both okay. Then I go to my rosea tank to look in on Charlotte to make sure she's doing all right, too. Of course I'm a bit less worried about Char since I've had her a couple weeks and she's doing amazing. Hardly ever in her hide, eating and drinking great. I think it's the size of the sling and even the juvie that worry me. Mostly the sling. They're just so unbelievably tiny and fragile! I'm actually very nervous about opening up the vial to put in food for it. The juvie I am very excited to see take out an adult cricket. The sling I'm more worried a little pinhead cricket will take out it! I may just pre-kill the cricket for it until it has a half inch or so to it.
Anyhow, can you share experiences on your first slings? Give a newbie some pointers, share a bit of know how on feeding and watering something so tiny? Were you also nervous about how small they were/are? Did you find yourself worried you would accidentally hurt them, or checking up on them every couple to few hours? I'd love to hear your stories and tips!
When I went to check Tarantula Canada's booth I had planned to see if they had any larger Ts for sale. Like about an inch and a half to two inches. They didn't have anything I wanted and I saw they had only a couple B. auratum slings left. Since I originally wanted either a GBB, G. pulchra, G. pulchripes or B. auratum and they had none that were not slings. I know I'm careful and pay very close attention to the care of any creature I own. So after some deliberation I decided I would choose my first sling. I talked with the woman behind the booth about the four T slings I was considering. They were out of the pulchripes, so that option was out. I asked her advice on which of the three Ts she would personally recommend as a starter sling. I wanted to go the pulchra since I heard they were a bit less common in the industry. But she assured me that the GBB and pulchra were actually more easy to get and also they had many coming in. So she recommended the auratum, which they had only gotten a few of and which would be harder to get than the other two. So I chose a little B. auratum.
I had seen some of the other users on the site's Ts. But I don't think it could have prepared me for when she handed me the pill vial with the tiniest little T sling I could have ever imagined--or not. I can't believe how something so small could grow into an arachnid as big as the full grown B. auratum! When she handed me it I was suddenly horrified that I would drop the vial, lose the vial, somehow kill my teeny tiny sling through some horrible clumsy accident of my own doing. I didn't let go of the vial for the rest of the expo, keeping it tightly held in one hand. Every few minutes I couldn't help but look at it to see if the sling was still in there and moving!
So happy to say that the 2" LP and tiny auratum sling are safe and sound on a shelf sticking out of the wall that my cats can not get to. Every couple of hours I start to worry and go peer inside the vial and look into the new enclosure to make sure they are both okay. Then I go to my rosea tank to look in on Charlotte to make sure she's doing all right, too. Of course I'm a bit less worried about Char since I've had her a couple weeks and she's doing amazing. Hardly ever in her hide, eating and drinking great. I think it's the size of the sling and even the juvie that worry me. Mostly the sling. They're just so unbelievably tiny and fragile! I'm actually very nervous about opening up the vial to put in food for it. The juvie I am very excited to see take out an adult cricket. The sling I'm more worried a little pinhead cricket will take out it! I may just pre-kill the cricket for it until it has a half inch or so to it.
Anyhow, can you share experiences on your first slings? Give a newbie some pointers, share a bit of know how on feeding and watering something so tiny? Were you also nervous about how small they were/are? Did you find yourself worried you would accidentally hurt them, or checking up on them every couple to few hours? I'd love to hear your stories and tips!
