GBB Sling Behavior and Rehousing Questions

[PAHNKAPIE]

Personally, I wouldn't feed any prey items I hadn't killed myself, because I don't know why they had died. But slings are still scavengers, so they will eat dead prey items.
I recommend using mealworms. They are easy to keep in the fridge and last way longer than crickets (I'm talking months here ). Get them out of the fridge a day before you want to feed your sling and give them a piece of carrot to hydrate them. Just make sure to crush their heads before feeding them so they can't burrow.

Oh seriously? mealworms survive that long and in the fridge? They don't like freeze and die? Do you keep food in their container for them to eat or do they like hibernate until you take them out and give them a carrot?

 

[Kitara]

Any advice on how to keep them alive longer?

I freaking hate crickets for this reason. Well, and because they stink and they just suck LOL. I bought a bunch from the reptile shop and the next day they were all dead. Every single last one of them. I just bought mealworms yesterday because I am going to try to put my big girl pants on and pre kill for my tiniest slings. The rest of mine get the B. lateralis (red runner roaches).

Edit: the mealworms usually come in some kind of oatmeal or cornmeal or something. They eat that.

 

[Arachnophoric]

I keep them in a small container with a piece of orange gel cricket feeder, which is supposed to be both food and water for them, but they end up not moving or sometimes even curled up on their backs after two days usually. Any advice on how to keep them alive longer?

The "cricket gel" that pet stores peddle is generally trash, IME. I've had decent luck keeping a good lot of crickets alive for extended periods of time using slices of raw potato for food/hydration.

Oh seriously? mealworms survive that long and in the fridge? They don't like freeze and die? Do you keep food in their container for them to eat or do they like hibernate until you take them out and give them a carrot?

They certainly don't freeze to death and can stay alive a very long time in the fridge, they just go into a state of hibernation more or less. It also keeps them from pupating and turning into beetles, which will happen MUCH faster if you don't keep them in the fridge. I take mine out of the fridge for feeding the Ts and within 5 minutes or so they're wriggling around again.

A note if you do make the switch to mealworms as feeders - always use your tongs to crush the head before offering it to your T. If you don't and the worm isn't eaten right away and ends up in the substrate, it will almost immediately burrow. At that point will be a hassle to get out, but you do NOT want to leave live mealworms rooting around in your T's substrate, as 1) it'll likely pupate into a beetle, and 2) both mealworms and the beetles will readily turn a vulnerable or molting T into a meal. People have definitely lost their Ts to AWOL feeders left in the enclosure.

 

[Pauli]

Hey, y'all! This is sort of off-topic, so forgive me. I just wanted to say that I've been following this thread for weeks mostly because I love the way the more experienced keepers have been so helpful. As a whole the AB community is very helpful and informative, but it seems like a lot of the time when new keepers ask questions the general response is predominately "do some research and use the search feature, your questions have all been answered elsewhere," or the answers are short and informative, but seem very condescending. It's genuinely really nice to see so many different users taking a minute to remember that we all worried about every little thing with our first T and foster someone's interest in the care of their animal and the hobby at large. I'm not much newer to this than Pahnkapie, but if my first posts had been addressed in the same way, I would have felt more comfortable posting more, lurking less, and would have probably avoided some really dumb mistakes.

 

[Thekla]

Hey, y'all! This is sort of off-topic, so forgive me. I just wanted to say that I've been following this thread for weeks mostly because I love the way the more experienced keepers have been so helpful. As a whole the AB community is very helpful and informative, but it seems like a lot of the time when new keepers ask questions the general response is predominately "do some research and use the search feature, your questions have all been answered elsewhere," or the answers are short and informative, but seem very condescending. It's genuinely really nice to see so many different users taking a minute to remember that we all worried about every little thing with our first T and foster someone's interest in the care of their animal and the hobby at large. I'm not much newer to this than Pahnkapie, but if my first posts had been addressed in the same way, I would have felt more comfortable posting more, lurking less, and would have probably avoided some really dumb mistakes.

You are right... this is completely off-topic, especially in a thread where nothing of the sort happened.

I would say, make your own thread in the appropriate place (I'd suggest "The Watering Hole": https://arachnoboards.com/forums/the-watering-hole.6/) and then we may discuss this.

 

[Pauli]

You are right... this is completely off-topic, especially in a thread where nothing of the sort happened.

I didn't mean for/expect that to be the start of a tangental thread in the conversation, so I felt ok being ok with being off topic. I only mentioned it BECAUSE nothing of the sort happened, and just wanted to acknowledge the people willing to take the time to share their knowledge and passion with someone new - I'm not complaining about the culture (though I absolutely see on re-reading my post how it comes across like I am), this site is an invaluable resource. I could scroll through a few months of posts and give everyone a like, but that would take a lot more time and seemed like a less sincere way to say thanks to the community.

 

[Colorado Ts]

Two of my GBB slings moulted yesterday. They had been lethargic and just not interested in food. They hung out deep in their hides surrounded by webbing, so I was never able to get a real good look at them. I basically could see that...yeah...they were in their hide.

they look so nice, though they are still slings...the blue on their lags is really starting to show.

I have another sling that has webbed itself into its hide, so I'm thinking another moult in a day or so...or a week...a month at the outside.

...dang Tarantulas.

 

[PAHNKAPIE]

She has been doing awesome as an update! She has molted again (she molted on Christmas day) and is eating again. I was wondering, if anyone still sees this on the thread, if anyone can tell from this pic if she is a male or female? Thanks!

 

[Ungoliant]

I was wondering, if anyone still sees this on the thread, if anyone can tell from this pic if she is a male or female? Thanks!

Requests to identify (or confirm) a tarantula's sex must be posted to the appropriate gallery. Please see this thread for instructions: How to Request Species or Sex Identification.

 

[PAHNKAPIE]

Requests to identify (or confirm) a tarantula's sex must be posted to the appropriate gallery. Please see this thread for instructions: How to Request Species or Sex Identification.

Okay! My apologies, thanks!

So my GBB has been doing well, her abdomen is getting decently sized again, I tried to feed her a cricket today and she struck at it a bit then walked away. I left it in there for a few moments and she crawled back to it and slowly moved down as if to bite it, bit it, the cricket jerked so she crawled away again. Her abdomen doesn’t look shiny enough to be in premolt, is she scared of crickets all of a sudden? She’s never had problems taking live food before, and I fed her about two days ago. Think she’s just not hungry?

 

[Smotzer]

Happy I found this thread cause I was about to make one. Two days ago I was at an exotic per store here in New Jersey and found a GBB sling in a 4oz deli cup with absolutely no ventilation holes whatsoever(completely airtight) and the substrate was completely soaked. I picked the guy up cause it seemed like awful husbandry. I looked through the rest of their T’s and almost all had no ventilation holes and soaking wet sub.
here’s what I threw together for the little guy. The bark is in the corner and behind it is his hide. I included a few plastic plants for anchor point if he wants to web. And of course a water dish and completely dry sub.

 

[PAHNKAPIE]

I moved her to a bigger enclosure. She kept flipping over and pressing against the ceiling in her current one, I figured she probably needed some more ventilation and maybe more space. I’m a little worried it might be just to big though, but she has space to web and a cork bark piece to hide behind in the corner. What do you guys think? Pictured attached.

 

[Smotzer]

I moved her to a bigger enclosure. She kept flipping over and pressing against the ceiling in her current one, I figured she probably needed some more ventilation and maybe more space. I’m a little worried it might be just to big though, but she has space to web and a cork bark piece to hide behind in the corner. What do you guys think? Pictured attached.

I’m not an expert but that looks like the same ratio of T size to space as my picture a few posts up here

 

[PAHNKAPIE]

I’m not an expert but that looks like the same ratio of T size to space as my picture a few posts up here

Yeah, your pic encouraged me to pull the trigger and give her a new enclosure. Her current one seemed okay but it was getting really dirty and I was worried it wasn’t enough space. I just worry about everything lol

 

[Smotzer]

Yeah, your pic encouraged me to pull the trigger and give her a new enclosure. Her current one seemed okay but it was getting really dirty and I was worried it wasn’t enough space. I just worry about everything lol

Glad to hear that my friend! I’m sure you’ll get some more comments about it too

Hey guys so the past couple days my sling has not stopped eating but will not hangout on the ground or web any, just clings to the side of the enclosure. Just want some opinions on if there is anything that could be going on with this guy(eg. stress)? this is just my first sling of this species, and to me it seems a little strange.

 

[Kitara]

I just worry about everything

Same! Also, likely noone will answer your sexing question because it has to be posted in the right forum. I can't link it right now, but it's in the picture gallery I believe.

@Smotzer mine does that too. She'll spend days just hanging out in the upper corner of her enclosure and then for seemingly no reason at all she'll take up residence back down on her web. Mine is neeeeever on the substrate and doesn't have a whole lot of webbing.

 

[Smotzer]

Same! Also, likely noone will answer your sexing question because it has to be posted in the right forum. I can't link it right now, but it's in the picture gallery I believe.

@Smotzer mine does that too. She'll spend days just hanging out in the upper corner of her enclosure and then for seemingly no reason at all she'll take up residence back down on her web. Mine is neeeeever on the substrate and doesn't have a whole lot of webbing.

Well maybe we have the two broke GBB’s that don’t act like normal GBB’s. At least I’m not alone!

 

[mjzheng]

Hey guys so the past couple days my sling has not stopped eating but will not hangout on the ground or web any, just clings to the side of the enclosure. Just want some opinions on if there is anything that could be going on with this guy(eg. stress)? this is just my first sling of this species, and to me it seems a little strange. View attachment 331805 View attachment 331806

If it makes you feel better , when I bought my GBB sling it did zero webbing until after it's first molt with me. It ate for about 2-3 weeks while mostly hanging out on wall or cork, sat sedentary during a 3 week premolt , molted , and literally a couple hours after molt it turned into a webbing MACHINE . I think it just took a long time to settle in . Since you just got it and it looks rather plump , it may just be not used to the new digs and saving up it's energy and/or entering premolt soon.

 

[cold blood]

She has been doing awesome as an update! She has molted again (she molted on Christmas day) and is eating again. I was wondering, if anyone still sees this on the thread, if anyone can tell from this pic if she is a male or female? Thanks!

She looks healthy.

I figured she probably needed some more ventilation

fwiw, for terrestrial ts kept dry, their ventilation needs are absolutely minimal.