Getting a sling

[ahas]

Thanks JungleGuts.

 

[lizmotobike]

i believe the rule of thumb is do not feed anything larger than its abdomen.

 

[Sequin]

Well, if it was me, I would have checked on it and saw that is was no longer in the web, and it wasn't eating it, soo.....common sense would have told me to find it...not wait weeks, or even a week. Dont you check on your T's regularly? That totally could have been avoided. I dont think I would feed a small sling a mealworm anyway...not at the size we are talking about...but that's just me. :?

It was a 1 inch sling. The mealie obviously had burrowed, how was I to know? The avic was a shy eater and wouldn't take prey immediatly. You're telling me you would of waited the potential multiple hours until you saw it eat? Give me a break, how many arachnids do you own if you have the time to wait for all your shy eaters?

After feeding everything, I give it 12 odd hours or so and check up on everything. The mealworm had disappeared, hence me not removing it as I thought it had been eaten.



Like stated in the original post, maiming/killing the cricket will ALWAYS be a safer alternative. I wouldn't disregard live pinheads altogether, because if you have the time and patience, watching a small sling hunt down live prey is very rewarding.

 

[Hamburglar]

Just for reference all of my slings take crickets with heads crushed. Works for me too because I don't have to find really small prey. I can give them larger ones and whatever they don't eat I take out the next day or whenever they finish. My P. cancerides attacks the pre-killed the same way it attacks live. It goes absolutely nuts when I drop something in....

 

[Sheazy]

It was a 1 inch sling. The mealie obviously had burrowed, how was I to know? The avic was a shy eater and wouldn't take prey immediatly. You're telling me you would of waited the potential multiple hours until you saw it eat? Give me a break, how many arachnids do you own if you have the time to wait for all your shy eaters?

I guess each keeper is different, but I dont keep my tiny arboreal slings with enough substrate to allow burrowing of mealworms...and before that fact even...I wouldn't even feed a 1" sling a mealworm, even a small one. As far as waiting multiple hours.... I still have yet to have one of my slings wait more than 30 min to attack possible prey items. They are all about the kill, and almost immediately pounce on pinheads. So no shy eaters here. Maybe I just dont feed mine enough...

After feeding everything, I give it 12 odd hours or so and check up on everything. The mealworm had disappeared, hence me not removing it as I thought it had been eaten.

Another difference, I am hypnotized by watching them stalk prey and eat it. I can post up a chair in front of my inverts and just sit back watching them, enjoying a corona. Feeding is as fun to watch as molting in my opinion, and yes, I do make time to actually watch them while they do what occurs naturally to them.

Like stated in the original post, maiming/killing the cricket will ALWAYS be a safer alternative. I wouldn't disregard live pinheads altogether, because if you have the time and patience, watching a small sling hunt down live prey is very rewarding.

Very rewarding indeed, but if someone doesn't see a pre-killed item that wasn't eaten it could possibly lead to bacteria, fungus growth, or mites. Especially if they are keeping the T in a high humidity habitat. This can happen by accidentally overlooking a prey item, or it could have been taken to a burrow for a later meal, covered, or slightly covered by substrate or moss..whatever. In cases where slings are kept by window, or even get the slightest amount of sun (ie,..mild rays through blinds) , it will surely cause more condesation inside (plus the heat), will accelerate bateria or mold growth. So I dont know if I would say it is ALWAYS safer...maybe it's just safer in your opinion.

 

[Sunar]

For my smallest slings that I worried about I froze crickets for them. Tossed them in a bag and put them in the freezer for a bit to kill them. They loved them. Just make sure you clean up any remains once they are done.

~Fred

 

[Varden]

First, I would try live pinheads. Some people say theirs will take pre-killed, but most of mine wont. Of course, I found this out after trying it and had to fish dead crickets out of each lil sling's habitat.

I'm one of those that only feed my slings pre-killed, having lost a few to hungry table-turning crickets. But I've found that newly hatched slings seem to need live prey to trigger their 'oh, this is food' instincts. Once they've killed their first cricket, I can then feed pre-killed. Until then, though, they just leave the cricket lying in the dirt.

 

[Sheazy]

I'm one of those that only feed my slings pre-killed, having lost a few to hungry table-turning crickets. But I've found that newly hatched slings seem to need live prey to trigger their 'oh, this is food' instincts. Once they've killed their first cricket, I can then feed pre-killed. Until then, though, they just leave the cricket lying in the dirt.

Yeah, it is strange. Mine even after a week of eating live..they just ignore the pre-killed, so I stopped trying. Also...like I mentioned, I had to fish out dead ones which caused uneeded stress on the T's. One almost ran up the forceps (escapee's suck), and another had one down in his burrow, so I had to get him out, then rehouse him after getting the dead cricket out of his burrow. I didn't want to disturb him, but had no choice. These are my main reasons for sticking to live prey. It just isn't a guarantee they will take pre-killed...

 

[Nitibus]

Why take the chance as there are no guarantees?



Common sense only takes you so far. The prey item that killed my avic sling was a small mealworm. I dropped it at the entrance of his web, where he usually grabs them. The mealie must of wiggled its way out of the web, because in a few weeks my avic got munched during a molt. Now, usually my aboreals molt inside the protection of their web, but for whatever reason s/he didn't. It's impossible for a keeper to control everything, even some of the most cautious enthusiasts have had bad experiences with feeders.

It had to have been a " super " worm. Normal mealworms are herbivores, " super's are omnivorous . If you stick with normal mealworms you should be OK.

 

[IdahoBiteyThing]

sling food

I detest crickets (smell ) so I generally use meal worms or really small roach nymphs. I do freeze or squish anything going to small slings; my thought is that in captive situations, we enclose both the T and the prey in a very small area- prey can't escape and neither can the T. Someone is gonna win, so I make sure and tilt the scales toward the T! That being said, I think it's good to vary what you feed to your slings, but any of the foods mentioned will work well. Oh, on the fruit flies- there are winged and wingless fruit fly varieties; the ones with wings are cool for arboreals, but they will fly all over your house and will make you nuts. Also, the fruit fly maggots are great for really tiny slings. I have also heard that a few people on the board are using aphid cultures as well (Talkenlate???). So lots of options. Good luck!