Got my giant white knee slings :)

[KaptinKrunch]

Hey all,

New to the board. Recently got x2 A. Geniculata's (Giant White Knee). I've had them just under 2 weeks. They're around 1cm in size.

They current live in the containers they came in. They look like pee vials you get at the doctors. Both are filled just above 3/4 with organic soil. Lots of air holes. I water every so often with a few droplets of water on the soil using a pipette. Average room temperature is 77F.

They're doing fine. They dig these impressive little burrows. Fascinating to watch because I didn't think they did that. I've read they do it as slings.

I feed them mealworms. I cut the worms to a small enough size (about the same size as the spider). I don't feed the head because I heard they have teeth and can kill a spider. Not sure if they're still alive when cut in half, but I don't risk it.

They wouldn't eat for about 7 days. Not sure why. I let them settle down and left them alone. I put some food in yesterday and when I went back to check they had wrapped their body around it and spent most of the day eating it. They were still eating it today.

I have a question though. What do I do about any left over bits of food the spider hasn't eaten? My spiders have dragged them down into their burrows. I'd have no way to get it out without replacing the soil and attempting to get the spider out. Sounds like messy business.

What do you advise?

Aside from that all is going good. I hope to give one to my son when they're less delicate and he's learnt to look after them. A few years yet. I want him to know that spiders are beautiful and shouldn't be feared (although I hate British house spiders. Yuck! Creepy little things!)

 

[CWilson1351]

Welcome to the boards and good to hear your slings are doing well. 2 of my G. pulchripes slings have dug burrows and tend to eventually push their rubbish out, usually along with more substrate. Yours might do the same.
What you said about mealworms is kind of true, they do have mandibles, not really teeth, that could bite the slings. If you're mealworms are not too small, or even for future reference, you can crush the head of the mealworms before feeding them to the Ts.

 

[Screamingreenmachine]

You're going to love those monsters! I adore my genic. Started out that size and now 8 months later it's around 4 times the leg span and always hungry!

As for the leftover food bits, don't worry about digging the slings out to get the bolus. They will most likely push them out on their own some day or might just leave a pile you'll never really be able to reach or see. My genic would have a nice collection of boli down in its burrow and then one day decided to shove it all out. I just remove whatever nasties I see as they appear in the open.

 

[BMQ]

Beautiful T. I have one about 2.5-3 inch or so and he is an absolute monster. I call him the garbage man because he always eats and attacks even dead prey. All my other T's wont eat the crickets when they die or don't move much, but my geniculata will, so he is the garbage man lol. Very fun and pretty species. Enjoy.