H. Mac sling sensitivity.

[DomGom TheFather]

I've heard that H. maculata slings can be a bit sensitive.
But to what?
Some say dry. Some say wet.
Maybe they require a butter zone that gets missed.
I recently lost a tiny one and it got me wondering what people familiar with raising this species have experienced.
Do seasoned h. Mac keepers suffer more frequent losses with these guys?

 

[ZHESSWA]

I've only had one in my experience, but raised her up from a sling to adulthood (she's a little over 3 years old currently). I kept mine bone dry except for a water dish. As a sling she had a bottle cap water dish and right now its a little deli cup. Other than that, I kept it entirely dry just on coco fiber. Always made sure she had height but then a lot of substrate to dig and tunnel in. She always has made use of this and even currently in her Exo-Terra nano she has a burrow and a huge extension of that burrow that goes upwards and is partially suspended in air by her webs. I catch her out and about a good amount too! Super shy though she'll bolt at any noticeable disturbance and is very photo/light sensitive. Definitely one of my favorite tarantulas, I'll always have one, and believe they're massively under appreciated.

 

[Liquifin]

Well, H. mac slings are some of the toughest and hardiest slings I've ever had. But specimens may vary as well I guess. I haven't heard of people losing specimens because they're sensitive.

I gotta say, H. macs are impressive to look at, but their reclusive nature and not-so-good attitudes are a bit of a turn off to most people. I actually prefer the S. calceatum over the H. maculata because while they both have a reputation, the S. caleatum are much more better behaved and much better eaters in general. It's been a while since I've seen someone produced a H. mac sac as I've seen a lot of S. calceatum slings produced this year.

 

[Royalty]

I started with a 1inch H.mac (tho when I got it, it seemed almost like 2 inches) I first fill some cocoa fibre in and make it a bit damp, then layer some more over that is drier but not bone dry, that way they can dig down to the moisture level they like.

I find my S.calcaetum is more reclusive than my H.mac tho there is size/age difference. My H.mac always came ALL the way out at night after sunset like clockwork. Lately it has been chillin out a lot more, even molted inview. It webbed a LOT tho so it is a bit hard to get a pic tho I can see it wel when I peer through the web tunnels.

 

[DomGom TheFather]

I haven't had a loss in years and this was the first sling I ever lost. It was also my first h. Mac.
This guy was maybe slightly over a quarter inch and it looked thin when I got it but I gave it a goldielocks situation and lost it. Not sure if it could have been prevented.
It got me wondering if they were actually that sensitive or if my lil booger was doomed to die in a deli cup no matter who got it.

 

[FrDoc]

I haven't had a loss in years and this was the first sling I ever lost. It was also my first h. Mac.
This guy was maybe slightly over a quarter inch and it looked thin when I got it but I gave it a goldielocks situation and lost it. Not sure if it could have been prevented.
It got me wondering if they were actually that sensitive or if my lil booger was doomed to die in a deli cup no matter who got it.

I’m thinking your last conjecture is pretty much spot on. I have two, and as stated above, I keep mine on bone dry topsoil with a water dish. One usually has the dish completely webbed over, so I just wet the web. I love ‘em, and I see both of mine every day. They are my favorite overall species.

 

[ZHESSWA]

I haven't had a loss in years and this was the first sling I ever lost. It was also my first h. Mac.
This guy was maybe slightly over a quarter inch and it looked thin when I got it but I gave it a goldielocks situation and lost it. Not sure if it could have been prevented.
It got me wondering if they were actually that sensitive or if my lil booger was doomed to die in a deli cup no matter who got it.

Yea that's extremely small, I'm sorry for your loss! My guess is he/she probably was in rough shape to begin with. When I got my sling it was probably 3/4 of an inch or maybe even a full inch. Ate always and never had any problems with her. Despite the lightening speed, rehouses have been a breeze. Definitely try again and get another and I advise dry substrate.

 

[Royalty]

All slings at a very small size can be more delicate. Tbh, I had an LP that I got as a freebie that died. It was VERY tiny. I later got some similar freebies around the same size and kept them pretty much the same and they have been thriving. I keep all of my tiny ones somewhat damp. Don't worry about keeping them on bone dry substrate until they are larger. When they are tiny they dry out much faster.

 

[cold blood]

Well, H. mac slings are some of the toughest and hardiest slings I've ever had

The polar opposite of my experiences...I find them to be the very most delicate slings of any species I have ever raised, bar none.....its literally the only species I have ever struggled with when I first got them.

Keeping them damp or even partially damp like most have success with and I couldn't keep them alive...only when I bucked the trend and started keeping them bone dry did I find success.

This is part of what makes them difficult.....some only have success damp, others only find success dry, some have issues, some think they're bullet proof, so its like, which is the right way? Its tough when my right way and another successful keepers right way are in complete contrast....how does the new owner know where to start....to me they are like a trial and error for every individual keeper. The fact that slings grow so slowly doesn't help either as they can stay in this delicate stage for a long time.

JME