How difficult is it to wild catch slings?

[HairyPetRocks]

It's almost winter here in Finland and buying T's online is over for now. I'm thinking my next moves what do I want to buy next year. I'm worried about WC specimens and years ago I used to think that slings cannot be wild caught or it's more likely they are not wild caught specimens. How likely is that? If you buy online from someone for the first time, do you ask their T's origin?

 

[Mustafa67]

It's almost winter here in Finland and buying T's online is over for now. I'm thinking my next moves what do I want to buy next year. I'm worried about WC specimens and years ago I used to think that slings cannot be wild caught or it's more likely they are not wild caught specimens. How likely is that? If you buy online from someone for the first time, do you ask their T's origin?

Reputable sellers will put it on the listing if they’re captive bred (CB) or wild caught (WC). If it doesn’t say on the listing ask the seller

 

[Liquifin]

People usually will list whether specimens are wild caught or not.

 

[viper69]

It's almost winter here in Finland and buying T's online is over for now. I'm thinking my next moves what do I want to buy next year. I'm worried about WC specimens and years ago I used to think that slings cannot be wild caught or it's more likely they are not wild caught specimens. How likely is that? If you buy online from someone for the first time, do you ask their T's origin?

Slings can be WC

I don’t buy from peeps I don’t know or have extensive reviews from. Why? Because people lie all the time

 

[kingshockey]

nothing wrong with asking the seller good legit ones. will take the time to reply and answer your questions asap in detail cause your business matters to themyou might wanna look around for dealers in poland i have a couple of retailers i buy from here in the states that get imports from poland now that i think about it most if not all the slings i have bought probably were bred in poland or born from wc females

 

[Wolfram1]

Its hard to say in your case specifically as i am not familiar with how prevalent the scene is up north in your corner of europe, nor what kind of species you are looking for.

I'd say you are very unlikely to get WC slings unless you go for the very rarest of species. Most of the common species have been bred so much they are very cheap.

 

[Smotzer]

Slings can be WC

This is an aside, but I personally find at least a handful of Aphonopelma slings every year down here in Texas without intending to.

 

[HairyPetRocks]

Its hard to say in your case specifically as i am not familiar with how prevalent the scene is up north in your corner of europe, nor what kind of species you are looking for.

I'd say you are very unlikely to get WC slings unless you go for the very rarest of species. Most of the common species have been bred so much they are very cheap.

Well, keeping any invertebrate is kinda rare here. Tarantula scene is very narrow. I'm looking for Birubes simoroxigorum and Eucratoscelus pachypus. Those are maybe 'rarest' species of my list atm. B. simoroxigorum is pretty ''new'' still and E. pachypus is just overall rare imo. I don't know does anyone keep adult one in here in Finland even there are some social media channels for arachnid keepers.

 

[Sarkhan42]

Just wanted to contribute that its also quite common for "captive hatched" slings not to be labeled as such. I'd like to see more people using the appropriate label in those cases.

In most well established species you should be ok.

 

[Wolfram1]

Well, keeping any invertebrate is kinda rare here. Tarantula scene is very narrow. I'm looking for Birubes simoroxigorum and Eucratoscelus pachypus. Those are maybe 'rarest' species of my list atm. B. is pretty ''new'' still and E. pachypus is just overall rare imo. I don't know does anyone keep adult one in here in Finland even there are some social media channels for arachnid keepers.

Yea, Eucratoscelus pachypus is pretty hard to find, havent seen slings in forever actually, but B. simoroxigorum are being bred quite a bit now, i could have gotten some captive bred slings for around 10€ already, so they should drop in price fast in the next few years.

 

[cold blood]

While they can be caught, its highly unlikely to be finding wild caught slings being sold....problem is that slings are pretty non-descript looking, so identifying the species as a small sling is virtually impossible with the vast majority of species......when you buy slings, especially small ones, the vast majority willl be captive born because of this.

 

[viper69]

This is an aside, but I personally find at least a handful of Aphonopelma slings every year down here in Texas without intending to.

No wonder the population is dropping!!
I’ve only seen adults in the wild

 

[Matt Man]

first you have ton be in the right spot (difficult but do able). second you have to be there on the right day, when the slings head off on their own (lots of luck here, but people have taken photos of slings on the march while out on hikes)
So right place, right time puts the odds against you, but it could, and it does happen.
I would wager most WC slings are from WC Gravid Females who drop a sac in captivity. So as @cold blood says "Captive Born"
Catching them in the wild you'd have to be pretty sure you only had one species around. Where I live, we have 2 that exist synoptically so you wouldn't know precisely what they were until they were older.
Yes, winter on its way here.... BBBRRRRRRR. . second grab is inland in A. steindachneri habitat

 

[viper69]

first you have ton be in the right spot (difficult but do able). second you have to be there on the right day, when the slings head off on their own (lots of luck here, but people have taken photos of slings on the march while out on hikes)
So right place, right time puts the odds against you, but it could, and it does happen.
I would wager most WC slings are from WC Gravid Females who drop a sac in captivity. So as @cold blood says "Captive Born"
Catching them in the wild you'd have to be pretty sure you only had one species around. Where I live, we have 2 that exist synoptically so you wouldn't know precisely what they were until they were older.
Yes, winter on its way here.... BBBRRRRRRR. . second grab is inland in A. steindachneri habitat

SD has the best weather in lower 48.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I’d think most wc are juvys or adults because you cant identify slings. You would be selling a mystery species finding a Random sling ..
Unless a wc female has slings you can’t identify them.

 

[TheraMygale]

The chances of slings being wild caught is slim.

its the adults.

its easy for poachers to catch them and sell.

if you are buying online from a shell company, then there is no way of knowing. You are in Europe. Either you get from reputable breeder, or you are getting stuff thats been passed down through the black market.

how else do you think the stock of tarantulas from brazil and chili is still up and going?

i have a dealer that only does captive bred. And when i want something rare, they cant offer it to me, even if i see it available in usa and europe because sources are not reliable.

my dealer only wants clean business. Some tarantulas they breed themselves, others they import like every other dealer.

a true, trustworthy dealer, will mention that they do only captive, or mention the wild caught status.

if no info is available, and you get no replies for information, then consider that.

breeders in europe need fresh stock at some point. Wild doesnt mean illegal. Many people do clean business. Its up to the buyer to get informed on where they are buying.

and we need wild caught. No matter what people will say. If the specimens are harvested legaly with appropriate paperwork, then its good. No one wishes for inbreeding to be the foothold of tarantula keeping, even if it is an issue.

 

[The Spider House]

Sellers should let you know if WC or CB

It is however reasonably common for WC females to lay a sac after capture and then you effectively have "WC" slings....even if the seller then claims they are CB. Ha ha

 

[TheraMygale]

Sellers should let you know if WC or CB

It is however reasonably common for WC females to lay a sac after capture and then you effectively have "WC" slings....even if the seller then claims they are CB. Ha ha

good point! Thats an entire other context. The slings would be wild indeed. Just not caught as a sling in the wild.

thanks for adding that bit.

many breeders get wild caught adults. At one point its needed.

like you said, the dealer/breeder should disclose this information, if they are honnest.