How do you ship spiderlings?

[rknralf]

Since I am going to send out half of the Usambara spiderlings to the owner of the male, I am looking for advice on sending out the spiderlings in mass. I was thinking of just putting some crumpled paper towel in their vial and sealing it up and sending it with Peat Moss and all. I figure this would allow for sufficient cushion during the trip.
Any thoughts, or advice on how to send them?
Thanks!
Ralph

 

[Vayu Son]

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en masse is a bad idea since they are likely to eat each other.

A responsible breeder would do it like this:

lightly dampen a few paper towels with warm water, squeeze the water out. fill an empty vial halfway with the paper towels. Unfold a paper towel and place a single sling on it, lightly wrap the paper towel around it, place it in the vial. Fill the remaining vial lightly with the rest of the warm damp paper towels. Close vial.

repeat process 40X. Place them in an empty yogurt cup filled with tissues, poke holes in the yogurt cup. 1X cup should fit about 3X vials. Place the cups in a styrofoam box fitted to a cardboard box over a small heating thingy. Fill the styrofoam with newspaper or styrofoam peanuts. Close the styrofoam box, close the cardboard box. Use clear electrical tape to seal the cardboard, do not poke holes in the cardboard(duck tape will get sticky and come off). Mark on the box "Harmless, Live Millipedes. Fragile. keep 70-80f, Avoid Extreme Temps".

Then send it overnight.

-V

 

[Immortal_sin]

I'd also send them separately, but then, I've never tried sending anything together. I sent 300 slings SEPARATELY...yikes! It took FOREVER. I just left them in their 1oz deli cup homes though, and did the moist paper towels on top of them, snug, but not tight.
The Usambaras were NOT as easy, they would come running out of the edge, and I had to chase several of them down. However, I left them in their 1oz deli cups as well, just using enough damp paper toweling to snug them in with the lid on.
I then took 3-5 deli cups, and wrapped them in newspaper together, and taped that up. Then I put them in a box lined with styrofoam, and styrofoam peanuts between the little 'packages'.
Everything in the box was snug, but not crushingly tight.
I used clear packing tape to seal the box, and voila! they were ready to go. At this time of year, I'd modify that with a heat pack though, since it's much colder here now.
The only ones that died were the ones I sent USPS to Johns, and I had used the clear plastic with air pockets. The airpockets somehow popped, and USPS somehow crushed the box, killing some of the slings.
I think the rest that I sent out made it ok.

 

[Wade]

Usambara slings aren't especially cannibalistic IME. I think you could get away with sending them in a mass, but I probably wouldn't use peat, I'd go with either long-fiber sphagnum or paper towels to pack them in.

Wade

 

[Immortal_sin]

yes, I forgot to mention, I think mine were in with vermiculite, not peat. (Usambaras, that is)
And no, they are not especially cannabalistic, but mine were, since I had them in too small of a container, with too many. I guess they just couldn't help themselves

 

[Rookie]

My querry

Hey people,
I have a much smaller problem than rknralf, but I'm also much less experienced than he is.
I'm only moving one T when it comes to my upcoming plane ride. However, how does a Tarantula Keeper with zero experience get a spiderling from its comfy home into a papertoweled pill bottle without hurting or losing the T?
Paul

 

[rknralf]

I appreciate the information, although, I had actually planned to ship them individually. Sorry for the confusion.
What I was hoping to do is take the vial that I would be keeping the spiderling in and putting some damp paper towel in so thaty ou would have peat, paper towel, and spiderling in each vial. I got the idea from a Brazilian Black spiderling I bought from a local petshop. They never removed the paper towel, so the spiderling had made a series of passages to get from the bottom to the top of the vial.
I know the peat will add to the weight for shipping, but it seems easier than trying to capture each one and wrap it for shipping without the peat moss.
Out of curiousity on the vermiculite, any reason for using this over peat moss? Would that work better for the ones I am shipping? Any additional information would be appreciated.

 

[rknralf]

Packing T's

As for Rookie's response, here is an excerpt from an email I received from Matt at e-spiderworld on how to pack a tarantula. He is very knowlegeable and has helped me out on several occasions.

... the best way to do this (at least the way I do it)
Is to first moisten about 5 pieces of paper towel then find a deli cup or one of those disposable glad ware Tupperware things.
Next fold a piece of paper towel in on itself to form a cushion on the bottom them take the left over pieces and overlap them to form a big square and lay that inside the container (the edges should hang way over the sides .
Now for the fun part. (this is where an extra container comes in handy) If you have an extra container (a clear one preferably) put it over the spider and slide the lid underneath him, (its best to do this part in the sink or a bathtub to prevent escape) then put it over the paper towel lined container and pull the lid out from between them.
Next put the lid back in-between them at the same time making the T go into the paper towel lined container now leave the lid in place and fold one side of the over hanging paper towel over the lid .
Pull the lid out and put back on top and repeat with the other 3 sides when you're done the T should be basically wrapped in paper towel.
Now put the lid back on and this time make sure it pops all the way on (you might want to tape it on as well)
Find some packing material (shredded paper foam peanuts..etc) place a decent layer on the bottom of the box them place container with T in and surround the T and fill the box the rest of the way up with the material.
You don't have to worry about pocking any holes in the box it'll be just fine without them ...

The other part is about the box, but based on weather/climate, you may want to use a heat-pack or some other means of keeping your T warm during the trip. As for getting additional information on heat packs, hopefully someone with experience on them can share as well.
Ralph

 

[Tranz]

Re: My querry

Originally posted by Rookie
Hey people,
I have a much smaller problem than rknralf, but I'm also much less experienced than he is.
I'm only moving one T when it comes to my upcoming plane ride. However, how does a Tarantula Keeper with zero experience get a spiderling from its comfy home into a papertoweled pill bottle without hurting or losing the T?
Paul

If I had to do it, I would use a prescription pill bottle that was a little wide. I would dump or chase the spider onto a paper towel. If you do this in the bathtub with the drain stopped and soft cloth towels down, it is better to keep the T from escaping.

The above-mentioned paper towel could already be stuffed in a deli cup or flat plastic container. The idea is to get the spider in the middle of the paper towel, then gather up the edges of the towel so the spider is encased in a little bulb. You might even wrap another paper towel around this bulb. Then just slide the bulb gently into your pill bottle, keeping the top of the towel twisted, and put the cap (with a few air holes punched in it) securely on the pill bottle. For a brief trip, I don't think you even need to moisten the paper towel. That's what I would do.

 

[Immortal_sin]

Originally posted by rknralf
Out of curiousity on the vermiculite, any reason for using this over peat moss? Would that work better for the ones I am shipping? Any additional information would be appreciated.

I have used both, and had no problems, so I don't know the reason to not use peat.
I just left the substrate that was in there already, in, and moistened it.

 

[Wade]

My suggestion against peat was based on the assumtion that you were going to pack a lot of spiders in a single container...a few dozen spiderlings packed in peat, or anything with a grannular consistancy, would be a very messy package for the reciever to have to open! But, since each will be in it's own container, just adding paper toweling to cusion the existing substrate in place should be sufficient.

Wade