How often do you feed a sling/ and how do you get the FFF's into the enclosure!!!?

[Espionage2501]

How often should I feed my .75'' A. versicolor sling? I am feeding it Flightless Fruit Flies at the moment. I heard anywhere from 2-3 times a week, but how many FFF's should I give per serving. It doesn't seem like a lot of food compared to pin-head crickets!

Also now that I got my sling in it's enclosure... are there any tips on how to catch these dang Flightless Fruit Flies? I kind of tapped it on my desk and most of them fell to the ground and I was able to capture 3-4 of them, but it sure seemed like quite a hassle and a lot of them escaped! Can you put them in the fridge/freezer to knock them out or does that kill them? Anyways any tips you can offer would be greatly appreciated! I am starting to get the hang of this, but I am still pretty new lol

 

[mmfh]

Lol, I open the lid and give a quick tap, like on a salt shaker. I was feeding a terrestrial so I got about 8 in the little enclosure, 10 on the floor, and smashed 2 or 3 when I tried to get the lid on before they all escaped. Good luck.

 

[Espionage2501]

Haha i really wish i would have read this before I tried feeding my sling. i literally killed like at least 20 with the lid lol.

 

[DannyH]

Haha i really wish i would have read this before I tried feeding my sling. i literally killed like at least 20 with the lid lol.

Slings or fruit flys!?

 

[Espionage2501]

fruit flies... not slings!

---------- Post added 11-04-2011 at 04:09 PM ----------

I am super careful with both my T's

 

[DannyH]

fruit flies... not slings!

---------- Post added 11-04-2011 at 04:09 PM ----------

I am super careful with both my T's

Oh thank god! lol sorry

 

[Transient]

You could stick the bottle in the fridge for ten minutes, to calm them down. They might act a little wonky after but when they warm up they'll be back to being a royal pain.

 

[scuba113]

I never tried using fruit flies as food iam getting a good shake of the container will get a good amount in the tank

 

[Popsmoke63B]

Put a few in every couple days. I fed FFFs fot @2 weeks, then starting cutting large superworms into thirds and fed them to my slings.

 

[Espionage2501]

Okay, cool, thank you! I will probably finish off this batch of FFFs and then move on to pin heads or something a little bigger in a couple weeks. I just watched my sling eat for the first time! Got two FFFs in a few hours. There are still a couple in its enclosure so I wont feed it for a few days.

 

[catfishrod69]

take fruit flies.....toss in trash.....then use prekilled tiny crickets...those versi's will take live crickets bigger than the fruit flies...

 

[stewstew8282]

indeed, my versi sling was .5in when i got it, and i fed it the leg of a crix i was abt to feed to my other t till it molted, then the smalls from petco(they usually range in size a lil, sooo the smaller ones to the smaller T's, larger to the larger ones) were small enough for it to tackle..trust me ur sling isnt dainty..itll jack that crix up 8 ways to sunday

 

[ImDeadly]

I use FFF and you can use the refrigerator method, it does work. Gives you plenty of time to grab one but they will start moving normally in about 10 to 15 seconds of opening lid, which is plenty of time. If your lazy like me, I just get a pair of tweezers and tap the container, open a portion of the lid and grab one real quick. Takes a couple times to get it right but either way is fine. I can tweezer out one FFF in a container of 300 FFF no prob. As for how many, well that depends on the T's attitude. I have had my sling for a month and it has yet to attack live prey, instead choosing to run away from them. I squish the head so to keep the juicy part intact and set it to the edge where the sling tends to patrol and it will either eat it in the next 24 hours or it won't. If not take it out and try another the next day. I only put one at a time in so as to not lose the uneaten ones. They can be hard to find sometimes, especially on coco-fiber. You don't want a bunch of dead bugs in the enclosure for long periods. Oh and also from my personal experience they tend to feed better when the substrate is freshly moistened. On dry out days it doesn't seem to have as much of an appetite. Sorry for long post but I like to help as much as possible.

 

[Espionage2501]

I got a few pin head crickets today and the sling grabbed one no problem! And it also just started working on its second web. The slings web is noticeably more elaborate than its first attempt too. I was going to crush the crickets heads but they are super tiny (smaller than the slings abdomen) so I figured the sling could take it. Arboreal spiders are so cool haha

 

[Louis Winthorpe III]

I got a few pin head crickets today and the sling grabbed one no problem! And it also just started working on its second web. The slings web is noticeably more elaborate than its first attempt too. I was going to crush the crickets heads but they are super tiny (smaller than the slings abdomen) so I figured the sling could take it. Arboreal spiders are so cool haha

Glad it worked out for you! FFF are a pain IMO. I have a .75 G. rosea sling, and have been feeding her small crickets since she arrived. I take the jumping legs off, and she just snatches em up with no problem. I feed her one about every other day. Good luck with your sling!

 

[Formerphobe]

take fruit flies.....toss in trash.....then use prekilled tiny crickets...those versi's will take live crickets bigger than the fruit flies...

:laugh: +1
I tried those dang hoppy, skippy, jumpy FFF once. I should have saved my money. I don't know that I ever got any actually in the sling vials...

 

[jam5906]

catching FFF trick... they eat yeast so it you put out a shallow dish of water (warm) with yeast in it they will flock to it like it is gold and then soon drowned in it. if you raise the flys in a "slurpee" type cup (domed lid with a fome plug) it is much easier to tap them out.

 

[catfishrod69]

the FFF culture i had...i tried the tapping, but all of the media came sloshing out with them...

catching FFF trick... they eat yeast so it you put out a shallow dish of water (warm) with yeast in it they will flock to it like it is gold and then soon drowned in it. if you raise the flys in a "slurpee" type cup (domed lid with a fome plug) it is much easier to tap them out.

 

[jam5906]

add some potato flakes to it that is the main ingredient it will soak up the extra water. not too much you don't want to make it too deep for the maggots to dig out

 

[catfishrod69]

yep i added alot to thicken it...didnt get enough i imagine...oh well...i prefer pre killed roaches and crickets any day....thanks though..

add some potato flakes to it that is the main ingredient it will soak up the extra water. not too much you don't want to make it too deep for the maggots to dig out