How often to feed slings/juveniles?

acehelpful

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 2, 2021
Messages
8
Hello, I have a simple or not.. question!

I have made a excel chart with slings/juveniles I got (2) and every sunday I give them food (crickets) and change water dishes or spray them.
to my question: is it enough to feed a sling and juvenile once a week? I have heard from other people they feed them every 2 days!

My other big question is, if my sling does not kill the cricket immediadtly, should I remove the prey in a few minutes? or should I remove the prey the next day? should I leave the cricket alive if the sling doesnt eat it immediatly? or should I kill him and leave him for a day? I am always very concern that they dont eat! I have 1 sling for now a week and he/she didnt eat I tried once, and I will try tomorrow on sunday again, any advice would be awsome!
 

Mister B

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 8, 2021
Messages
15
If it's a small meal then I feed my sling every 2-3 days, if it's a large meal I feed once a week.
My juvi I feed 1-2 crickets twice a week depending on its size, if it's looking a bit fat I hold off feeding for a week or so.

I always kill the prey before I put it in the sling enclosure then it can't do any harm if it's not eaten straight away, leave the prey in overnight, then remove it the next morning if it's not been eaten or the slings moved it, if its not been eaten then the sling could be in premolt and best left undisturbed until it's molted, after it's molted I leave the sling alone for 5-7 days before offering food again.
Don't worry if it doesn't eat, tarantulas can go without food for a very long time, just make sure it's got a full water dish

.have a read of this, it'll help you a lot https://tomsbigspiders.com/


the above information is based solely on my experience, others probably do things differently ?
 
Last edited:

cold blood

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13,223
s it enough to feed a sling and juvenile once a week? I have heard from other people they feed them every 2 days!
Feeding schedules vary from person to person...they hold NO bearing on the ts health.....20 people could give you 20 different feeding schedules and all could raise the same healthy t. DO NOT get hung up on schedules, they are for you, not the t...ts dont require such a thing.

Generally speaking, a t will always be hungriest after molting, and as the t plumps, its need for food decreases until its just not required any more....see, fat ts, even slings, do not require to be fed.
My other big question is, if my sling does not kill the cricket immediadtly, should I remove the prey in a few minutes? or should I remove the prey the next day? should I leave the cricket alive if the sling doesnt eat it immediatly? or should I kill him and leave him for a day? I am always very concern that they dont eat!
Again, fat ts dont need food. Food refusal is completely normal and natural. Food refusal is not something that should be alarming, in fact, it should be expected.
1 sling for now a week and he/she didnt eat I tried once, and I will try tomorrow on sunday again,
If a t refuses food, and is plump, there is no reason to keep offering....just sit back and wait for the t to molt.
 

acehelpful

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 2, 2021
Messages
8
Feeding schedules vary from person to person...they hold NO bearing on the ts health.....20 people could give you 20 different feeding schedules and all could raise the same healthy t. DO NOT get hung up on schedules, they are for you, not the t...ts dont require such a thing.

Generally speaking, a t will always be hungriest after molting, and as the t plumps, its need for food decreases until its just not required any more....see, fat ts, even slings, do not require to be fed.


Again, fat ts dont need food. Food refusal is completely normal and natural. Food refusal is not something that should be alarming, in fact, it should be expected.

If a t refuses food, and is plump, there is no reason to keep offering....just sit back and wait for the t to molt.
Thank you, that helped me :)
 

Edan bandoot

Arachnoprince
Joined
Sep 5, 2019
Messages
1,602
Hello, I have a simple or not.. question!

I have made a excel chart with slings/juveniles I got (2) and every sunday I give them food (crickets) and change water dishes or spray them.
to my question: is it enough to feed a sling and juvenile once a week? I have heard from other people they feed them every 2 days!

My other big question is, if my sling does not kill the cricket immediadtly, should I remove the prey in a few minutes? or should I remove the prey the next day? should I leave the cricket alive if the sling doesnt eat it immediatly? or should I kill him and leave him for a day? I am always very concern that they dont eat! I have 1 sling for now a week and he/she didnt eat I tried once, and I will try tomorrow on sunday again, any advice would be awsome!
Once a week works fine. When I was in school I fed twice a week, now that I work I feed once a week. The schedule is more for the keeper than the bug ime.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
What species do you own????????????????????????????????


spray them.
Why are you doing this?
is it enough to feed a sling and juvenile once a week?
It can be for some species, and for some specimens. Each T metabolizes different, more pronounced differences across species.

I have heard from other people they feed them every 2 days!
I do this.

should I remove the prey in a few minutes?
No

should I leave the cricket alive if the sling doesnt eat it immediatly?
Depends, sometimes I leave it in for days

or should I kill him and leave him for a day?
No- unless your T is only a few millimeters and they prey is larger. FEED proper sized prey!

I am always very concern that they dont eat!
I'm not- pay attention to their abdomen size to keep your sanity.

Bitte
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
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Dec 8, 2006
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emilia can go without food for a very long time provided abdomen is good sized. always keep a water dish though.
 

Timc

Arachnosquire
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Feb 13, 2017
Messages
84
In response to removing the prey right away if it’s not pounced on, just leave it in. I have an A. chalchodes that absolutely will not eat with the lid off and the lights on. She just won’t do it. Once after her latest molt if I remember correctly, but generally she likes it quiet and dark. If I check back in a few hours or the next day and the cricket is still in there then I remove it. Just because it doesn’t happen right away doesn’t mean it won’t happen at all.
 

Arachnanoob95

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 26, 2019
Messages
43
I keep track of everything I feed my T's. I like being able to check back, to see when they ate last. I currently have 4 T's with a T specific feeding chart, so to speak.
1. My T. cyaneolum (AF) pretty much refuses everything I give, since the beginning of the year. So I only try from time to time. I just give her water every week.
2. My T. albo (sling/juvie) is looking pretty fat. (S)he gets an offering maybe once a month, and only smaller prey. She is fat enough. Also gets water regularly.
3. Recently matured male H. chilensis gets small prey, only now and then. He will get sold soon, and hopefully fathers a bunch of babies.
4. My A. chalcodes sling, barely a cm big, has not eaten since July. It's super fat. It needs to molt. I just give it water every week, it's still perfectly fine.

So pretty much none of my T's are on a feeding schedule. Never really were. I usually stop feeding or feed less often when they are too fat anyways.
My other T's I feed kinda whenever. Sometimes once a week, sometimes I wait longer.
 

The Grym Reaper

Arachnoreaper
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Messages
4,835
is it enough to feed a sling and juvenile once a week? I have heard from other people they feed them every 2 days!
Depends on the species.

I use the following schedules.

Faster growing species

Slings under 1" - every 3 days
Slings over 1" - every 5 days
Small juveniles - every 7 days
Larger juveniles - every 10 days
Subadults/adults - every 14-21 days

Slower growing species

Slings under 1" - every 7 days
Slings over 1" - every 10 days
Small juveniles - every 14 days
Larger juveniles - every 21 days
Subadults/adults - every 4-6 weeks
 

excelsia

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 11, 2021
Messages
1
I'm curious how long a 1in sling could stay in pre-molt? I have an OBT sling that ate great when I first got it. For the past 5 days, I've been taking the uneaten prey out every morning. It doesn't seem yo leave the burrow. It used to always have at least its front legs sticking out.
 
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