How old is a sling?

dragonblade71

Arachnobaron
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On this board, I notice there is a lot of discussion about ‘slings’. The ‘Beginner Info’ section of the forum didn’t really answer my question about the definition of what a sling actually is but from reading online discussions, I get the impression that they are somewhere in between a juvenile and an adult. Am I correct? If so, I guess they could be considered an adolescent by some. I know this would vary from species to species but roughly how large would a tarantula sling be?

Additionally, I was also reading that slings require a high level of maintenance. What specifically would be required then in terms of maintenance? And just recently, I read a post that mentioned that slings only need to be fed about once a week - this seems to be quite a contradiction to the high maintenance philosophy!
 

AubZ

Arachnoprince
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You definately got one thing wrong there. A sling turns into a Juvenile, then sub adult, then adult.
I am not too sure when they are classes as Juvi's but from when they are born they are considered slings until...................., then they are Juvies.
Can some of the more experienced guys please fill in the blank as I have heard that is goes according to size by some and by others when slight adult coloration starts showing.
 

dragonblade71

Arachnobaron
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Oops! My bad. Though still, I would like to know more about the different stages of life of a tarantula.
 

AubZ

Arachnoprince
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I'm not sure of the sizes and whatnot but it goes in the order

Sling
Juvenile
Sub Adult
Adult

Other guys will have to give you the classification of how they fit those stages as a T Blondi sling will be the size of a G Rosea Juvi I think.
 

Moltar

ArachnoGod
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I'm not an expert by any means but i've always assumed that they are spiderlings until they have adult coloration. Juveniles until..... Sub adults until sexually mature then adults.

So i'll (not) answer your question with another question:
When do they go from juvies to sub-adults?
 

AubZ

Arachnoprince
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One more blank to go. Hehe, hopefully. I would actually love to know if it's all about coloration or size??
 

WyvernsLair

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My personal method..

sling = anything up to 1 inch.
juvenile = 1 inch and up to varying sizes
subadult... that gets harder to define ..when it's near or at adult size depending on species.
adult = mature enough to start breeding
 

cacoseraph

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personal method:

nymphs - white/translucent coloring. typically this stage is only seen if you cut open an eggsac
slings (short for spiderling, incase anyone missed that) - after nymph. i call stuff spiderlings when it is like, < 25% adult size
juv (juvenile) - 25% < sizeof(bug) < 75%
subadult - >75% adult size
adult - adult size



but if it is important to know unambiguously what something is i ask for measurements and methods, or a ruler pic

and the subadult/adult divide is VERY grey.... likely more species than not can breed at "subadult" size. this is definitely true for centipedes


also, since size can be affected by growing method and there is probably a large variation inside the species in the size of sexual maturity these labels should be understood to be very rough and not super useful.


also, talking about age... i have G. rosea slings that i am slow growing that are going to be under and inch for YEARS... in which time a powergrown male could go from egg to grave... so everything is all relative and like, confusing =P
 

Varden

Arachnodemon
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Boy, I guess it's all relative. Cacoseraph has a good method. Mine is:

eggs molt into eggs w/legs.
eggs w/legs molt into slings
slings become juveniles at 2" for most species (Unless the adult species is 2" or small, in which case they become juveniles when they start to take on adult coloration)
I call them sub-adult when they hit 75% of their adult size
Adults are what I consider to be breedable
 

kyrga

Arachnobaron
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also, talking about age... i have G. rosea slings that i am slow growing that are going to be under and inch for YEARS... in which time a powergrown male could go from egg to grave... so everything is all relative and like, confusing =P
Sounds interesting. I'd be interested to hear how long some of the females live.
 

cheetah13mo

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Boy, I guess it's all relative. Cacoseraph has a good method. Mine is:

eggs molt into eggs w/legs.
eggs w/legs molt into slings
slings become juveniles at 2" for most species (Unless the adult species is 2" or small, in which case they become juveniles when they start to take on adult coloration)
I call them sub-adult when they hit 75% of their adult size
Adults are what I consider to be breedable
I like this method. This is what I use for myself. Also, as far as how old a sling can be, try this. I just aquired an Aphonopelma Spp. Carlsbad Green sling and it's around 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches in size. I got it from Botar and he told me he has had it for about 5 years. I can tell it is no where near molting either so take from that what you will but it looks like I'm in this hobby for the long hual whether I want to be or not. lol
 

Drachenjager

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personal method:

nymphs - white/translucent coloring. typically this stage is only seen if you cut open an eggsac
slings (short for spiderling, incase anyone missed that) - after nymph. i call stuff spiderlings when it is like, < 25% adult size
juv (juvenile) - 25% < sizeof(bug) < 75%
subadult - >75% adult size
adult - adult size



but if it is important to know unambiguously what something is i ask for measurements and methods, or a ruler pic

and the subadult/adult divide is VERY grey.... likely more species than not can breed at "subadult" size. this is definitely true for centipedes


also, since size can be affected by growing method and there is probably a large variation inside the species in the size of sexual maturity these labels should be understood to be very rough and not super useful.


also, talking about age... i have G. rosea slings that i am slow growing that are going to be under and inch for YEARS... in which time a powergrown male could go from egg to grave... so everything is all relative and like, confusing =P
then you have the anomolies like that one A. hentzi mature male with big boxing gloves and big promonient hooks and leg span of 3" lol

its probably all relative anyway. technically anything that is less than adult is a sub adult (sub- under/below/less adult - adult) i dont really like that term. I figgure after it gets adult colors but is not mature its a juvie when its mature its adult. and then if you want to know how big ask the Leg span and that gives you an idea.
on anothe note please remember that a small leg span increase CAN mean a large body size increase. I had a T blondi molt 3 times i my care and the leg spand only increases about 3/4" inch but the carapace and abdomen size went nutz. do the differance between a 3 and a 3 1/2" spider may be a lot.
 

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
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Boy, I guess it's all relative. Cacoseraph has a good method. Mine is:

eggs molt into eggs w/legs.
eggs w/legs molt into slings
slings become juveniles at 2" for most species (Unless the adult species is 2" or small, in which case they become juveniles when they start to take on adult coloration)
I call them sub-adult when they hit 75% of their adult size
Adults are what I consider to be breedable
But eggs with legs don't molt into feeding slings........:? So shouldn’t there be 1 more category in your list?
 

Varden

Arachnodemon
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But eggs with legs don't molt into feeding slings........:? So shouldn’t there be 1 more category in your list?
Unless I missed something, he didn't specify feeding slings, he just said slings. 1st instar counts as that, or at least it does to me. But as I said, it's all relative.
 

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
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Oh I thought you were trying to make a list of the stages. And it is all relative thats for sure.
 
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