How to feed really tiny slings!?!?!?

[hassman789]

ok how does everyone do this! everything i get is bigger than my G pulchripes by far! its so small whatever i put in there looks like it will eat the spider not the spider eats it! i tried chrushng a baby crickets beek and pulling som legs off it but it was still two times the size of the spider and the spider ran away! i also have small super worms. which of course are way bigger than my sling! its so scary and stressful!!! i just want my little baby to be ok! please help. :8o

 

[codykrr]

just find the smallest most appropriate sized pin head cricket or roach nymph, smash the head and toss it in..the sling will eat. trust me.

 

[Exo]

Yep, for the skittish slings you can use dead prey.

 

[whitewolf]

You can also use flightless fruit flies but they are a mess and pain to deal with. Haven't found a good way to dish them out one by one without 5 escaping for every one you need yet.

 

[codykrr]

^ i hear you there. i cant stand fruit flies any more because of that reason...

 

[kupo969]

I found mealworms (cut or whole) and cricket drumsticks work well.

 

[Moltar]

It will eat a small cricket leg. Just pull it off and toss it in there. Slings don't really eat a lot when they're really tiny. Even a drumstick (leg) can be a huge meal so they might only have 2-3 feedings between molts.

 

[hassman789]

drum sticks lol

well if i were to feed it the part where it looks like a chicken leg (i know what ur talking about i always compare it to a drum stick lol) would that be enough like protein and whatever it needs?

 

[Abby]

I freeze some mealworms, and then it's really easy to cut a small piece and give it to my slings, or I also use cricket legs as mentioned above.

My slings seem to prefer the thawed out piece of mealworm over the cricket legs, so I don't think it matters so much that the mealie was frozen at one point

 

[hassman789]

super worms

whats the difference betwen super worms and meal worms? is there? are super worms ok for a sling?

 

[Nerri1029]

I've cut up crickets, into thirds.

Never had a problem with them not eating.
Mold however can be an issue.

 

[hassman789]

dead food

so will it eat dead food? dont i need to wiggle the food around so it thinks its alive or do i just drop a freshly killed cricket or whatever in ther?

 

[codykrr]

yeah, just drop a prekilled pin head cricket in with it..it will eat it.

 

[Abby]

The superworms are way bigger than mealworms.
I buy the med size mealworms.
I have also frozen crickets and cut them in pieces.
I just freeze them to bring myself to cut them.

No need to wiggle the prey, just drop it in and the slings will find any dead prey

And just check the next day for whatever uneaten portion is there.
As said, you want to avoid mold issues, and slings sometimes won't eat the whole piece you throw in, and it can mold by the next day.

 

[Big B]

just find the smallest most appropriate sized pin head cricket or roach nymph, smash the head and toss it in..the sling will eat. trust me.

I agree, I do the same thing.

 

[Teal]

I don't have many problems with flightless fruit flies, once you get a system going. I've only had one sling that I had to feed dead prey to, because he was scared of even the fruit flies.

 

[Avicularia Man]

so will it eat dead food? dont i need to wiggle the food around so it thinks its alive or do i just drop a freshly killed cricket or whatever in ther?

I am waiting on the answer to this question as well. My youngest daughter's A> hentzi is only .25" and so far, it hasn't ate, but instead runs from even the smaller cricket. So just tossing a small dead cricket in the cage will do it, or do I need to move the dead food in front of the sling?

 

[jeff1962]

I have raised 9 slings, all from very small sizes on cricket legs. The advantage to this is you don't have to mess with an alternate food source just for the slings. You just take a medium or large cricket pull off a leg, feed the leg to the sling and the rest of the crick to a bigger spider.

This, of course, only works if you have a collection of T.'s of different sizes.

 

[codykrr]

I am waiting on the answer to this question as well. My youngest daughter's A> hentzi is only .25" and so far, it hasn't ate, but instead runs from even the smaller cricket. So just tossing a small dead cricket in the cage will do it, or do I need to move the dead food in front of the sling?

man. .25 being as how all aphonopelma sp. grow so slow it wont eat very much at all. but yes just smash the head of a baby cricket(or roach) and put it in with the sling. no wriggling required.

also your daughter will probly grow faster than that sling...so i hope she like spiders as she ages because she will probly be either a teen or young adult before that thing matures...lol

 

[hassman789]

growth rate

how long would it take for a chaco golden knee to get at least 4 inches? i kinda want to get one thats a little (alot) bigger than the one i have. because getting one this small was a mistake lol i still love the lil fella though! he/she is just adorable (its name is junier)