Is my Juvenile ok? (overfeed) and other questions from someone new to slings

[04lss]

HI all,

Pre covid and during part of the pandemic, i had several tarantulas. All came to me as relatively large adults, or late state pre adults. due to difficulties finding feeders, and a few other things, i had to sell/donate my Ts. Recently i decided to get back into the hobby. after a decent amount of research and the sudden appearance of the local reptile show, i ended up with a Green Bottle Blue sling/juvenile (not sure where it lands). I received it on saturday, feed it two very small crickets (the size up from Pin heads) the abdomen seems very big. It seems to be rather lethargic today and im worried i over fed it and it might be sick. Alternatively maybe its just pre-molt? (photo below).

I also (somehow) now have 5 seperate Ts. A p Sazimai (free with the GBB) An H Colombia (who can pass up a 20 dollar pumpkin patch) an L parahybana ,(who can resist a salmon bird eater) and finally a V chromatus (free with the Salmon birdeater) The Colombia, the Sazimai and the Chromatus are all very small like the size of my Pinky nail. Ive gotten a lot of advice, ive never cared for sling before, and id hate to loose them from my own inept care. Please take a look at my plan below. All of the Ts have water dishes and cross ventilated containers (except the GBB which hasnt been rehomed yet)

Here is my current strategy:
I have Small Red runner roaches and hatchling red runners

1. Bottle blue ( C cyaneopubescens ) (maybe in a week or two) feed 1 of the smallest small red runner roaches. (advice from Fear not Tarantulas, which is "Local" ) Leave him mostly alone aside from water in the dish, and maybe a drop here or there. if roaches arent available 1-2 small crickets.
2. Salmon ( l parahybana) Feed 1 of the larger small roaches per week, top off the water dish and drip some water on the edges of the enclsoure. I had this one rehomed before i left the store with him. If the roaches are unavailable 2-3 Small crickets
3. P sazimai, Colombia, Chromatus Plan is to feed them one of the hatchling roaches per week, maybe twice after a molt. Failing the roaches, 2 pinhead crickets.

 

[FatBadBay]

From what I can see in the picture, it looks like a healthy, plump sling. If it's sluggish, it could be in premolt. I wouldn't stress about it.

 

[04lss]

Sweet. I am hoping to let it molt then re-home. if it's in pre-molt dont want to over stress it.

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Does he have any ventilation in there?

 

[04lss]

Does he have any ventilation in there?

Hes in the container i bought him in. It has a number of holes in the lid. 6-7 holes about the size of a pen head.

 

[viper69]

Your Green Bottle Blue- that’s the CORRECT common name- is fat as the sun- will molt at some point! Keep it up

No one knows what your pinky nail size is so that’s not helpful.

But the largest issue with slings and peeps not used to caring for them is dehydration and underfeeding

 

[goofyGoober99]

Lil bro looks nice and chunky .
Definitely best to just keep the water dish full and wait.

If you haven't seen it already, Tom Morans sling guide on youtube was very helpful when I got my first peppercorn sized sling.

Congrats on all your new tarantulas!!

 

[Brewser]

Welcome Back, to Keeping Arachnids
Congrats on your New World Tarantulas
Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens / GBB - Green Bottle Blue
Lasiodora parahybana / Salmon Pink Birdeater
Pterinopelma sazimai / Lasiocyaneo sazimai / Brazilian Blue
Vitalis chromatus / Brazilian Red and White
Hapolopus sp colombia / Pumpkin Patch
Patiently Sling Em Water and Feed.
Sounds Good, send more pics of the 'Clan When You Can'.
Best Regard and Wish You 'All' the Best.

 

[Gevo]

Your plan looks reasonable! Remember with slings that the time between showing signs of premolt and actually molting can be shorter than it typically is with adults, so don't leave crickets in there for too long if it doesn't look like the sling is interested in them. If you're unsure, you can leave them prekilled prey items overnight.

I second the recommendation to read the Tom's Big Spiders page on slings.

 

[04lss]

Thanks All! Ive been watching Tom's videos and i have a question about moisture. I created the little furrows on the corners and ive been adding water. seems like its going to take a lot more water than i was expecting to moisten the bottom later of substrate. This seems to make sense, but i dont want to flood my T, can anyone check me here? for example, I have my 1.5 inch lasiadora in an 8*6*6 enclosure.
I filled up the corners 2-3 times and it doesn't look like it made a big difference. also sidenote my slings seem to be between 1/4 and 1/2 for the Colombia and the chromatus.

 

[NMTs]

Thanks All! Ive been watching Tom's videos and i have a question about moisture. I created the little furrows on the corners and ive been adding water. seems like its going to take a lot more water than i was expecting to moisten the bottom later of substrate. This seems to make sense, but i dont want to flood my T, can anyone check me here? for example, I have my 1.5 inch lasiadora in an 8*6*6 enclosure.
I filled up the corners 2-3 times and it doesn't look like it made a big difference. also sidenote my slings seem to be between 1/4 and 1/2 for the Colombia and the chromatus. View attachment 486392

Dry substrate works like a sponge, and it's hard to get a sponge to absorb water exactly where you want it to... Don't focus too much on having bottom layers moist - the important part is that at least a portion of the sub is moist so your sling can hang out there if it wants to. It looks like you've accomplished that, so maybe add a bit more water, then let it mostly dry out before you add more. As long as you keep the water dish full so your sling can drink when needed, you should be good. If you notice the sling hanging out around/over the water dish or areas with moist sub, that would indicate it may require additional moisture and you can wet a larger area.

 

[TheraMygale]

Depending on which tarantulas your adding water to, in the sub, its ok to go in small increments. As stated by @NMTs, this substrate can be a challenge to moisture.

Cocofiber and or reptisoil, once absolutely dry, is very hard to moisten again. So i dont reccomend pouring a litre of water. Just adding a bit everytime.

I use a pipette for my corners and wait a while. Sometimes i add more water at another feeding. I can always add more later: i cant remove if i oversaturate.

If you want it to go all the way down, get that corner hole really dug with a stick or something, all the way to the bottom. Then, atleast, it will travel further down. It might not absorb evenly either. No matter how hard you try.

So going slowly is better. It also lets you learn the different colors your substrate can get depending on how much water you put.

This is a necessary learning curve.