Just placed my first T order... so excited!

[TreF68]

So I just placed an order with Jamie over at Jamiestarantulas.com, and I am very very excited. I ordered all slings:

1x A. Purpurea & Arboreal spiderling Enclosure kit
1x A. versicolor & Arboreal spiderling enclosure kit
1x B.boehmei & Reverse spiderling kit
1x G. pulchripes (Freebie)
1x "Reverse" / Terrestrial Spiderling Enclosure kit (for the chaco)
1x Flightless Fruit Fly Colony D. hydei (to feed all the little guys!)

I have a question, the Boehmei size is .75" to 1" legspan. would the D. hydei fruit flies be ok for it at 1"? Basically, at what size is my T going to be when it needs larger food?

Jeez, how the heck am I going to be able to wait until next week!!!???

 

[AmysAnimals]

Honestly, I think you'll soon find a certain hatred toward fruit flies. I know I did. They are just a pain in the you know what. Cricket pieces are very much appropriate for small slings. They will scavenge them. I think if your sling is 1" DLS then it may be able to eat small roaches or small crickets. I think that is the size I started to feed my versicolor roaches and small crickets. (that was a while ago so my memory isn't fresh) Right now I just feed my slings that are too small to eat small crickets, cricket pieces. I could cut up roaches but I don't want to. lol Crickets are easier.

Sounds like a great start! You'll love your versicolor. I know I love mine! It was my first T. I now have 5 T's..did have 6 but my purpurea died...will have 6 again next week, though...then maybe 7 at the end of the month...lol oh my.

PS: Jamie is wonderful and her shipping is great. You picked a wonderful person to buy from. =)

 

[Storm76]

That A. purpurea a juvie / adult already, or why no spiderling kit?

Great choices however! Hope you'll enjoy them.

As for feeders, I'll personally suggest pinhead crickets / adult cricket legs / smashed medium crickets for slings that size. Never had a problem with feeding pinheads to mine. Even my B. boehmei was ravenous with eating - and it's to date the ONLY sling I have that accepts parts / dead crickets. ALL others are ONLY preying on food that's alive and moving...guess they love to hunt

 

[TreF68]

The purpurea is a sling and The enclosure is a spiderling enclosure. I just forgot to type that ha ha.

As for The flightless flies, They were cheap and free shipping with the order, so I'll try them Out. If not I have lots of crickets i can dissect haha. Anyone who has a juvie beardie knows how many crickets they eat.

Is it worth getting a dubia colony for 10 ish spiders? (mine plus my brothers) I hear great things about dubias.

 

[rockhopper]

If you have a bearded dragon and 10+ spiders then I'd go for a colony. I have a a bearded dragon and about 20 Ts and I started a modest size colony. It wouldn't be worth it with just the Ts though. The bearded dragon does most of the damage to the numbers.

 

[Storm76]

The purpurea is a sling and The enclosure is a spiderling enclosure. I just forgot to type that ha ha.

As for The flightless flies, They were cheap and free shipping with the order, so I'll try them Out. If not I have lots of crickets i can dissect haha. Anyone who has a juvie beardie knows how many crickets they eat.

Is it worth getting a dubia colony for 10 ish spiders? (mine plus my brothers) I hear great things about dubias.

Ah, I see

If most of your T's are slings (2" DLS or smaller size even) I wouldn't say it makes sense, but others probably say it does. I'd personally stick with pinheads in case of slings mostly. But that's just my personal preference really.

 

[RoseT]

Great choices!..I would however agree with the fruit flies. Cutting small crickets in half is the way to go. Enjoy your new additions.

 

[catfishrod69]

Awesome additions. Wait til you have to deal with those flightless pains in the spinnerettes. You will be much happier with crickets.

 

[TreF68]

haha, it sounds like I may be switching to crickets faster than I thought. Are the fruit flies a pain for the keeper, or the tarantulas? The only concern i have is the T's not eating them.

 

[catfishrod69]

Well they are just a pain for the keepers. Its hard to keep them under control. Even after refrigerating them, they come to life very quickly, and all want out at once. They die off very fast, mold easily, and get mites in them. I hear some people do really well with fruit flies, but personally, i am straying away from anything that needs them. You will do fine just using cricket legs, or peices of cricket left overnight.

haha, it sounds like I may be switching to crickets faster than I thought. Are the fruit flies a pain for the keeper, or the tarantulas? The only concern i have is the T's not eating them.

 

[ZiggyStardust]

I just crush a cricket's head and drop it in with a sling, I actually never tried feeding them cricket chunks. A colony of tiny flies sounds like a PITA! I have enough of the little buggers flying around my house already lol

 

[Shell]

Congrats, I agree though that the fruit flies aren't needed. I have fed many tiny slings (like C. elegans...almost microscopic lol) and always just used pieces of crickets. Slings will scavenge and I have used this method on all of my slings, even the almost microscopic ones, with great success.

 

[le-thomas]

Just remember to remove any uneaten pieces, as they mold very badly. I checked on one of my LP slings today to see a giant white furball of mold just today.

 

[MrWindupBird]

I have had one tiny little sling that refused crickets and cricket parts but absolutely devoured fruit flies until it molted and finally developed enough courage to tackle a pinhead cricket. So the fruit flies may not be a waste for the tiniest of your slings.

Creative use of funnels and vinegar bottles can make handling of fruit flies painless.

 

[Artaeshia]

Congrats on the Avic's!

You WILL love them

 

[Storm76]

Actually, where are the picture of these new additions you got there? Hope the OP is still active on here....

 

[TreF68]

I opened a thread in the pictures section. here is the link

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?233540-New-Slings-)-*DUW*

I need to add pics of the Purpurea, in fact I am going to go get my camera now.