Mexican Red Leg Tarantula Questions

[viper69]

Nice shot what happened to the potato camera

I was wondering the same thing. Probably the clearest image I've seen of all time from CB

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

He upgraded to a sweet potato camera.

Caresheets are for idiots, don't read them.

Somebody should put include that on a caresheet...

 

[N1ghtFire]

What food do you guys think is best for this little guy; cut up sections of mealworms, tiny dubia roaches, or pieces of crickets? I have access to all of them and am using bits of mealworm right now.

 

[Sana]

Any of them is just fine as long as your tarantula is willing to eat them. Some of my tarantulas won't readily take worms or roaches but crickets are always accepted. Assuming your tarantula eats what you're offering it comes down to your preference. I feed all of the prey that you listed along with several other types of worms and moths depending on the tarantula. There have been some observations made that suggest tarantulas may seek a variety of prey types depending on what they need at that point. There isn't any hard evidence that tarantulas need variety or a well rounded diet but I tend to diversify a bit. I figure I would get incredibly bored if I only had one thing to eat all the time and my health would suffer. No saying it's the same for spiders but having a varied diet hasn't hurt any of mine.

 

[Vanessa]

What food do you guys think is best for this little guy; cut up sections of mealworms, tiny dubia roaches, or pieces of crickets? I have access to all of them and am using bits of mealworm right now.

I'm sure that all of those will work, so use whatever the'll eat and what you prefer. At that size, I am feeding mine cut up pieces of mealworm or pre-killed small crickets. I did not have success with any live prey, no matter how small, until they were a bit bigger. I have never fed dubia.
I would try all three and see which you get a better reaction from. Just make sure that none of the prey is big enough to cause injury.

 

[mistertim]

This was something I threw together to illustrate the different enclosures that I use for spiderlings. The size of the tarantula inside is what is written on the post-it on the outside. It is a guideline only and sizes don't have to be exact for each container. Some people swear by the deli cups and they work very well too.
From left to right.
.25" Euathlus sp Red, 1" L. difficilis, 1.5" E. campestratus, 2.5"-3" B. verdezi
View attachment 217704

I spy with my little eye a fellow Container Store junkie.

 

[EulersK]

@N1ghtFire, how is your sling settling in so far?

 

[N1ghtFire]

@N1ghtFire, how is your sling settling in so far?

Awesome so far!
I havent been able to get him to eat yet, but its only been a few days so I assume he either ate just before i bought him, or is going to be molting soon. Since he is so small I figure he will molt fairly soon anyways. He is fairly active and seems to be settling in just fine.

I posted this video in another thread too, it looks like he is surfing. I found it pretty cute. cx

 

[N1ghtFire]

I am also going to be getting 3 A. versicolor slings (which I have been wanting forever!) And a N. chromatus sometime next week. I am super excited!

 

[Trenor]

I posted this video in another thread too, it looks like he is surfing. I found it pretty cute. cx[/QUOTE]
A lot of people worry that slings can drown but that isn't the case. It's neat to watch them walk on water.

 

[Vanessa]

I spy with my little eye a fellow Container Store junkie.

I don't shop at the Container Store because they are not in Canada... unfortunately. I buy all my enclosures at Dollarama. I don't pay more than $2 for those KIS containers at the dollar store.
I'm starting to get strange looks from the one close to work because of all the plastic shoeboxes I buy there.

 

[Valdours38]

Man I feel like a moron. I mean I went to do the online caresheet thing. But that was way befor I found this board.

 

[N1ghtFire]

My little emilia died last night while molting. :/ Found him upside down and dead this morning.
I only had the little guy for 9 days now.. pretty sad about it.

 

[cold blood]

Are you sure...sometimes they lie motionless on their backs for a while before starting the process.

 

[N1ghtFire]

Are you sure...sometimes they lie motionless on their backs for a while before starting the process.

Yeah, I am sure he is dead. He was most definitely in a death curl. I left him alone for awhile just in case, but after awhile i got a qtip and tried nudging him and blowing on him to see if i could get him to wiggle or anything. Didnt even flinch. I still have his body, still motionless and in a death curl like this morning.

 

[Squidsalad]

They flip over when they're molting. are you sure it's dead?

 

[cold blood]

Bummer

 

[N1ghtFire]

Yeah... he has been like this since thismorning.

 

[N1ghtFire]

Story time~
I've had the worst luck with these petstore Ts.. lesson learned, but anyways I took my little guy's body back to the store to exchange and try again, and they had 3 containers left, 2 of them with already dead slings and one with a sling barely moving and curling up in a death curl between my dad and the store employee proding him to prove he is alive.. I was kind of reluctant to take the little guy home knowing I would probably just watch another T die, but I did and immediately put him in an ICU and tried to get him to drink. He didnt even last an hour after getting him home..
so i called a few other petstores and I finally got a pretty healthy looking sling. He is another Brachypelma emilia, he seems really active and even had some eaten tiny crickets in his container when I got him so i know he's eating.
I attached a picture of him, he dragged a cricket as big as himself into the water bowl and looks like he is drinking (I think.. I've never actually seen a T drink before). Hopefully he will do better, he seems stronger than the others already.

 

[cold blood]

As I mentioned before, a condiment cup with damp sub would be a better place to raise it in.