new to the hobby and asking for advice.

[jdmjames]

okay so as the title says im new at this. i got an a.seemani about a week ago and its doing great so far. i am looking into getting 2 slings now. im looking at a avic. versi and an OBT. i know the OBT isnt a very good begginer T since they are aggressive but i am not planning on handling it. it is about an inch in size. the versi is about 1/4 inch. is there any advice you can give me on how to care for slings. im reading to stick them in a tall enclosure with lots of substrate but idk what to put them in. any advice will be appreciated. this hobby gets addicting quick lol.

 

[codykrr]

For the OBT, you can give it deep substrate to burrow, or set it up like a normal terrestrial, or and arboreal. thats a decision you will have to make. they will do fine in pretty much ANY setup. VERY hardy tarantula.

For the A. versicolor. set it up in a tall container(appropriate size for the sling of course. with a little(an inch to 2 inches of substrate). give it a piece of cork bark or fake plant and your set to go.

hope that helps.

And welcome to the hobby.

 

[jdmjames]

cool, im planning on using a small critter cage i had for rats, i also enjoy reptiles and have 3 whichis how i got into Ts cause i saw one at the petshop and had to get it lol,but for the versi im not sure what to use. thanks for the quick reply

 

[codykrr]

I would be cautious of "kritter keepers" for small slings. the slits on the top make for an excellent escape hatch.

I would go with a small vial, or a cube they sell at micheals.

Something on the lines of this is what I like to use.

(i cut out the spot for the vent)

I know these are dirty(i was cleaning them out) BTW there were no tarantulas in these. they all outgrew them.

but this shows the various sizes available.

 

[jdmjames]

well ill be making a trip tp michaels then. thanks for the advice.

 

[BillyG]

I personally recommend you feed OBT like once in 5 days,coz if you feed it too often then there will be "left overs" in it's hiding place,which is really difficult to clean,especially a very very fast specie like OBT,will be a pretty high possibility they gon' escape while you cleaning it,but if you don't clean the left over,it will stink like hell over one night. Good luck with this journey, .

 

[SDiego]

Quick advice on sling container: get something small. A 1/4" sling is really tiny and can be hard to see against substrate. You're going to want a very small vial, filled halfway with substrate. Nothing bigger.

Anything bigger, and you run the risk of losing sight of the sling in a big deli cup or larger container -- and I guarantee you you'll lose sight of the sling in a tall enclosure.

Small sling, big container is a problem for two important reasons. One, it makes feeding unnecessarily difficult because a very small spider will have to find a small prey item in a too-big container. You'll be stressing over whether the small spider found the food. Two, you'll always be afraid of moving the container or the substrate and crushing the spiderling in a bigger enclosure. This is because it can be near-impossible to find a small burrowing sling amidst a sea of substrate in a large container.

Save your money. Get a small cheap vial. Then it will be very easy to care for. Oh, and get the slings. With the right setup and a minimum of fuss, spiderlings can be very hardy, easy to raise, and it's really fun watching them grow.

 

[Durandal]

a cube they sell at micheals.

Do you get better results with the holes/mesh than just drilling or burning holes in the plastic?

 

[codykrr]

^ I just prefer the look. Its cleaner looking IMO. Plus, yeah..I mean im sure it allows better ventilation compaired to some holes drilled in them.

Really, I just dont like drilling 100 holes when i can cit out the circle, and glue a piece of screen on in less that a minute.

 

[jdmjames]

billyG. thats what im planning lol. i dont need one of these things getting lost in my house. i already had a close experience with my a.seemani lol she was hiding in a plant and i was cleaning up a criket she didnt eat and she ran right up my arm and right out the tank. they are a pretty quick species too! i wasnt expecting that i was caught off guard and it scared the crap out of me lol
SDiego. thanks man, im getting slings for that reason. i have my seemani but she's full size. i like to see things grow.
i had another question. do you have to feed pin heads to a quarter inch sling? can you feed anything else?

 

[SDiego]

i had another question. do you have to feed pin heads to a quarter inch sling? can you feed anything else?

Couple things. First, do a broad search on spiderlings, feeding, and food. You'll find a lot of good information.

Second, you don't have to feed pinhead crickets, but they are an easy option if you have quick access to them. But if you cannot get those small crickets, don't worry about it. You can "prekill" a larger cricket and throw it in your vial. The spiderling absolutely will eat insects that are dead, or near dead. So you can use larger crickets, mealworms, etc. that you can feed to spiders and get quickly from your local petstore. Even if you have a huge cricket, pull off one cricket leg and throw that in -- the spiderling will eat it. So again, save your money, buy what's cheap and available, prekill larger food, and sling will be happy.

 

[jdmjames]

cool, i do alot of research before i get into things but i kept seeing pinheads or flightless fruit flies. i can get pinheads but i'd have to buy a jar full which would be around 10$ and i dnt need that many lol. i guess small crickets will do dead. thanks again.

 

[SDiego]

Yeah don't waste even $10 on a big pinhead jar. Even if you buy only a couple crickets that are larger, you can cut them in half and throw the half in your sling vial. Spider absolutely will eat it. Just give it a juicy piece of cricket or mealworm that's not too big and take out the piece 24 hours later to avoid mold problems.

Do that a couple or few times a week and they will do great. Frankly you can raise a number of slings to adults on $10 in crickets/worms. Spiderling is among the easiest and cost-friendly exotic pet to raise as long as you get the right container, don't overdo the humidity, and feed them. Great pets.