Nymphs

[Dafne]

I just would like to know what do you think about buying nymphs...? Does it make any sense? It is safe? Is the number of deaths higher than among slings?
I have found very good offer for nymphs and I am just considering it... What would you suggest? Should I buy them now or wait until nymphs develop into slings? (The price will be much higher but if there is a big risk I will wait.)
And, if I would buy it, what conditions should I keep nymphs in?
Thank you for any advices...

 

[rknralf]

by nymphs, do you mean 1st instar spiderlings? Tarantulas go from eggs, to eggs with legs, to 1st instar, to 2nd instar (which are where they usually disperse), and so on.
If they are 1st instar, I would say you would need to keep them in an incubator or confined type of container. They are not truely mobile at this point although they will move around in the container some, and will not eat until they are 2nd instar.
If they are eggs with legs, they will need an incubator type setup and will not be mobile.
If they are 2nd instar, they are just like their adult counterparts except that they require much smaller food items and elevated humidity to keep them from drying out (which at that stage they do rather quickly)
In any case, they can be raised from any of these stages with the proper attention given to care.
Perhaps someone can provide drawings of the various type of setups for each stage.
Good luck!
Ralph

 

[Aviculariinae]

i say go for it mate,its great learning experience if you want to breed in the future,But everything rknralf said is true it is quite difficult toget all these slings to juvinile size and you are going to loose a few along the way!what species are you getting!
remember its just a hobby!!!have abit of fun and try it

Best of luck
brendan

 

[Code Monkey]

I'd kind of like to know what you mean by 'nymphs' which isn't a term used with Ts. A 2nd instar tarantula, which is the youngest anyone ever sells them unless they're just selling a whole eggsac, IS a sling, just a small one.

The downside of starting with Ts this young is that they're unproven as far as survivability goes. If it rolled the dice wrong on its phenotype, it may weaken and die no matter what you do. However, the survivability is much higher than what Sham implies in my experience. I have lost a little less than 10% of the small slings that I've purchased and raised for an extended period, but only one of those from a completely unknown cause. Two were disease related deaths and that can happen to any T, any size, any age, and the other was a shipping related death, again, can happen to any T.

Another downside is how many owners fret and stress over these itty bitty little things, but, that's an owner problem, the slings are fine.

I would say there are three main positives to starting with slings less than inch.

The first is cost, you pay somewhere around 30-70% for starting off with wee ones versus a larger sling depending on species, rate of growth, and size of clutches.

That ties in with the second positive: because they're cheaper, you can buy more of them and not only increase the chances of getting a female but avoid the potential of suppliers holding back females for breeding.

The third positive is simple satisfaction. It's great to look in at container and see a beautiful, colorful spider that you raised from the time it was a bald ugly.

 

[Aviculariinae]

hi code monkey,i can tell you that nypmhs is a term used with Ts,when a spider comes out of the egg sack it has to molt once before it can feed,when it first appears from the egg sack it is considered a nymph,they are usally yellow.

Below is what is considered nymphs

picture from
Heteroscodra.nl

 

[Code Monkey]

Well, it is a European term for first instars sometimes and I know that its even used for older ones sometimes, but it doesn't have technical definition, nor is in use wide spread which is why I asked what was specifically meant by it.

 

[Bob the thief]

Hey you wouldent happen to know a good way of keeping sling humidity up? I just use a dropper and mositen the substrate carefully in the vials.

 

[Aviculariinae]

Can you give me proof that it is not technical definition,im not trying to be smart,i can see what your trying to say!am just interested

Cheers

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by Bob the thief
Hey you wouldent happen to know a good way of keeping sling humidity up? I just use a dropper and mositen the substrate carefully in the vials.

I don't worry about humidity at all. My slings are in very well ventilated vials or jars (the lid has a large hole cut in it and mesh hotglued over it). I mist the containers with water about 1x a week which keeps things slightly moist and gives them an opportunity to drink. Beyond that, I do nothing.

If you give your slings enough substrate to burrow in and keep their substrate slightly moist, they'll have all the humidity they can *choose* without you creating stagnant environments chasing a environment that is completely unnecessary.

 

[sunnymarcie]

VERY small ones~:0)

If you have the time and the funds to do it, I say go for it!

As others have said, there will be more loss than with older ones.

When I purchase T's I get the ones that are at least on their
5th molt. The odds of survival are better at that time.

Good luck and let us know what you decide =D

 

[Immortal_sin]

I've only purchased a first instar once, my P irminia, and it molted into 2nd instar a week later. I wouldn't do this with that many species, but it worked for me once
However, I've had 3 sucessful eggsacs from my females, and I was already familiar with setups, care, etc.
If you aren't comfortable with it, I'd say wait till at least 2nd instar, it might be easier on you!

 

[Buspirone]

The British Tarantual Society calls "eggs with legs" nymphs. This is quoted from their care guide for spiderlings:

A nymph resembles a sphere with two hands and is pearl-white in colour darkening just before hatching.

I've never seen the term used anywhere else.

 

[Dafne]

Originally posted by Buspirone
The British Tarantual Society calls "eggs with legs" nymphs.

Exactly... I meant "eggs with legs" calling them nymphs...

I am sorry for this little confusion with this term but I did not know that over there in America you do not use this word, as here in Europe it is common...

Anyway, thank you very much for all suggestions, I will keep you updated...