Old World sling escape emergency

[puffins]

Hey everybody, I messed up big time. I purchased a tiny Aspinochilus rufus sling last weekend and stupidly didn’t notice that the enclosure I rehoused it into had ventilation holes just a hair too large. Thought it was just settling in when I couldn’t see it for 2 days but finally clocked the vent hole size, combed the enclosure and realized it’s been long gone, probably escaped days ago.
I wouldn’t be as worried or upset if I lived alone and only the health of the spider and my own were at risk, but I live with 6 younger siblings and 2 dogs in and out of my bedroom all the time. My parents hardly tolerate knowing there are medically significant tarantulas in the house and if I told them I had an escapee they would definitely make me get rid of them all.
I’m not even sure what to do at this point. I’ve booted the dogs and put a towel under the door crack but it might not even be in here anymore. My room isn’t messy but it’s filled with things to hide behind and under. I’ve already torn everything apart and I’m going to continue looking tonight with a flashlight.
Any advice or personal experience would be welcome. I feel ill from the stress of putting my family and pets at risk, it’s not even really about the spider anymore although of course I would like to recover it safely.

 

[ladyratri]

Search the forum -- there are many posts like this, and they all have good suggestions on them, as well as quite a few success stories where the spider was ultimately found.

I'd be looking for the nooks and crevices most likely to provide an attractive hiding space, and put bark and/or a little water dish in those places.

Pretty sure I know someone who found their escapee when they noticed webbing in the folds of their curtains.

 

[puffins]

Search the forum -- there are many posts like this, and they all have good suggestions on them, as well as quite a few success stories where the spider was ultimately found.

I'd be looking for the nooks and devices most likely to provide an attractive hiding space, and put bark and/or a little water dish in those places.

Pretty sure I know someone who found their escapee when they noticed webbing in the folds of their curtains.

Thank you, I’ll search the forums for ideas. I read this species can have both arboreal and fossorial tendencies so I’m not sure if I should focus my search efforts higher or lower. I’ll try putting some water dishes out near where it escaped but I don’t have any spare hides.

 

[spideyspinneret78]

If its a tiny sling, it probably didn't wander very far from its original enclosure. Look underneath and behind furniture, and in a closet if there's one nearby. You'll have better luck looking around at night.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Toilet paper rolls baited with pre-killed feeders like a appropriately sized cricket. Little waterdish by the roll.

If you cannot ever locate it then it's a waiting game. Eventually it will seek water then food or vice versa.

I never seen any bite reports on this particular tarantula so even though I do not know the exact effects it is OW and a bite will be most unpleasant.

 

[puffins]

If its a tiny sling, it probably didn't wander very far from its original enclosure. Look underneath and behind furniture, and in a closet if there's one nearby. You'll have better luck looking around at night.

Thank you for the advice. I think it’s hunkering down somewhere since it’s daytime so I’m going to seal the room up and try again with a flashlight tonight. I’m hoping it didn’t wander too far, though I think it’s been a couple days since it got out before I noticed so I don’t have too high of hopes… I’d hate to do it but I’m thinking about tearing apart the neighboring tarantulas enclosure that it very well could have slipped into.

Toilet paper rolls baited with pre-killed feeders like a appropriately sized cricket. Little waterdish by the roll.

If you cannot ever locate it then it's a waiting game. Eventually it will seek water then food or vice versa.

I never seen any bite reports on this particular tarantula so even though I do not know the exact effects it is OW and a bite will be most unpleasant.

Definitely going to do the toilet paper roll idea, thank you for that. I’m not going to give up searching but I’m kind of starting to agree that waiting for it to show up will probably be my best bet. In the mean time, my dogs will be sad but they’re banned from my room for their safety.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Good luck finding it . There so tiny.

 

[Charliemum]

Pull out the room every bit of furniture, your little one will not last long against house spiders n at sling size is going to be difficult to find. Try working from the bottom up be so very meticulous slings can squeeze anywhere.
If you don't find little one once you pull out the room try hide traps. Bits of cork hides ect placed around the room in dark quiet spots with a water dish next to or under it , hopefully your sling will come out looking for food n water n will find one n hide in it.
I will say though if your floofer does have 2 days head start you may not find them. Prepare for the worst anything else is a bonus.
As for siblings n pets just warn siblings to be careful n keep any pets out of the room at sling size they aren't as dangerous as adults but a nip will still sting so honestly n let your parents know is your best bet. I am sure they will understand and would rather you were honest then not.
Good luck to you n your sling. Any questions you know where we are .

 

[puffins]

Pull out the room every bit of furniture, your little one will not last long against house spiders n at sling size is going to be difficult to find. Try working from the bottom up be so very meticulous slings can squeeze anywhere.
If you don't find little one once you pull out the room try hide traps. Bits of cork hides ect placed around the room in dark quiet spots with a water dish next to or under it , hopefully your sling will come out looking for food n water n will find one n hide in it.
I will say though if your floofer does have 2 days head start you may not find them. Prepare for the worst anything else is a bonus.
As for siblings n pets just warn siblings to be careful n keep any pets out of the room at sling size they aren't as dangerous as adults but a nip will still sting so honestly n let your parents know is your best bet. I am sure they will understand and would rather you were honest then not.
Good luck to you n your sling. Any questions you know where we are .

Thank you, I appreciate the advice and support. I did end up moving all the furniture in my room that I physically could and looked under and through it all. Unfortunately I was unable to move my huge combination desk and shelves my tarantulas are all on and it’s sitting flat on carpet so the sling probably could have wedged itself under there… sigh.
I am trying the hide trap trick, thank you for that. I hadn’t gotten the chance to even feed it yet before it escaped so I’m hoping it’s hungry and looking for food.
I really don’t have much hope of finding it with it being so small and having a head start before I noticed it was gone, but I’m not going to give up. I’ll probably stay up in my room tonight with the lights dim or dark with a flashlight and see if it comes out. Thank you for replying.

 

[Charliemum]

Thank you, I appreciate the advice and support. I did end up moving all the furniture in my room that I physically could and looked under and through it all. Unfortunately I was unable to move my huge combination desk and shelves my tarantulas are all on and it’s sitting flat on carpet so the sling probably could have wedged itself under there… sigh.
I am trying the hide trap trick, thank you for that. I hadn’t gotten the chance to even feed it yet before it escaped so I’m hoping it’s hungry and looking for food.
I really don’t have much hope of finding it with it being so small and having a head start before I noticed it was gone, but I’m not going to give up. I’ll probably stay up in my room tonight with the lights dim or dark with a flashlight and see if it comes out. Thank you for replying.

You know it will be in the one thing you can't move hopefully the hide trick will work if little one hasn't eaten yet. Maybe try some deep tubs open with meal worms in the bottom just a couple to many could hurt the sling but the sling may try to go in n eat its worth a shot.
I really do wish you gl .

 

[NMTs]

How big is this sling? If it's like 2i or 3i size, then it is in more danger from your dogs than vice versa - fangs on a sling that small are hardly large enough to puncture skin. If there are other enclosures near by that it could have gotten into, that's a definite possibility. I remember when one of the members here found a missing sling in another enclosure like a year after losing it - it had been cohabitating with the larger tenant of the enclosure and feeding on table scraps the whole time... The other possibility is that it got into another enclosure or ran across a larger native house spider and has become a meal. Good luck in your search.

 

[Gevo]

Don't beat yourself up over this. Slings can be so tiny, and it can be easy to misgauge ventilation holes, especially since they can squeeze through things much smaller than it looks like they should be able to.

It looks like this species likes to hide in web tubes and hollow branches and things. One strategy that may be helpful is to get some of those big tupperware bins you can close tightly and go through the items in your room one by one, placing them into the bins as you've verified they're spider-free. Use garbage bags if you don't have access to bins like that and tie them up very tightly so there are no gaps at the top. Get as much out of the way as possible so you can then focus on checking shelves, furniture, and corners without having constant hidey holes for the sling to be holing up in (clothes, shoes, knick-knacks). Block any vents in the room. If this sling is small enough to slip through a ventilation hole, it's small enough to slip through even a tiny crack in your doorway, so I'd be looking to seal that up as much as possible too. It might not be possible to do all this without your parents noticing, so you may have to come clean with them. If that happens, remember what others have said in that a sling this small is more likely to be trampled, eaten by a house spider, or killed by dehydration in a dry vent or something than it is to pose a real risk.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I use my smallest drillbit I got for my slings. I had a obt escape once never found it. Rip I miss it.

 

[Andrew Clayton]

Bit late here, has the T been found yet?

I lost a Poecilotheria Regalis once, luckily I actually seen it bolt to a crack in the wall, I tried to coax it out with some feeders but after a couple days with no success I decided to start chiseling away part of of the wall, good job I did as it had moulted in there and wasn't going to fit back out the hole.

It's all going to depend on the size of sling you lost. If it's tiny there is a good chance a local spider will find it 1st.

Do you have a heat mat? Try turning all you're heating off and only heating the one corner of you're room.

If you think it's bigger than most of you're local spiders, I'd start thinking about having to tell the rest of the family, if there isn't much predators for it there is a good chance it will feed and grow. And I can tell you it will be worse if the family find out somehow you lost a T rather than you telling them.

 

[puffins]

Hey all, small but disappointing update for all that took the time to comment and leave advice (which I deeply thank you all for).
I have not found any presence of the missing sling in my ongoing search. Any prey or small hides I’ve been leaving out are all undisturbed. I realized something I forgot to mention that makes this search 100x harder- I have a large shag area rug in my room. If I so much as drop a smallish size cricket onto the rug, it’s gone into the void.
I think maybe if I had realized it was missing sooner maybe I would have had a better chance of finding it. At this point I’ve kind of accepted that I won’t find it alive if I find it at all. It was too small.
If there’s anything I’ve learned from this, it’s that I’ll never put a sling in a container with ventilation larger than pin holes. Better not to even mess around with the possibility of it escaping. And that the sooner you notice your spider is missing and start looking for it, the better. I hope this thread may help anyone in a similar situation like it helped me. Thanks again everyone.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Shag carpet?????? That went out with the 70's

Sorry you had no luck in finding the sling. Doesn't mean it's dead however. If it's found a water source then good chance it's still around.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Hey all, small but disappointing update for all that took the time to comment and leave advice (which I deeply thank you all for).
I have not found any presence of the missing sling in my ongoing search. Any prey or small hides I’ve been leaving out are all undisturbed. I realized something I forgot to mention that makes this search 100x harder- I have a large shag area rug in my room. If I so much as drop a smallish size cricket onto the rug, it’s gone into the void.
I think maybe if I had realized it was missing sooner maybe I would have had a better chance of finding it. At this point I’ve kind of accepted that I won’t find it alive if I find it at all. It was too small.
If there’s anything I’ve learned from this, it’s that I’ll never put a sling in a container with ventilation larger than pin holes. Better not to even mess around with the possibility of it escaping. And that the sooner you notice your spider is missing and start looking for it, the better. I hope this thread may help anyone in a similar situation like it helped me. Thanks again everyone.

It can be an impossible task finding a non juvy t that’s loose. Keep looking.

 

[puffins]

Shag carpet?????? That went out with the 70's

Sorry you had no luck in finding the sling. Doesn't mean it's dead however. If it's found a water source then good chance it's still around.

Somehow my room has found itself a 70’s kinda theme it’s a neat carpet but kind of a nightmare in this situation. I’ve still been keeping water and prekilled insects out for it though. I think I’ll try and put some live mealworms in a shallow dish like one commenter suggested as well. Don’t feel like giving up yet…

 

[Arachnophobphile]

I wish you the best of luck I hope you find that little T.

 

[HoneyOilers]

Hopefully there’s no animals that could be harmed by it, good luck!