pin head crickets?

[mwyomingb]

My question is how does everyone feel about feeding pin head crickets? I have a few slings im having a problem getting to eat. Ive tried fruit flies and in my opinion just a big hassle. I have also tried pieces of larger crickets torn apart with no luck. My main concern is still having pin heads im unable to catch in with the t if he goes into a molt.

 

[Comatose]

Pinheads work well for me... if you can't catch them you can just squish them with a pencil eraser then scoop it out.

 

[Hobo]

Pinheads never really worked for me. I would consider them too small to be worth it for most moderately sized 2nd instar slings.
Even when I raised C. perezmilesi slings, I opted for cut up cricket parts as opposed to FF or pinheads. It was so easy to just hand them a cricket leg, steak, or flank every week than it was to put in the equivalent amount of pinheads. Since they had a good sized meal, you wouldn't have to feed them as often either.
The molt thing is a concern too.

I don't know how you are doing the cricket part thing, but I've never had a sling that refused it. Sometimes, though, you just have to dance it around a bit to get them interested, but they will also just take it if you say, plug their burrow with it so they can't help but run into it. Needle thin tweezers and small sewing scissors are very helpful.

 

[Jenthevet]

What about freeze-dried bugs or bug parts? I put a few of those into my sling enclosures and didn't see them the next day so I'm assuming they ate them. I've also chopped a mealworm just behind the head and legs. It will still crawl around but since it might drag some of its innards I make sure to remove it within 24 hours or less if it's not been touched.

@Hobo: those pics are ridiculously darling! Little infants eating. *gush gush!*

 

[19tarantula91]

I always bought smalls not pin heads and even my TINY hmac could eat it and it was plenty of food for all of them. My slings aren't interested in anything that's not moving a lot.

 

[Zman181]

@hobo Those are some great shots

 

[Bill S]

I maintain several colonies of crickets, and there are always plenty of pinheads present. Easiest way to catch them has been to use pieces of egg carton for crickets to hide under, and shake/tap a few of these pieces into an otherwise empty small kritter keeper. Remove the crickets that are too large and it's pretty easy to scoop pinheads up in a vial and distribute them to the spiders that need them.

 

[Earth Tiger]

My question is how does everyone feel about feeding pin head crickets? I have a few slings im having a problem getting to eat. Ive tried fruit flies and in my opinion just a big hassle. I have also tried pieces of larger crickets torn apart with no luck. My main concern is still having pin heads im unable to catch in with the t if he goes into a molt.

Hobo has some good points here. My slings and first few instar scorps never turn down cricket legs taken from adult crickets. If you have adult Ts, feeding the slings adult cricket body parts save you the trouble of keeping and housing both adult and pinhead crickets. Pinhead crickets grow at an exponential rate while each of your slings just take a few pinheads per week. After a week all your pinheads become adults and if you have no other big T around to consume them they are all wasted. Slings and scorp instars don't always need live food - they are equally happy to feed on cricket legs and other parts.

---------- Post added 12-17-2011 at 12:32 AM ----------

I maintain several colonies of crickets, and there are always plenty of pinheads present. Easiest way to catch them has been to use pieces of egg carton for crickets to hide under, and shake/tap a few of these pieces into an otherwise empty small kritter keeper. Remove the crickets that are too large and it's pretty easy to scoop pinheads up in a vial and distribute them to the spiders that need them.

Not worth the effort unless the OP has many dozens of arachnids. Raising and keeping mealworms, crickets etc for just a few slings isn't worth the effort.

 

[ZergFront]

I buy pinheads for baby spiders.

I tried growing them myself breeding the adults but pinheads died in the hundreds; drowned in condensation, dehydrated, squished by paper rolls, etc.

 

[Bill S]

Not worth the effort unless the OP has many dozens of arachnids. Raising and keeping mealworms, crickets etc for just a few slings isn't worth the effort.

I'm going to disagree with you on this. First, I wasn't suggesting that he raise crickets - just mentioned that I do and this is how I catch pinheads from those colonies. He can use the same technique with smaller quantities of store-bought pinheads. Dump them in a small empty kritter keeper and scoop the pinheads with a vial.

The OP was also concerned with catching uneaten crickets from the tarantula containers. Anything small enough to be eating pinheads is probably living in a vial. I never put a lot of loose substrate in vials with tiny slings - just makes it hard to keep track of the sling. A wad of tissue paper at the bottom provides both a hide and a form of substrate, and it won't fall out if you tip the vial upside down. In a situation like this if I need to remove a pinhead I just work over a teflon container, open the vial and dump the pinhead out. Usually the spider heads for the tissue paper for shelter, and a small brush or twist-tie is enough to chase the cricket out. On the rare times when the spider bails out they land in the teflon container and are easy to recapture.

 

[Mathayus]

I would either feed them pinheads, frozen just till they're dead if you're having trouble catching them, or drumsticks. I have had good success with both.

 

[Shell]

+1 to Hobo.

That's exactly how I've always fed my slings as well, including numerous Cyriocosmus slings. I find pinheads to be a pain, and have never had a sling refuse (aside from when in pre molt) a drumstick or piece of cut up cricket.