SHOOT ME NOW: I just crushed my baby B. emelia.

[viper69]

How many days after shedding would a 3rd instar emilia normally be ready to take a meal? She shed 3 1/2 days ago.

Should be ready. I've raised slings that were larger, about 1/2-1" that were ready the next day. The smaller the T the faster the fangs harden.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

Oh no, that's the Iridopelma seladonium.

Typhochlaena seladonia See this

We now return to our original topic...

 

[Dovey]

I KNOW! My dream spider collection would be ONE fabulous shelf of Typhochlaena and other dwarf arborials in the coolest, most design-forward planted tanks ever.

But that would involve self-discipline and impulse control....

No more "look at that fabulous pulcra I MUST HAVE ONE!"....

No more "oh look free shipping if you order six different slings!" ....

Right. ....Bwahahahaha!

 

[Dovey]

Hmmmm. Closer examination of my emelia reveals two neat amputations of R1 and R4, and a stiff, elevated right pedipalp. Now that worries me. I may be pre-killing every meal until her next moult. That would serve me right, but how utterly unpleasant. Aye me.

 

[Misty Day]

I'm afraid she's too little for a water dish. Brand new 3rd instar--maybe as big as a black bean--1/4th inch on her fattest, stretchiest day. However, I have her in a relatively moist container with good circulation and live moss, and I add a few drops of water down one side each day that bead up on the side of her habitat for half an hour or so before they sink in.

No tarantula is too little for a water dish. They can't drown. My 1/2 inch B.Emilia got a water dish the second I unpacked her.

 

[symbol]

No tarantula is too little for a water dish. They can't drown. My 1/2 inch B.Emilia got a water dish the second I unpacked her.

If the sling and enclosure are both small, you may have to get creative, but pretty much any enclosure should be able to have some sort of water dish. I gave my 3/4" G. pulchra a water bottle cap as a water dish and my 1/4" B. albopilosum has an upside down Lego brick. And, while I'm not sure whether the albo has used its water dish yet, I've seen the pulchra getting a drink twice so far this week.

 

[archaeosite]

Re: small dubias, I almost always crush the heads as I throw them in an enclosure. They still twitch, and it stops them from burrowing away before the T can find it.

Don't beat yourself up too much. When I was a rank novice I accidentally pulled the leg off a sling while trying to force it out of a shipping straw. The sling is now a healthy, eight-legged juvie. Just learn from your mistake and take more precautions in the future.

 

[Dovey]

She's doing much better. I found her eating on the dubia this morning, and both pedipalps seem to be functioning properly. Huzzah! A close brush with the worst imaginable karma....

 

[symbol]

Yay! Glad she's eating and seems to be doing alright.

 

[Dovey]

I turn 52 in November...she'll probably live to bury me!