Should beginners take care of spiderlings?

[Seink]

Hi,i have just started this hobby with a chilean rosehair as my first pet. I feel like adding a mexican redknee(B.smithi) to my collection but i am not sure whether i am good enough to handle it. I am planing to get a 1" spiderling from my local pet store and just follow the guidelines in my T bk.

Should i do that and is there any good advice on taking care of spiderlings?

is there anything to look out for?

what is the usual gap between acquiring your 1st and 2nd spider/spiderlings?

 

[mebebraz]

I dont see any problem in getting another, just read up and dig for info and enjoy.

 

[YouLosePayUp]

Up until friday last week I only had a mature B. albopilosum, mature G. rosea, and an A. geniculata that started at almost 2 inches. Friday I purchased A. seemani 1", B. smithi 1/2", and N. chromatus 1/4" with the courage and conviction that they will grow up to be wonderful tarantulas. I figure that if you do everything to the best of your capabilities, and ask questions when you are not sure, you will have no problem with a 1" B. smithi ( well except maybe some bad itch days lol)

Trevor

 

[edesign]

i was nervous about getting any slings too...i had my A. seemani for almost a year before i acquired more T's. I ended up buying a juvenile OBT and two slings (L. parahybana and C. cyaneopubescens)...as long as you remember to feed them and keep their humidity correctly you'll be fine. They grow fast (well, some species...Brachy's don't) and it's great to watch them get bigger and more colorful.

About 2.5 months after i received my first two slings I bought three more (and had a fourth thrown in for free....a REAL sling, not even 1/2"). As mentioned, do your research here on the boards as there is plenty of information and try it...you'll be glad you did!

 

[Mike H.]

Hi,i have just started this hobby with a chilean rosehair as my first pet. I feel like adding a mexican redknee(B.smithi) to my collection but i am not sure whether i am good enough to handle it. I am planing to get a 1" spiderling from my local pet store and just follow the guidelines in my T bk.

Should i do that and is there any good advice on taking care of spiderlings?

is there anything to look out for?

what is the usual gap between acquiring your 1st and 2nd spider/spiderlings?

Greetings !! nice to see another Canuk on the boards...as far as a smithi sling goes good choice, they are very hardy, eat well and tend to do well on the dry side, feed the little one all the crix it can handle ( one at a time ) a one inch sling is easier to take care of than you may think...

Good Luck !!

Regards, Mike

 

[bonesmama]

Go for it! A 1" sling should be no problem! My first 3 were about 1/4 ", and I was freaked out! They looked like house spiders, and I was afraid I wasn't gonna be able to take proper care of them. I was afraid to feed live prey, even! LOL! Now, my slings are my faves, they eat so well and grow so rapidly, and their colors and behaviour changes as they grow. And they're just so damed cute once they've molted a few times and look like mini-T's! They're more interesting than my adults IMHO, who tend to sit still , go on extended fasts, and never molt! The only problem I have with slings is finding cool containers for them and modifying them as homes...(I find deli cups boring)...I like to be able to see them! The Spidershoppe has a great caresheet for slings, and anything else you need to know you can find out here. BTW--Welcome to the obsession.....

 

[arachnoguy]

a fairly small t sling shouldn't be any problem for a beginner my first t was about an inch when i got it and right before she died she was almost 8" (bad summer and the power went out, i lost a bunch of snakes that day too )

 

[NickS1004]

Do it!... im new to this too and have had 2 slings for about 2 1/2 months, the best advice i can give is dont become an obsessive mother.. feed em, give em water, watch for molting time, and read to them occasionally (im kidding). It is pretty cool when they molt, i was shocked as to how much bigger and more colorful they get.

 

[Whiskeypunk]

I started with slings. I just looked online, and bought the first 2 that caught my interest, bought a book that covered NW and OW Ts, and started feeding them.

I was totally unprepared, however, for the size of my 1/2 inch G. Aureostratia. It was sooo small.

It is doing well, however, and it lives nice and healthy under a peice of cork bark. Once a week I feed it a cricket, and I check it by lifting it's bark about every three or four days.

 

[taorchard1987]

i brought my 1st spider which was a mexican red knee at 1" back in august for my 1st T, there no problem. I now have a 6" L.Parahybana and a 1cm king baboon sling which molted 2 dyas ago. youll b fine

 

[Rabid Flea]

Heck yeah, go for it! I started with my H. maculata and P. lugardi, few months later I picked up 6 slings from another AB member and they are doing great! (knock on wood) Best of luck with your new Ts.

 

[cryptly]

Go for it!

Raising slings is fun! Don't let the tiny size intimidate you. You get to watch this little tiny tarantula, that doesn't even look much like a tarantula at first, grow and slowly change into the adult tarantula.

 

[king7]

my first T was a sling smaller than 1".just make sure what you keep it in has no gaps it can get out of,they can squeeze through real small holes (mine escaped within the first week,you soon learn from your mistakes )

enjoy :}

 

[Crunchie]

Go for it indeed, my seconf tarantula was a 1" G.pulchra which I got less than a month after I got my first tarantula which was a sub adult rosie.

Less than a month after that I bought a 1cm chaco golden knee which is now reaching 1.5". I've had no problems in looking after either of the two but remember how delicate they are and remember and feed them the correct size of food and you should have no trouble.

 

[Gesticulator]

Sometimes T's are shipped in some kind of plastic vial, that can be its home until reaching a 1.5 in leg span. Small glass jars work well too, like baby food jars. As long as the air holes aren't too large to provide an escape route, and the little T is in close enough quarters to find its prey(pinheads) it should be fine. Misting the housing once a week should provide enough humidity/drinking water. Slings molt about once a month, so it's a lot of fun to watch/record/see how their colors change. You'll be fine!!!!!

 

[rosehaired1979]

what is the usual gap between acquiring your 1st and 2nd spider/spiderlings?

Is 24 hrs to soon? Actually this is a personal choice and when you think you are ready for another one. If you think you would could handle another tarantula then go for it. If not then don't untill you think you are ready

 

[mimic58]

Yes definatly slings rule

Slings make an excellent choice to start of with for one thing you will have the satisfaction of seeing it grow to full size, You will also get alot more activity from a sling as they eat grow and molt very regularly,You will be able to notice new growth each day and above all they make even the most expensive hard to get species a hell of alot more afordable an put almost any species wthin your reach. The only down side is getting them sexed...

My first T was a B.smithi(Redknee) sling I paid £10 for it and it was about the size of a flying ant, its now nearly 5 inches across and very active and relaxed as it grew up in my room it just thinks all the noises and thuds are normal, To buy this T now would probably cost me near to £100 and i bet if i did it would be far far more stressed and reclusive than the one i have....
Just keep the humidity up nice an high round molts, keep it well fed and warm and you should have no problems.

 

[Gesticulator]

Here's the housing I use for my 1/3 (or so) inch A geniculata. It is eating crickets about the same size. I tried to capture the sling and the cricket.

 

[cacoseraph]

the only thing that is a bit ticklish with some slings is you need to make sure their cage NEVER dehydrates.

i think i've had 2 out of ~25-30 slings die from bad molts... probably from me letting their vial dry out too much.

both slings that died were about 1/4" or so, and living in 12 dram vials (um, call it 1"diameter by 2.5" tall cylinder, with maybe 5-10 grams of coco-substate. that setup can only hold a relatively small amout of moisture in it without soaking the sling, so you have to check on it a lot.

something like Gesticulator's jar would make it very easy to maintain humidity though, as it has a lot of substrate to hold moisture for you.

also, if you don't have that many slings to take care of, the odds are much lower of dehydration death

 

[bman]

Just follow your heart, that's what I do.