Sling death rate

[Trenor]

Out to the 60ish sling I've ordered and raised I've lost 3. One was to shipping due to a package being 8 days late stuck in a office due to snow. The second one was lost during a molt. The third was my error when I forgot an A/C vent was behind the book case and I placed it near the back of the shelf where it got to cool.

I see most DOAs in shipping during the still winter but warm months. People have been waiting all winter to get new Ts and as soon it warms up in the slightest they make a big order containing slings. If the temps drop suddenly or something is delayed in shipping then they have a box of dead slings. After the one delayed DOA of mine I wait till the weather is consistently warm to place my orders for slings and I've not had a DOA since.

I agree you shouldn't be having so many sling deaths. I'd really look hard at how you are keeping them and see if I couldn't figure out what is off.

 

[Trenor]

All I did was note that the Ts were half the size. I didn't ask for a refund. All I wanted to accomplish was to let the vendor know that their products don't match the descriptions.

Did you leave the compliant in a review or somewhere else?

 

[user 666]

Did you leave the compliant in a review or somewhere else?

I told them in an email.

I had not posted a review because it was not a serious issue.

 

[Rittdk01]

I had 4 that came dead with an order and 1 B Vagans that came doa. I've never had one die in my care though.

 

[14pokies]

All I did was note that the Ts were half the size. I didn't ask for a refund. All I wanted to accomplish was to let the vendor know that their products don't match the descriptions.

For me keeping, breeding ,selling Ts is all about the fun.. If I can make enough to recoup what I have spent then awesome. However there are a few people that have made my Black list.. Unsavoury transaction practices, Crap talking other hobbyists, Bad attitudes etc.. I have never crossed someone off for politely stating that they thought the T was going to be bigger.. In all honesty I have never had that problem..

I can't imagine a person who makes a substantial chunk of change from running a legit buisiness black listing a customer for politely pointing out that you had a problem with the size of your Ts..

Sorry but there has to be more to the story than that..

 

[Inland Sea]

My take on sling death from shipping is that, with the really small stuff, (1" or less), is that often they were coming up on molt, and I didn't catch it.
Hard to do 100% of the time, particularly when you are rushing to get a bunch of orders out. Also my eyes aren't that great. I've had a number of customers receive doa's and in the next few days the rest of the group molts. On the other hand I've received a lot of Ts that molted in transit and do just fine. Probably has to do with how bumpy the ride was. Also there is a definite correlation with certain destinations and carriers. I'm not talking individual customers here, but local hubs. Don't know what's going on there but the #s are too high to be coincidence. Some destinations are just higher risk to ship.

 

[Arachnomaniac19]

There's really no reason you should be losing that many slings/ Ts.. I actually remember when I first joined you were much more active and alot of your posts were either about dead or dying Ts.. I allways thought something was off about it but I never said anything.

Since you brought it up though .. You have an unusually high mortality rate in your collection and IMO it has to be keeper error.. Maybe too many spiders to care for properly, poor temps or husbandry. I don't know.. I do know that it's very unusual..

I got back into Ts heavily about four years ago and have raised a little over a hundred slings to adult hood or sub adult hood before I sold or traded them and have lost two. One sub-adult male molted while shipping and more recently one of my females ruptured while molting..

Maybe hold off on buying any new Ts for a while untill you dial in your husbandry or thin your collection so that it's a little easier to keep up with..

If they're dying because of me how come none of the spiders I catch outside, buy off of local adds, or get from close reptile dealers have ever died? And how come it's only the ones I pick up at expos and not ones I get via airline group shipments?

 

[cold blood]

My take on sling death from shipping is that, with the really small stuff, (1" or less), is that often they were coming up on molt, and I didn't catch it.
Hard to do 100% of the time, particularly when you are rushing to get a bunch of orders out. Also my eyes aren't that great. I've had a number of customers receive doa's and in the next few days the rest of the group molts. On the other hand I've received a lot of Ts that molted in transit and do just fine. Probably has to do with how bumpy the ride was. Also there is a definite correlation with certain destinations and carriers. I'm not talking individual customers here, but local hubs. Don't know what's going on there but the #s are too high to be coincidence. Some destinations are just higher risk to ship.

My assumption of poor packing or reviews doesnt seem to apply...ive ordered from you more than once and your ts are always very well packed...im actually shocked that a shipment from you contained many doas.

Keep doing what youre doing Mike, IMO you are an excellent vendor to buy from and i will always suggest you to others. Pricing is always good as well.

I love that you took the time to comment here

 

[14pokies]

If they're dying because of me how come none of the spiders I catch outside, buy off of local adds, or get from close reptile dealers have ever died? And how come it's only the ones I pick up at expos and not ones I get via airline group shipments?

Some species are hardier than others

 

[Trenor]

I've found that in the first month of care, about 20% of my 1/8"-3/4" slings die.

You're basically losing 1 out of ever 5 slings you buy. That's a lot.

If they're dying because of me how come none of the spiders I catch outside, buy off of local adds, or get from close reptile dealers have ever died? And how come it's only the ones I pick up at expos and not ones I get via airline group shipments?

I can't answer this as I have no information on how many were bought/found where or how they were kept. If you get the T and it's active when you receive it. Then with in one month you lose it then that can signal a problem. If you lose a lot in their 1st month that signals a on going problem.

I'm not saying this just to you. If I had that kind of mortality rate with my slings I'd pause, and take stock to figure out what was the issue. Like when my sling died to the cool air from the forgotten vent. I immediately started checking everything till I was pretty sure what had happened. I moved all the Ts away from that area and later to the now pet room. If I had chalked it up to things happen there is a good chance I'd have lost more.

There is nothing wrong with evaluating your care methods I do every time I learn something new. That's what helps keepers improve care.

Slings are much more fragile than juvis and it doesn't take a lot being off for them to not make it. Especially with they tiny. Conditions that one species can survive will kill another one.

Good luck.

 

[cold blood]

Some species are hardier than others

my first thought to his inquiry as well.

 

[johnharper]

I lost a few once due to how they was handled when I went to pick up at post office

 

[Arachnomaniac19]

You're basically losing 1 out of ever 5 slings you buy. That's a lot.


I can't answer this as I have no information on how many were bought/found where or how they were kept. If you get the T and it's active when you receive it. Then with in one month you lose it then that can signal a problem. If you lose a lot in their 1st month that signals a on going problem.

I'm not saying this just to you. If I had that kind of mortality rate with my slings I'd pause, and take stock to figure out what was the issue. Like when my sling died to the cool air from the forgotten vent. I immediately started checking everything till I was pretty sure what had happened. I moved all the Ts away from that area and later to the now pet room. If I had chalked it up to things happen there is a good chance I'd have lost more.

There is nothing wrong with evaluating your care methods I do every time I learn something new. That's what helps keepers improve care.

Slings are much more fragile than juvis and it doesn't take a lot being off for them to not make it. Especially with they tiny. Conditions that one species can survive will kill another one.

Good luck.

I've never had many Ts be active when I recieved them, and I can't really blame them after such a long trip. I usually get 5-15 slings at a time. They're kept in vials if they're under 1/4" and deli cups (with a water dish) if they're larger than a quarter inch. The slings in vials are kept with 75% dirt, and the slings in the cups are kept the same if they're fossorial. If they're arboreal they get 25% dirt and the rest is filled with twigs, bark, and a bit of moss. The slings are kept at 24-26c during the day and 21-24c during the night. Some of them are kept cooler (Haplocosmia himalyana for exampme). The substrate is slightly moist to relatively moist depending on the species (say Tappies compared to Ephebopus).

 

[EulersK]

I'm not saying this just to you. If I had that kind of mortality rate with my slings I'd pause, and take stock to figure out what was the issue. Like when my sling died to the cool air from the forgotten vent. I immediately started checking everything till I was pretty sure what had happened. I moved all the Ts away from that area and later to the now pet room. If I had chalked it up to things happen there is a good chance I'd have lost more.

Agreed. I suffered heavy sling losses this past winter before I realized that the heater was drying my T room out more than I had anticipated. I found this out a couple months before winter ended - after I resolved the issue, not a single sling died. This is a constant learning experience.

 

[mack1855]

Ah,Pet Center.2 orders from the past were great.This last one,not so good.
Working overtime to try and save 3 M.mesomelas juveniles.The animals were
severally dehydrated.Within an hour of rehouse,they had crawled into the water dishes.
One is in molt.
Wondering if the Backwater mentality is taking over Pet Center.

 

[user 666]

My biggest problem is DOAs. If they arrive alive they generally do fine.

Although I do have 4 slings that I don't know are alive, dead, or escaped - it's been months since I saw them last.

Today I did that one thing you should never do - I went looking for the unseen slings. I emptied the enclosures into a large metal bowl and gently sifted the substrate.

I found one body. The others were just gone. I had been feeding and filling the water bowl in empty enclosures for weeks if not months.

One only arrived a few weeks ago, so it could arguably be called a delayed DOA. But the others had been in my collection for months. Bleh.

 

[user 666]

deleted

 

[Nightstalker47]

Some times when I purchase a group of slings I get a bunch of healthy specimens and a runt that doesn't eat well and then occasionally it ends up dying. Thing is all the other slings (sac mates) thrive so I know it isn't something I'm doing wrong.

@Arachnomaniac19 20 percent does seem very high, but perhaps you've received some less healthy slings that were already weakening, sometimes they just don't make it. This is why I like to buy my Ts in person so I can get an idea of what I'm getting, how healthy they look, if they go after food right away, that's always a good sign. The mortality rate in slings I have had has been very low, less then 5%.

 

[Leila]

Today I did that one thing you should never do - I went looking for the unseen slings. I emptied the enclosures into a large metal bowl and gently sifted the substrate.

I found one body. The others were just gone. I had been feeding and filling the water bowl in empty enclosures for weeks if not months.

One only arrived a few weeks ago, so it could arguably be called a delayed DOA. But the others had been in my collection for months. Bleh.

So did they escape via the air holes?

 

[Trenor]

So did they escape via the air holes?

It's likely had they been MIA for month/months they died and just decomposed. I imagine he checked the vent hole size before putting them in the enclosure.

While I've not had much trouble with tiny slings I do baby them a lot more than older (larger) slings. At 1/4 inch it doesn't take a lot to go off before the sling doesn't make it.