Slings! kill & abandon!

[Sidi]

Hey, I have a Phlogius sp. Stents sling, it likes to kill crickets, drag them down its burrow and just abandons them, doesnt seem to eat them...

Is this common with T's or maybe just something my species does?

Im feeding it 1 pinhead cricket per week

 

[shanebp]

Depends how big the sling is, it might not eat all that much, or, its not hungry, or maybe its in premolt and kills the cricket and leaves it for that reason.

 

[gladmar]

Same of my H. Lividum(cobalt blue) Sling, just kill and drag them out to his burrow. I check him and I think his in premolt.

 

[curiousme]

Hey, I have a Phlogius sp. Stents sling, it likes to kill crickets, drag them down its burrow and just abandons them, doesnt seem to eat them...

What does this mean? Do you see carcasses of crickets in the burrow, or are they just never seen again after it drags them in there.

If it is the former than it is possible that it is in premolt and is removing threats from its molting region. We have several species that do this in premolt, so this is normal behavior.

If it is the latter, than I would say it is eating them, it just wants privacy to do so. We have a few shy eaters, so this behavior is not uncommon either.

 

[Sidi]

I feed it tonight, put in cricket, the sling sensed it by the web its laid down, came rushing out, looked around, grabbed the cricket, sank the fangs in, dragged it half way down it burrow, and then left the carcass there and went down to the very end of it burrow, and hasnt come up to grab it or feed it since, just left its dead body there

done this a few times now

 

[curiousme]

Is the cricket gone by the next day, or are you removing them?

 

[jgod790]

Sometimes T's just get annoyed with the disturbance, and kill the crickets when there not hungry, just cause there annoying.

 

[ManlyMan7]

I have a G. rosea that has killed crickets and left them in the middle of the tank, only to return later and pick it up to eat it.

 

[gmrpnk21]

My Brachys do that sometimes, only to eat later. Leave it in overnight.

 

[Sidi]

I try to remove them when i can, but since they are usually stuffed half way down its burrow I cant always remove them.

I dont want to destroy the slings burrow, trying to avoid stressing it out, but also worried about keep the tank clean and the sling healthy.

 

[jbm150]

This was one of the first things I noticed about my Phlogius and Selenocosmia slings that was different than my other spiders: they kill but then leave their prey, sometimes for a good while. They always come back to it eventually. I wouldn't worry about it unless it was there the next day. Then I'd assume their in premolt and just killed it out of annoyance/protection. I'd stop feeding at that point.