Thinking of getting my first sling...

starlight_kitsune

Arachnoknight
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I already own two juvenile tarantulas, one 3" Avic. Avic. And one Aphnopelma Sp. Guatemala (she just molted so I can't give you an accurate or even guesstimate size on her. She was 4" before, now it will have to wait and see)

And I was thinking about getting my first spiderling instead of simply buying another juvenile or getting an adult.

Any suggestions for good, sturdy beginners slings? And I'm not particularly picky if they're fast growing or not.
 

GPulchra

Arachnoknight
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I say go for it! People will try to avoid Avics because of SADS, but they're actually reakky easy to care for. I'd say that most species of the Grammostola genus are probably easier, though. Slings are like the mini version of Ts :) .
 

starlight_kitsune

Arachnoknight
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I say go for it! People will try to avoid Avics because of SADS, but they're actually reakky easy to care for. I'd say that most species of the Grammostola genus are probably easier, though. Slings are like the mini version of Ts :) .
SADS? I'm still new-ish and I've never heard of that but still not liking the sound of it. (I have a couple guess what it means...)

Well I love my little Avic Avic so another Avic would be awesome. A different kind though maybe this time. I just can't decide.
 

2oCHEVYo0

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I think it's something along the lines of Sudden Arachnid Death Syndrome or somethin like that... Not sure though, but thats what people say tends to happen to there sling avics. Mine however are all doing GREAT!!! Got a molt any second!!!
 

Sodaboy1978

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I think it's something along the lines of Sudden Arachnid Death Syndrome or somethin like that... Not sure though, but thats what people say tends to happen to there sling avics. Mine however are all doing GREAT!!! Got a molt any second!!!
Sudden Avic death Syndrome. No death curl or anything. One day doing good and webbing, and the next nothing falls over and life less.
 

starlight_kitsune

Arachnoknight
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:wall::wall:

I had a very bad feeling that was what that meant.

On a just plain curious note, are there any theories on why they just suddenly pass?


And I might get an avic sling despite that possibility though, simply because I adore them..

Although a brachy might be nice too.

Why must there be so many wonderful Ts?
 

2oCHEVYo0

Arachnosquire
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I would go with both... Neither are very expensive. I would recommend a Versicolor and a Smithi. They are both very cool T's! I think some just die because not all young T's are born with what they need to survive, like an organ maybe didn't develop correctly or something along those lines. It happens with all tarantulas really, just far more often with avics than any other.
 

starlight_kitsune

Arachnoknight
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It happens with all tarantulas really, just far more often with avics than any other.
I wonder if it's perhaps a bit more crossbreeding has happened with avics since the genus is nice and tangled?

Just a thought. I could be and probably am totally wrong about it though.

I would go with both... Neither are very expensive. I would recommend a Versicolor and a Smithi. They are both very cool T's!
Hmmm, Might just do.

I think it's time to start shopping around. ;)
 
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AmbushArachnids

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I think some just die because not all young T's are born with what they need to survive, like an organ maybe didn't develop correctly or something along those lines.
Thats just something you made up with no evidence to support it. Unless there is something you know we dont..
I think they die from missing thier mother.. ;)
I wonder if it's perhaps a bit more crossbreeding has happened with avics since the genus is nice and tangled?

Just a thought. I could be and probably am totally wrong about it though.
Avicularia versicolor seem to be the ones that suddenly die for no reason. It could be the lack of humidity, ventilation or just natural selection. The best thing you can do it to give them a nice cage setup. Im pretty sure no one in the hobby is cross breeding A. versicolor on accident. They seem to be the weakest species in this genus.

Out of the 7 versicolor slings ive kept 2 have died. Each from 2 different sacs. (I had 3 different bloodlines) One was sudden death. It was really active and just died. The other seemed lethargic for 2 weeks as though it was in premolt. (Odd for a .5" sling to be in premolt so long.) It couldnt climb either. Then it finally died. :(

Dont let this shy you away from this species.. It only makes it more rewarding when see them grow up. I call it (SFA) "Sudden feeling of accomplishment." {D :D
 
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jonnyquong

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A. versicolor is a beautiful spider that seems to change with almost every molt. Just keep gettin' prettier & prettier! :D
 

belljar77

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I started with slings, then added in juvies and adults later. Avics are great, I've had nine, and no losses. LPs and A. genics are fun to raise, they're eating machines. Psalmos are speedy, wicked little hunters. Same with Pokies. But my favorite sling has been a Pamphobeteus, it's always visible, and is pretty much a bottomless pit.
 

curiousme

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:wall::wall:

I had a very bad feeling that was what that meant.

On a just plain curious note, are there any theories on why they just suddenly pass?
Here, read this thread. It is compilation of people's ideas on SADS and keeper's experiences with it. My personal opinion(and I don't think I am the only one) is that we are seeing natural selection under a microscope. How many keepers have an A. versicolor? I am not going to try and pull out a statistic, but it is a VERY popular spiderling and therefore whole sacs are sold, which means there are weak ones that wouldn't have made it in the wild period; but they were sold and eventually succumbed to whatever flaw they inherently had to begin with. Our A. versicolor actual had problems with a bulging abdomen for several molts in a row, so we fed it sparingly and so far it has thrived and is showing no signs of the problem now.


And I might get an avic sling despite that possibility though, simply because I adore them..

Although a brachy might be nice too.

Why must there be so many wonderful Ts?
I think Avicularia is my favorite genus, hands down and I encourage you not to be scared away from them. They aren't hard to care for and just like DKS(diskenetic syndrome), SADS is a name given to symptoms and deaths that we have no idea what the underlying cause is.

I love my Brachypelma, but i LOVE my Avicularia.:D
 

redrumpslump

Arachnobaron
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GBB!! Beuatiful tarantula. Eats like a tank, easy to care for, and they make some awesome webs. Oh and not super expensive either. Robc has some. I would deffinetly look into them. I love mine.

Matt
 

seezilla

Arachnopeon
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I would say Sky (hubby's .75" A. versicolor sling) died of an injury. Her poor little butt turned brown and kind of started to ooze one day last week and I noticed her container stunk, so I knew she was "gone" even though she'd been unresponsive for the whole week before. It was also swollen when I moved her to an ICU container as compared to our other versi sling. I don't know what happened either. One day she was webbing and eating, then Skweezeme molted and Sky just got lethargic and would just hang onto the side of her vial and not move. I was sad because that was our second versi sling to die. :( However, Skweezeme (the other sling) is doing very well. The reason our first versi sling died was mostly my fault for making a N00b mistake.

I don't think that having two out of three versi slings die is "normal" so don't let it scare you. I'm certainly not letting it scare me from sling care. I just bought a G. pulchripes .5" sling last Sunday that is the CUTEST lil thing.


I'm still thinking of names for this little one. I've been calling it Snoogi Woogems but I doubt that will end up the official name. :D I just haven't found something I really like yet.

I'm also planning on getting some PZB slings from a local breeder next week. I'm stoked and cannot wait. I think he said they are 2nd instars and were TINY. But PZBs have been on my T wishlist since I decided to join the hobby and was researching what kind of Ts I wanted.

So I say go for it and get what you want. If you do end up getting a versi sling, I'd say if you can afford to get more than one, just in case, I would do it. It sucks when one dies for no apparent reason. And there is tons of information on this board about sling care. And slings are so friggin adorable to boot. :D
 

CAK

Arachnoknight
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:wall::wall:

I had a very bad feeling that was what that meant.

On a just plain curious note, are there any theories on why they just suddenly pass?


And I might get an avic sling despite that possibility though, simply because I adore them..

Although a brachy might be nice too.

Why must there be so many wonderful Ts?
I have my own theories on why Avic's die... I have had very very few go... Like natural selection, some of any species of ANYTHING randomly kick the bucket... Even humans! But yes, avics seem to be more prone... I still strongly believe people aren't giving them enough ventilation and either not enough moisture or... WAY TOO MUCH!

You don't need to drown the poor guy... But also, you don't need to keep him next to the pyramids of egypt either. Just a little squirt here and squirt there will be fine. But Cross Ventilation is a MUST!!!!!



Joe - CAK
 

curiousme

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But Cross Ventilation is a MUST!!!!!
I don't believe that it is a must, but it is the most common advice given when talking about Avicularia spiderlings. In this thread WARPIG(who has had tons of Avicularia) talks about his set-ups and says that he doesn't think the cross ventilation is needed and actually did a small experiment. We have always had cross ventilation just to be on the safe side, but I wouldn't say it is a MUST. Since I have no experience with enclosures that don't have it, the jury is still out for me.
 

CAK

Arachnoknight
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I don't believe that it is a must, but it is the most common advice given when talking about Avicularia spiderlings. In this thread WARPIG(who has had tons of Avicularia) talks about his set-ups and says that he doesn't think the cross ventilation is needed and actually did a small experiment. We have always had cross ventilation just to be on the safe side, but I wouldn't say it is a MUST. Since I have no experience with enclosures that don't have it, the jury is still out for me.
That's totally fair!

I don't have much experience that can sway any one direction or another... I lost a few avics in a short span and ended up cross ventilating and tossing a fan on the other end of the room just to circulate the air and haven't had a single loss since. Could be random luck, but I'm going with ventilation. Mold is another area I would keep my eyes out on.
 

Mack&Cass

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With our Avics that have simply just dropped dead, it seems that they had problems before dying. They would rarely eat, and when they did eat it would be a prekilled cricket placed on webbing, they would never go after food, and when they would finally molt they barely grew at all. They wouldn't eat after that molt and would just be dead one day. Avicularia is not the only genus that we've had this happen with, though. We also had it happen with our first Heterothele gabonensis. ETA: The Avics we had die had cross ventilation..the slings that are currently thriving have none. Just a little extra info.

I agree with Sarah on the natural selection theory, with species that are highly desirable (like A. versicolor) breeders often will keep the whole sac to be able to sell off as many as possible, instead of letting them cannibalize a little, which is why I firmly believe in allowing slings to cannibalize to a certain point - to weed out the week and build up the strong (but that's for a whole different thread in questions and discussions that I'm trying to stay out of). Like everyone else I can't say that I'm right, everyone has different opinions, and this is mine :)

As far as cool beginner slings go, I would suggest something like a P. cancerides. They aren't slow growing like a Gram, they are a cool blue colour as slings and it's really cool to watch them go from blue to a coppery brown colour. They're a little skittish but it's a bit of a step up and it's a species I'm very fond of. Some people think they're plain but they are definitely one of my favourite species. I like the underdogs :)

Cass
 
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AmbushArachnids

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I don't believe that it is a must, but it is the most common advice given when talking about Avicularia spiderlings. In this thread WARPIG(who has had tons of Avicularia) talks about his set-ups and says that he doesn't think the cross ventilation is needed and actually did a small experiment. We have always had cross ventilation just to be on the safe side, but I wouldn't say it is a MUST. Since I have no experience with enclosures that don't have it, the jury is still out for me.
Im going to have to go with good cross ventilation for Avics. It is closest to the natural habitat. At least in the trees there is good air flow. Some live within the trees but i think the cage its self should have good air flow.

I am not sure its a deciding factor in life or death but people on both sides of the arguement should agree it cant hurt.
 

Redneck

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I have my own theories on why Avic's die... I have had very very few go... Like natural selection, some of any species of ANYTHING randomly kick the bucket... Even humans! But yes, avics seem to be more prone... I still strongly believe people aren't giving them enough ventilation and either not enough moisture or... WAY TOO MUCH!

You don't need to drown the poor guy... But also, you don't need to keep him next to the pyramids of egypt either. Just a little squirt here and squirt there will be fine. But Cross Ventilation is a MUST!!!!!



Joe - CAK
Sorry Joe.. Got to disagree.. Cross Ventilation is a bunch of poo.. I have raised a bunch of avics.. I lost my first versi.. I had alot of ventilation.. (Cross & Top!) The last couple versicolors I got as second instar slings.. Put them in a vial with a few holes in the lid.. Thats it..

One is a MM now.. The other is a 3" female.. She is in a 2.5 gallon turned on its side.. It only has 7 holes drilled in the front & a line where the door hinges for ventilation..

I think the versicolor (As I said "I think".. Meaning this is my opinion be it right or wrong!) can be raise just like any other sling.. Alot people who loose them.. I personally believe they over-do what needs to be done.. They mist to much.. They check on it to much... They pretty much stress the T to death..

Like I said.. I have no proof of that.. So I cant say if its right or wrong.. Its just my opinion on the matter..

*Edit*

Just so you know.. I type super slow and all those other responses were not there when I hit quote! :p
 
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