Tiny sling & prekilled prey

[l4nsky]

I've only ever had one sling that didn't accept prekilled prey (it ended up dying from an unknown injury, so I think it wasn't quite right to begin with).

Sometimes it can be hard to tell if a sling has actually eaten prekilled, especially if it's on the larger side. A trick I use is to place a small flat piece of slate in the enclosure and use it as a plate to place the food on. That way, you can tell if a sling has moved or dragged the prey around.

As far as being squeamish, unfortunately I think that's something you'll just have to work on getting over. There's no real, easy way that I can think of. It's just a mental adjustment you'll have to make to provide for the animals that you've accepted responsibility for. Think of it this way, do you like cleaning up feces and urine? I bet you don't, but you have kids and they have diapers. You want your children to be healthy and clean, so you suck it up and do what needs to be done. After awhile, it's no issue at all, right? You'll need to make the same connections in your mind between caring for the kids with 2 legs and the ones with 8.

 

[QuinnStarr]

I've only ever had one sling that didn't accept prekilled prey (it ended up dying from an unknown injury, so I think it wasn't quite right to begin with).

Sometimes it can be hard to tell if a sling has actually eaten prekilled, especially if it's on the larger side. A trick I use is to place a small flat piece of slate in the enclosure and use it as a plate to place the food on. That way, you can tell if a sling has moved or dragged the prey around.

As far as being squeamish, unfortunately, I think that's something you'll just have to work on getting over. There's no real, easy way that I can think of. It's just a mental adjustment you'll have to make to provide for the animals that you've accepted responsibility for. Think of it this way, do you like cleaning up feces and urine? I bet you don't, but you have kids and they have diapers. You want your children to be healthy and clean, so you suck it up and do what needs to be done. After awhile, it's no issue at all, right? You'll need to make the same connections in your mind between caring for the kids with 2 legs and the ones with 8.

It's less squeamish and more guilt, honestly. I don't so much mind guts or blood. But it's something I'm going to have to work on. No matter who does the actual cutting/pulling, I'll make sure the t is fed and happy. That's one of my top priorities in this world - kids and pets being happy, healthy, and thriving.

 

[l4nsky]

It's less squeamish and more guilt, honestly. I don't so much mind guts or blood. But it's something I'm going to have to work on. No matter who does the actual cutting/pulling, I'll make sure the t is fed and happy. That's one of my top priorities in this world - kids and pets being happy, healthy, and thriving.

Ahh, that's a deeper hangup and mental adjustment to make. It's not uncommon in today's world, where a lot of our meat comes prepackaged on styrofoam trays in shrink wrap and we all tend to forget it had a face and a pulse once. At the risk of sounding like a psychiatrist and really spinning this thread on a tangent, consider this. Kindness and Cruelty are the same thing, just different sides of the same coin. If one person sees a critically injured animal and puts it out of it's misery, they would consider it a kindness as it would be cruel to let it suffer. An entirely different person could look at the same situation and deem that act a cruelty and the kindness would be to make it comfortable as it's dying. Neither person is wrong per say. Now, apply that same line of thinking to your situation. You're both being cruel by ending the feeder's life, but you're also being kind by realizing the feeder only has one purpose and you're doing it quickly and humanely as opposed to a more agonizing takedown by a predator.

Alright, off my couch lmao. It's time for my next appointment and they're a real basket case lol

 

[QuinnStarr]

the feeder only has one purpose and you're doing it quickly and humanely as opposed to a more agonizing takedown by a predator.

This right here
If I’m yanking it’s leg off, I’m still causing lasting painful harm that could be put off a smidge longer by not yanking off it’s leg.
I can kill something, no problem. Step on it, crush it, smack it with a magazine, etc. but cutting or tearing a piece of its body off? I don’t like that one iota.

(P.S. As a former psychology major, I appreciate this in depth assessment immensely )

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

You're both being cruel by ending the feeder's life, but you're also being kind by realizing the feeder only has one purpose and you're doing it quickly and humanely as opposed to a more agonizing takedown by a predator.

Well not really. Disabling a feeder insect by removing its head, cutting it in half (or in any fraction), removing legs, etc. doesn't kill it quickly. A tarantula fed an appropriately sized feeder insect, which would be the size of or smaller than the carapace, kills an insect much more quickly by crushing it between the fangs and chelicerae. Depending on one's definition of suffering and whether an insect experiences it, then mutilating a live feeder insect to prepare it for consumption by a smaller tarantula may or may not be more humane. What can be said for sure is that an insect does not immediately die from something like being decapitated therefore it prolongs the insect's death. That doesn't sound humane to me, but to others it is.

 

[QuinnStarr]

Oooh. Healthy debate on the morality of chopping up/injuring feeder insects.

I am here for it.
I love friendly philosophical debates.

 

[l4nsky]

Oooh. Healthy debate on the morality of chopping up/injuring feeder insects.

I am here for it.
I love friendly philosophical debates.

*Sigh* The problem is that it usually doesn't stay healthy for long. For clarity, my comments/observations were directed towards this statement:

I would feel so guilty.
I stood there for fifteen minutes with a mealworm in my tongs and an exacto knife in my other hand and I literally could not do it. I took it to the taller half almost in tears thinking I was going to have to cut up this crunchy beetle-maggot

To help reason with this statement:

He may not want to be my big chopper but he will do it as long as necessary because of his respect for me and my weird emotional processing.

Because I'm of the same opinion as this statement:

If I’m yanking it’s leg off, I’m still causing lasting painful harm that could be put off a smidge longer by not yanking off it’s leg.

I've always viewed drumsticks as the theoretical last resort. Like if I didn't have lateralis nymphs, pinhead crickets, mealworms, FFF's, or even small crickets to prekill, then I might look at drumsticks. If I'm at that point though, I might as well just chop up the whole cricket.....

Well not really. Disabling a feeder insect by removing its head, cutting it in half (or in any fraction), removing legs, etc. doesn't kill it quickly. A tarantula fed an appropriately sized feeder insect, which would be the size of or smaller than the carapace, kills an insect much more quickly by crushing it between the fangs and chelicerae.

Agreed, that's kind of the wierd logical processing in my head where a crushing, mascerating force + fangs + venom > a large, crushing force. Where we differ (which is tied to the kindness and cruelty post above) is here :

Depending on one's definition of suffering and whether an insect experiences it, then mutilating a live feeder insect to prepare it for consumption by a smaller tarantula may or may not be more humane. What can be said for sure is that an insect does not immediately die from something like being decapitated therefore it prolongs the insect's death. That doesn't sound humane to me, but to others it is.

My weird processing is a large crushing force > fangs + venom in most instances.

 

[QuinnStarr]

That multi quote feature is really cool. I need to figure out how to do it faster on mobile. It seems really useful if it didn’t take me 4728274 years to do on my phone.

My weird processing is a large crushing force > fangs + venom in most instances.

I’ll crush something’s head without issue - even though I question how much insects feel or are conscious of in the time following that - but I don’t want to yank a leg off.
Head crushing it feels more humane, even though I’m not 100% sure if it is or not.

*Sigh* The problem is that it usually doesn't stay healthy for long.

I can’t speak for others but I try my hardest to stay healthy and civil, even in areas where I disagree with whomever I’m chatting with. Unfortunately I’m not always successful over text but I am more than happy to explain my tone and/or apologize if I do come across negatively.

As an aside whenever you’re back around, how does one catch a singular pinhead cricket without them all getting out?
I noticed you said you have them and I got a shipment of them in today but they’re in a short deli cup and a lot of them are currently hanging upside down on the lid. I’m not sure how to move them to a taller deli cup without them scattering or how to make sure I’m only catching one at feeding time.

 

[l4nsky]

I can’t speak for others but I try my hardest to stay healthy and civil, even in areas where I disagree with whomever I’m chatting with. Unfortunately I’m not always successful over text but I am more than happy to explain my tone and/or apologize if I do come across negatively.

It was more of a general statement TBH. The longer these threads get, the higher the odds they'll start to slide towards the hostile side as more people pile on.

As an aside whenever you’re back around, how does one catch a singular pinhead cricket without them all getting out?
I noticed you said you have them and I got a shipment of them in today but they’re in a short deli cup and a lot of them are currently hanging upside down on the lid. I’m not sure how to move them to a taller deli cup without them scattering or how to make sure I’m only catching one at feeding time.

I have a lateralis colony, so the nymphs are the perfect size even for the smallest of T's. When I didn't have the lats and I had access to pinheads, what I would do is knock a cardboard tube or eggcrate flat into a tall sided container they couldn't climb or jump out of and then use a small cup to scoop out one or two at a time. When I was done, I'd just dump the remaining crickets back in. I have a set of large mixing bowls that I use this technique on with my lateralis as well.

 

[QuinnStarr]

It was more of a general statement TBH. The longer these threads get, the higher the odds they'll start to slide towards the hostile side as more people pile on.

Just saying. There’s at least one person that does everything possible not to be hostile.

When I didn't have the lats and I had access to pinheads, what I would do is knock a cardboard tube or eggcrate flat into a tall sided container they couldn't climb or jump out of and then use a small cup to scoop out one or two at a time.

I feel like this is going to be a learning curve and I’ll have some out of the container pinheads the first few times. Thank you!

 

[dragonblade71]

Maybe you could setup an automated insect killing system! It could incorporate a miniature cross bow and I'll leave the rest up to your imagination. .

 

[QuinnStarr]

Maybe you could setup an automated insect killing system! It could incorporate a miniature cross bow and I'll leave the rest up to your imagination. .

I’m imagining a toothpick crossbow somehow tracking and firing at small crickets just to pin them to the wall by their face

 

[dragonblade71]

Or strap those crickets to the side of a container with rubber bands. No more moving targets!

 

[Ian14]

All of my slings have arrived as tiny 1cm critters.
I have only ever fed them micro crickets or bean weevils. With crickets, if they seem a bit big I just crush the head.
I have 2 chromatus, both were bought as tiny slings. They grow phenomenally quickly.

 

[QuinnStarr]

Or strap those crickets to the side of a container with rubber bands. No more moving targets!

I have enough trouble catching crickets in tongs I couldn’t imagine getting a rubber band on one

All of my slings have arrived as tiny 1cm critters.
I have only ever fed them micro crickets or bean weevils. With crickets, if they seem a bit big I just crush the head.
I have 2 chromatus, both were bought as tiny slings. They grow phenomenally quickly.

I’ve heard they grow quickly! I’m excited for that. I’m just suuuuper new to such a small sling and I’m worried I’m going to do something wrong.
I wasn’t expecting a freebie sling, so now I’m here to make sure I’m totally educated, ya know? Tom Moran’s videos have been a HUGE help. I can recite his T. apophysis husbandry video forwards and backwards at this point.