tips on keeping v.small slings

[ahkiu]

i just got 2 slings a GBB and an A.seemani but these are the smallest i have ever kept. the seemani isn't much bigger than a grain of rice.

so would appreciate any tips people can offer me. Right now i'm keeping them in the film roll containers they came in. I don't have anything smaller right now. My question is are they ok in pretty much total darkness? i know t's naturally don't like light but is it ok to keep them that way 24/7?

another option is to cover the film roll containers with cling film, that would give me a clear "lid" i can just prick a few air holes in the top.

 

[phoenixxavierre]

They'll do fine in the film containers as long as they have holes pricked in the top for ventilation. I use a syringe to do this and to water them when the spiderlings are very small. Darkness won't hurt them. They'll use their other senses just fine.

Any other tips you are looking for?

 

[ahkiu]

thx that's mainly it really.
i wasn't too sure about keeping them in the dark for so long.

as for feeding i'm intending to just give them some cricket legs or other body parts.

 

[phoenixxavierre]

You're welcome! Cut up mealworms works too!

 

[looseyfur]

mmmmmm

AND... you can pop a few mealworms right in your mouth when they are cut up small like!

thats right I eat mealworms wanna make something of it!

as well as mealworms and if you are nuts you can use flightless fruit flies crush their heads with tweezers and drop them in.


dont eat those though... they taste like (censcored)


your pal-
looseyfur

 

[Bjorgly]

Another good rule of thumb is that when the tarantula's leg span becomes half the diameter of it's enclosure, it is usually time to move it to larger quarters. This rule goes mostly for spiderlings as adults need more room.

Mark

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Loosey,

Maybe you should try frying or baking those first? A lot of them carry parasites! Try placing one in a vial with nothing but a little bit of water and eighth inch of substrate and see what happens (after it dies)!

Take care,

Paul

 

[Immortal_sin]

loosey...
i dunno about mealworms ....but waxworms....yum!
they are cute ,and taste good too!!!
a bit on the spendy side though

 

[pdrake]

 

[Telson]

I have to agree with Pdrake....

On another note...

I keep seeing ppl saying to feed slings cricket parts... I've never had a T that would accept dead prey without some sort of covert coaxing/jiggling to draw the T to strike. Is there a trick to doing this that no one is remembering to add to this suggestion, or do you all have slings that will actually take dead food?

 

[pdrake]

my 1/4" chaco will eat cricket front quarters. i just drop them in. it runs away at first, but then i look back a few minutes later and it's perched over it munching away.

they're babies and still almost as big as the sling. not the same one in the pic in the other thread.

 

[rorika]

they'll eat dead chopped mealworms just leave em overnight and if u wake up in the night to take a piss u can see em "sucking" on the mealworm.. so cute

 

[manville]

btw does slings require a lot of air holes...or just a few?

 

[manville]

is a few air holes enough for a 2 inch circular vial..

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Originally posted by manville
is a few air holes enough for a 2 inch circular vial..

I use a 21 guage needle on a syringe to pop holes in vials. Some have one, some have two, some have several. Each time I water and feed I add another hole to the lid. They've been doing fine, but then I don't have the entire container filled with substrate. I have them filled perhaps a quarter of the way.

 

[ahkiu]

is there a specific reason why you add another hole to the lid everytime you feed and water?

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Originally posted by ahkiu
is there a specific reason why you add another hole to the lid everytime you feed and water?

Better ventilation.

 

[ahkiu]

sorry i mean why not do it all in the first place

 

[phoenixxavierre]

Originally posted by ahkiu
sorry i mean why not do it all in the first place

lol! oh, okay. no reason you couldn't. For me, it's just easier. More spiderlings equals more time. I just don't have the time to do them all at once. So I do them over time.

 

[manville]

am i good with probably 8 air holes in a 2 inch vial then?