Feeding Slings

[Holly]

I have a brachypelma albicepts sling approximately 1/4". I have put in the enclosure 1 wk old crickets and also wingless fruit flies. I have read that super worms cut up are an excellent source of nutrition for them? How small would these be cut up? I also have a Grammostola Pulchra about 1/2" which I also put 1 wk old crickets for food. I would like to give them the best nutrition for health and growth. Any words of wisdom?

 

[Arachnoclown]

You should cut up pieces equal to the size of the spider. You will want to remove any uneaten pieces after 24 hours. I would stay away from crickets they are nasty to slings. Try to find pinhead roaches they are much less aggressive then crickets. If you do use crickets for slings I always kill the cricket before putting it in. Roaches are the best all round feeder...just my opinion though.

 

[menavodi]

If you use crickets and they are not eaten within an hour, take them back out. If you don’t have anything else you can give her. If the cricket is too big you can squeeze it an she will eat from it over night if she is hungry.

 

[Tnoob]

My two slings go absolutely nuts for Dubia roaches. I just squish their head a little and put them in. The panic they create is quite theatrical and grabs attention. They are cleaner than crickets too. Just make sure they lay on their back.

 

[Tortoise Tom]

I agree with Arachnoclown. I use roaches. Freshly hatched Blatta lateralis pinheads are great for Brachypelma and Grammostola slings. Perfect size and they are safe too.

 

[Holly]

You should cut up pieces equal to the size of the spider. You will want to remove any uneaten pieces after 24 hours. I would stay away from crickets they are nasty to slings. Try to find pinhead roaches they are much less aggressive then crickets. If you do use crickets for slings I always kill the cricket before putting it in. Roaches are the best all round feeder...just my opinion though.

I live in Florida, can not get them here.

 

[Holly]

I agree with Arachnoclown. I use roaches. Freshly hatched Blatta lateralis pinheads are great for Brachypelma and Grammostola slings. Perfect size and they are safe too.

They can not be shipped to Florida...so I guess I'll have to pre kill the crickets?

 

[Holly]

If you use crickets and they are not eaten within an hour, take them back out. If you don’t have anything else you can give her. If the cricket is too big you can squeeze it an she will eat from it over night if she is hungry.

OK! I'll try doing that with the crickets, they are very small.

 

[Tortoise Tom]

They can not be shipped to Florida...so I guess I'll have to pre kill the crickets?

I actually started my lateralis colony by catching a couple dozen outside and putting them in a bin. Is that an option for you? They really are a much better feeder in many ways. Can you drive and get them yourself from a neighboring state?

 

[Holly]

I live in SW FL. Long hike to GA! I guess my alternative would be cutting up the super worms my larger T’s do fine with large crickets. I used to feed Dubia’s Before moving to FL.

 

[Arachnoclown]

I live in Florida, can not get them here.

My wife is from Naples...no shortages of roaches there. You just need to start your own colony with the native sp. to make sure they are pesticide free.

 

[Phil]

any spider should be capable of taking live prey if the right size. General rule of thumb is dont feed live prey any larger than the size of the abdomen of the spider. It is therefore easy to conclude that as the spider grows as does the prey. I also call this the "Jurassic Park'" approach to feeding. Remember the scene where T Rex is.being fed a goat and it refuses. The immortal words are "TRex doesn't want to be fed, she wants to hunt". Same applies for your spider so as long as the prey is sized correctly, they will hunt and kill

 

[Tortoise Tom]

My wife is from Naples...no shortages of roaches there. You just need to start your own colony with the native sp. to make sure they are pesticide free.

I agree. I've been to FL. I was hand catching wild roaches left and right, much to the dismay of almost everyone nearby. My daughter thought it was great! "Daddy Daddy, there's another one. Catch it Daddy, I wanna see!!!" 4 different species around Orlando. I even showed some people how to tell males from females.

 

[Tortoise Tom]

For Holly, or anyone else reading, I did a thread a while back on how I like to start a roach colony and a few things I've learned over the years:
https://tarantulaforum.com/threads/how-to-start-a-roach-colony.22389/

 

[Holly]

My wife is from Naples...no shortages of roaches there. You just need to start your own colony with the native sp. to make sure they are pesticide free.

I will see how I can capture them then..the “palmetto” roaches are very large with wings included! I don’t think that even my large B Smithi would want to tackle one! I will research the native species and try to colonize. Can they climb smooth plastic containers?

 

[Tortoise Tom]

I will see how I can capture them then..the “palmetto” roaches are very large with wings included! I don’t think that even my large B Smithi would want to tackle one! I will research the native species and try to colonize. Can they climb smooth plastic containers?

This varies by species. Some can and some can't. The Blatta lateralis can not. I would only start a colony with a species that can't climb glass. I can't remember seeing B. lateralis in FL, but I did see B. orientalis there. The two species are very similar in every way, but the orientalis get a little bigger as adults. The newly hatched babies are still tiny and good for baby tarantulas.