My first sling coming Friday

[Spiders&Snakes]

I've only ever had juvies... but decided to take the plunge and try to raise a baby

Ordered myself a C. Versicolor

Coming on Friday - pretty excited

Done my research, but if anyone has any tips I'm all ears... this will be my first time raising a sling

 

[octanejunkie]

I lost my first avicularia sling and never knew why. I did my research and adjusted my husbandry and have been 100% successful since. It's not complicated or super involved but there are some basics for arboreals, and more for avicularia sp; but it's simple. Orient your care and husbandry around what will make them most successful.

Unlike terrestrial Ts that appreciate substrate depth, arboreals favor above ground and on the ground. Many arboreal species will burrow as slings; avicularia do not. An avicularia sling on the ground is not what you want to see but it's not something they won't do, . I've seen avics and non-avicularia arboreals come to ground to drink from water dishes but in their native lands they see lots of rain and often so does their webbing. It's very common for them to drink from their webbing.

Avics in general tend to go to the top of the enclosure, make that space theirs exclusively. Top-opening lids wreck webbing and upset slings more than necessary. I avoid top open for any avicularia over 1/2-3/4" in size.

Like for any T, meet it's hydration needs at all times. Always offer clean fresh water, a dish is a given with any and all tarantulas. The easier for you the water dish is to change and clean the better for your T.

Just like mother nature provides rain, occasionally water their webbing where they can get to it. A small hole or two in the top of the enclosure allows you to drip water in. Avoid spraying for many reasons, mostly because it startles the crap out of the tarantula and sends them bolting. Pipettes are handy for watering slings and juveniles.

Feed avic slings in their webbing for best success. You can easily confirm they are feeding, vs prey hiding in the enclosures, and avics arf not the stealthy hunters non-avic arboreals tend to be. I rarely see avics hunt. Just like any pet, don't overfeed. Ts can go much longer than we can without food and just like a fishtank, it's better to underfeed tarantulas.

Here are the features for avicularia enclosures I've found most successful:
Good cross ventilation
Taller enclosure (not wide and low)
Bottom opening enclosure
Diagonal cork bark from opening to top
Foliage at middle of cork bark (leave top of enclosure open
25-30% substrate depth to enclosure height ratio
A feeding port at the top can be handy, but not required

Small n Tall amac boxes, inverted and drilled for cross ventilation.

Here's a 3/4-1" sling proving me wrong

Look bottom left

This is a 2x4 tall amac box, inverted

This is a 32oz deli cup lid and base following instructions in Tom Moran's DIY avic enclosure/husbandry video

It's basically one deli cup stacked on top of the other with a lid on the inside cup. Holes in the outsider cup and the inside one is cut off allowing 1-1.5" substrate depth. Stacked condiment cups make swapping water dishes easy. The bottom cup is glued to the lid it's sitting on, soil filled in around it.

Any container can be made to work, I've had good success with slings and juveniles in those two style enclosures.

In general:
Do not get too particular lol
Do not disturb or stress your sling by checking on it a hundred times an hour (set up a cam)
(get more than one sling at a time to avoid that)
Don't let the substrate go dry for days on end
Don't over water, let the substrate dry out before wetting it again
Don't let the water dish dry out
Don't just refill a dirty water dish
Don't over feed
Don't go crazy cleaning and stress out your T

Good avic husbandry need not be complicated, or stressful, for either the keeper or the kept. Get the basics right and everything else becomes less critical. Enjoy!

 

[timc]

@octanejunkie pretty much covered it. The only thing I can add is they’re pretty inquisitive as slings, at least mine are. Maintenance usually includes a little stroll out to check the weather. It can be pretty fun trying to get them back into their enclosures, running circles around the lip and all. Excellent eaters and beautiful. You’ll love yours.

 

[Spiders&Snakes]

Oh, thank you guys. That was super helpful.

All points duly noted.

Now the only thing that concerns me is that I bought this Arboreal Keeper from TSS, to keep the sling in.
Octane mentioned avoiding "top opening enclosures". Well, unfortunately, this is a top opener.

It also separates in the middle. Is this gonna be bad? Should I get something different?

https://www.thespidershop.co.uk/arboreal-keeper-p-3781.html#prettyPhoto

 

[octanejunkie]

Give it a shot.

See if you can make the cork bark hunk fit in the top.and fill the bottom with substrate.

 

[Spiders&Snakes]

Will do. Will be updating you guys over the coming weekend.

Let's see how we get on...

 

[octanejunkie]

Will do. Will be updating you guys over the coming weekend.

Let's see how we get on...

I took my long-a$$ reply here and made it a thread

Check it: https://tarantulaforum.com/threads/keeping-avicularia-species-updated-with-pictures.28934/

 

[ArachnoHorn]

@octanejunkie said it wonderfully. Good luck!