Sling care

[The Bario Bat]

I'm having trouble keeping the 1/2 or smaller slings I just got recently alive. Not sure as to what I'm doing wrong. The T room temp sits at 76 deg and a 30 Humidity. I have lost Gammostola Pulchra, Cyriocosmus elegans and Cryiopagopus Hati Hati, sickens me! I usually get 1" T's or larger and have had great success keeping them.

I have been feeding them Wingless Drosophila fruit flies once a week. I keep them in a Small Tarantula cribs enclosers for slings. I did not put in a water dish, but I misted the substrate once a week in a corner, usually at feeding. The substrate was 2/3 full and I use a mixture of Zoo med soil and the Zoo med bio soil with some moss mixed in. I have read some of the past threads, but they still did not give me the answers I'm looking for. Any insight would be much appreciated. All three are 1 month in my care. Thanks.

 

[DustyD]

Sorry for your losses.

I have several 1/2 inch+ G pulchra and keep them in similar conditions. My temps fluctuate a bit more 70-80F and they seem to be doing fine.

How did their abdomens look? Were they eating? I put in 1-2 flightless fruitflies about every 3-4 days and refresh water every 2 days. I tried bits of superworm and crickets, such as drumsticks but very few instances that i knew for sure if they were eaten.

All your conditions seem normal. Size of enclosures?

Small slings can be less resilient so it could be natural and unfortunate.

Any possible outside contaminants? Does not seem so if you raised older slings, but you never know

 

[Isaac]

Anything under 3/4" I keep in #25 or #50 dram vials with very little foliage and a starter burrow. Elegans usually get a little smaller one because they're around 1/16 to an 1/8" after 2N, they will dig though! If they don't something is up. The G. pulchra I've noticed really don't, but if they're 1/2" smash a cricket head and leave the entire cricket for them, i dont do pieces, like the above said, you never know if they eat it, once a smashed head cricket starts to twitch it'll trigger a feeding response for larger prey items that you want dialed in early while pieces of it wont.. also you can easily tell if it did in fact eat it, but yes overall fff probably won't sustain them. And given the enclosure I think they're around 3x4" which is a little more room than I'd give a sling, and the holes are probably so big the fff are just getting out, so you may not actually be feeding them?

C. Elegans seem incredibly sensitive as slings, I do 3 or 4 droplets in their vials, they're kept in a safe container, in the constant dark, around 75° give or take and I only move or disturb them to feed them every 7 days, other than that I do not touch them, and they do incredibly well. I think in that 3x4" TC enclosure there's just too much room, too much exposure, and they're not comfy at all, and if they don't burrow they usually dont eat well, and I've noticed they usually won't survive even if they do take a few meals here and there. Once they can and will take pin head roaches or crickets, I take them off the fff as soon as possible, or if they seem under I'll smash a head and let them scavenge a big meal to help sustain them. They can be pretty sensitive when they're that small, so be mindful of that. I will not remove them until 4th or 5th instar, usually by then they're 3/4-1" and are ready for a new keep, after that they can be kept quite normally. I keep a lot of different species and most are kept basicallythe same no issues, but the C elegans has become one I've particularly fond of because of how sensitive they are, "the gears that squeak the most, get the most grease" I suppose. They grow fast once they're "happy", so the reward comes faster than you'd expect, and the feeling of accomplishment will be immense!

I'll attach a photo of one of my vials so you have a size to ratio for comparison. This amount of growth shown in the photos, under said conditions can happen in a series of just a few months, and over an inch within a year. Not the best photos, but I imagine you'll get the gist. Hope this helps

 

[Isaac]

First photo didn't attach? Here's the original size. About the size of a dimple in a napkin. One I measured at 3/32 of an inch! The other photo a few months later shows it attached in the above message. Again, hope this helps.

 

[birdonfire]

The substrate is too dry. Moisten a corner and stop the misting.

 

[octanejunkie]

Agree with the advice given

Small slings in vials or condiment cups. Water into moss and substrate. I check moisture by gauging the weight of the container/darkness of the substrate. Slings need more moisture overall.

 

[The Bario Bat]

Anything under 3/4" I keep in #25 or #50 dram vials with very little foliage and a starter burrow. Elegans usually get a little smaller one because they're around 1/16 to an 1/8" after 2N, they will dig though! If they don't something is up. The G. pulchra I've noticed really don't, but if they're 1/2" smash a cricket head and leave the entire cricket for them, i dont do pieces, like the above said, you never know if they eat it, once a smashed head cricket starts to twitch it'll trigger a feeding response for larger prey items that you want dialed in early while pieces of it wont.. also you can easily tell if it did in fact eat it, but yes overall fff probably won't sustain them. And given the enclosure I think they're around 3x4" which is a little more room than I'd give a sling, and the holes are probably so big the fff are just getting out, so you may not actually be feeding them?

C. Elegans seem incredibly sensitive as slings, I do 3 or 4 droplets in their vials, they're kept in a safe container, in the constant dark, around 75° give or take and I only move or disturb them to feed them every 7 days, other than that I do not touch them, and they do incredibly well. I think in that 3x4" TC enclosure there's just too much room, too much exposure, and they're not comfy at all, and if they don't burrow they usually dont eat well, and I've noticed they usually won't survive even if they do take a few meals here and there. Once they can and will take pin head roaches or crickets, I take them off the fff as soon as possible, or if they seem under I'll smash a head and let them scavenge a big meal to help sustain them. They can be pretty sensitive when they're that small, so be mindful of that. I will not remove them until 4th or 5th instar, usually by then they're 3/4-1" and are ready for a new keep, after that they can be kept quite normally. I keep a lot of different species and most are kept basicallythe same no issues, but the C elegans has become one I've particularly fond of because of how sensitive they are, "the gears that squeak the most, get the most grease" I suppose. They grow fast once they're "happy", so the reward comes faster than you'd expect, and the feeling of accomplishment will be immense!

I'll attach a photo of one of my vials so you have a size to ratio for comparison. This amount of growth shown in the photos, under said conditions can happen in a series of just a few months, and over an inch within a year. Not the best photos, but I imagine you'll get the gist. H

 

[The Bario Bat]

I would like to thank you all for the great advice. I was doing no good service to the slings at all, was not my intentions but none the less it was me at fault. Misting, too big of encloser, unintentionally starving them because of the size of the husbandry. A huge lessoned learned here. I will take all the advice given above and apply it to my next attempt at slings of that size. Raising T's from 1" and above I have had great sucess as I have raised many to adulthood and they have lived for 15 years plus. Huge difference from 1/8 sling to a 1" or better 'T for sure. I have never tried to raise a 1/8 to 1/2 sling before.

I wonder how the sellers keep up on all those slings they raise to that size in those vials? Must be tons of work.

Once again thanks for the great advice

 

[octanejunkie]

I would like to thank you all for the great advice. I was doing no good service to the slings at all, was not my intentions but none the less it was me at fault. Misting, too big of encloser, unintentionally starving them because of the size of the husbandry. A huge lessoned learned here. I will take all the advice given above and apply it to my next attempt at slings of that size. Raising T's from 1" and above I have had great sucess as I have raised many to adulthood and they have lived for 15 years plus. Huge difference from 1/8 sling to a 1" or better 'T for sure. I have never tried to raise a 1/8 to 1/2 sling before.

I wonder how the sellers keep up on all those slings they raise to that size in those vials? Must be tons of work.

Once again thanks for the great advice

I have a schedule for all of the slings that I maintain, and it typically requires routine attention, watering, feeding, and ultimately rehousing before sale.

That being said, I have three sacs pending so more care, more slings, more schedules

 

[Casey K.]

At 1/2" my G. pulchra slings were eating 1/4" pinhead crickets no problem and they tackled them....I wasn't pre-killing. I don't think the fruit flies are enough food for them. The fruit flies work best for the dwarf species and tarantulas that are 1/4" or smaller in leg span. I would keep half of your substrate damp at all times and half of it dry. That way they have a comfort zone of both and they can drink from the substrate whenever they need to. My house stays at a constant 72 degrees Fahrenheit at all times. I have no issues keeping them or any other tarantula. I also have versicolor slings (they're prone to having issues with improper husbandry) and they do just fine.

 

[Isaac]

I would like to thank you all for the great advice. I was doing no good service to the slings at all, was not my intentions but none the less it was me at fault. Misting, too big of encloser, unintentionally starving them because of the size of the husbandry. A huge lessoned learned here. I will take all the advice given above and apply it to my next attempt at slings of that size. Raising T's from 1" and above I have had great sucess as I have raised many to adulthood and they have lived for 15 years plus. Huge difference from 1/8 sling to a 1" or better 'T for sure. I have never tried to raise a 1/8 to 1/2 sling before.

I wonder how the sellers keep up on all those slings they raise to that size in those vials? Must be tons of work.

Once again thanks for the great advice

No problem

I would like to thank you all for the great advice. I was doing no good service to the slings at all, was not my intentions but none the less it was me at fault. Misting, too big of encloser, unintentionally starving them because of the size of the husbandry. A huge lessoned learned here. I will take all the advice given above and apply it to my next attempt at slings of that size. Raising T's from 1" and above I have had great sucess as I have raised many to adulthood and they have lived for 15 years plus. Huge difference from 1/8 sling to a 1" or better 'T for sure. I have never tried to raise a 1/8 to 1/2 sling before.

I wonder how the sellers keep up on all those slings they raise to that size in those vials? Must be tons of work.

Once again thanks for the great advice

No problem! I'm glad I could help! I hope your next attempt is much more successful!

 

[SpiderMike]

I think you're all saints for even taking on these tiny waifs. I'd rather raise a family of Tasmanian Devils! Smallest T I have amidst an admittedly only modest group of fifteen is 5"+ and 7"s and 8"s is more common. Just so much easier to deal with.

 

[Isaac]

I think you're all saints for even taking on these tiny waifs. I'd rather raise a family of Tasmanian Devils! Smallest T I have amidst an admittedly only modest group of fifteen is 5"+ and 7"s and 8"s is more common. Just so much easier to deal with.

Waifs? Idk if that was a typo or not but I'm totally using that one from now on friend lmao

In return, I just really enjoy the intricacies it takes for the more sensitive species.

 

[Diamondsho89]

I'm having trouble keeping the 1/2 or smaller slings I just got recently alive. Not sure as to what I'm doing wrong. The T room temp sits at 76 deg and a 30 Humidity. I have lost Gammostola Pulchra, Cyriocosmus elegans and Cryiopagopus Hati Hati, sickens me! I usually get 1" T's or larger and have had great success keeping them.

I have been feeding them Wingless Drosophila fruit flies once a week. I keep them in a Small Tarantula cribs enclosers for slings. I did not put in a water dish, but I misted the substrate once a week in a corner, usually at feeding. The substrate was 2/3 full and I use a mixture of Zoo med soil and the Zoo med bio soil with some moss mixed in. I have read some of the past threads, but they still did not give me the answers I'm looking for. Any insight would be much appreciated. All three are 1 month in my care. Thanks.

Hello, I have kept tarantulas for over 30 years and have bred successfully over 25 different species of Tarantulas. In my experience the smaller the T the smaller the vessel you keep them in. Use moss instead of soil as it hold water longer and always give a water dish or water before it can dry out. Once a week is simply not enough attention for a sling.
Feed two or three times a week mist every other day and watch for mold and a dry container.
Moisture is key not humidity. A T can squeeze water from moss as well as drink from condensed water on the surfaces of enclosure but soil can clogg the sucking stomach.
T's are poikilothermic and for every ten degrees of internal body temp Thier metabolism doubles in rate. Near 80's will have a T eating and molting more often taking them out of the delicate sling state faster. I have raised Honduran curly hairs from sling to sexual maturity in less than nine months by manipulating the microclimates. Similarly I prolonged maturity by as much as four years by decreased temps and slower feed rates. I hope this helps.
All boils down to temp available water and feed rates.
Good luck in your husbandry endeavors.

 

[DustyD]

I think you're all saints for even taking on these tiny waifs. I'd rather raise a family of Tasmanian Devils! Smallest T I have amidst an admittedly only modest group of fifteen is 5"+ and 7"s and 8"s is more common. Just so much easier to deal with.

I initially had worries that a tiny T would be too risky, but so far so good. They are just like older Ts, just a lot smaller.

 

[Tje83]

I'm having trouble keeping the 1/2 or smaller slings I just got recently alive. Not sure as to what I'm doing wrong. The T room temp sits at 76 deg and a 30 Humidity. I have lost Gammostola Pulchra, Cyriocosmus elegans and Cryiopagopus Hati Hati, sickens me! I usually get 1" T's or larger and have had great success keeping them.

I have been feeding them Wingless Drosophila fruit flies once a week. I keep them in a Small Tarantula cribs enclosers for slings. I did not put in a water dish, but I misted the substrate once a week in a corner, usually at feeding. The substrate was 2/3 full and I use a mixture of Zoo med soil and the Zoo med bio soil with some moss mixed in. I have read some of the past threads, but they still did not give me the answers I'm looking for. Any insight would be much appreciated. All three are 1 month in my care. Thanks.

Hi. I would recommend keeping them in 2oz deli cups, poke a few holes around the sides. slings that small do not need tons of ventilation, but humidity needs to stay up.
You want to get them out of that fragile state as fast as possible. I feed slings that small at least twice a week. Fruit flies have very little nutrition, only fed once a week your slings could be starving to death. I would immediately switch to meal worms cut in half, or thirds depending on the size of the worm. You often won't be able to tell that they fed on it, but they definitely will. Take the piece of worm back ot the next day. Feed at least twice a week until they gain some size. You can get meal worms on Amazon in case you don't have a pet store around. 2oz deli cups filled about half way with moist ( not soaking wet!!) substrate are ideal for the smallest of slings. It's easy for them to find the food, and they won't burrow too deep, if at all. At that size they don't need room to explore, just food so they can molt successfully every four weeks or so. Use an eyedropper to keep the substrate moist, never let it dry out until they gain some size. A tiny bit of moist moss can help with humidity, but if you keep the sub moist it's not necessary, and the moss will make clean up harder in the tiny deli cup. Hope this helps. Sorry for the bad grammar and spelling..

 

[SpiderMike]

I initially had worries that a tiny T would be too risky, but so far so good. They are just like older Ts, just a lot smaller.

I understand; it's just the tiny scale, all those deli cups and having to feed widgey little crickets and so on. I guess I'm looking for the lazy mans T experience so I don't even feed any sort of crickets. If you can't handle full blown Dubia roaches, you're off the team in this house.

 

[additude]

Slings that small need dram vials. Normal substrate with a dab of some sphagnum. Water with eye dropper, ever so light atomized mist bottle (one that creates a fine fog mist - found on Amazon), a chopped mealworm piece, fresh cricket leg, pinhead cricket (prefer fresh killed). Remove bolus'.