The tiniest of them has passed away :c

[Nunua]

A sad day in my little T family... I don't know what happened, but I just found my tiny C. elegans sling (DLS max 0.5 cm) in a death curl.
I got worried because there was no movement in its small vial, after all it was an active sling... I was thinking that it has buried in the middle of the vial, so I just couldn't see it.

Today I did a full check on the vial and found the tiny baby dead from the central part of the vial It was doing so well. It molted and seemed to eat relatively well (at least its abdomen was plump), but something went wrong anyway. I miss the wee kid already. I really wanted to see it to grow and develop the adult colours.

 

[SpellKaster4]

That's really sad. I've heard that this kind of thing can happen but it must really suck. I just got my first sling close to a month ago. I've only got the one so I get worried that I'll have the same thing happen.

 

[Nunua]

I've only got the one so I get worried that I'll have the same thing happen.

No need to worry too much - though, I know it's easier said than done Tiniest slings are surprisingly sturdy, but at the same very delicate. My C. elegans had a diagonal leg span max. 0.5 cm (1⁄5 in), but your Peter the LP is a lot bigger so I'm sure it'll do just fine.

 

[SpellKaster4]

Oh wow, that's a very small sling. Yeah, Peter is a 1/2in so I'm hoping that means that so long as I don't screw up he'll be okay.

 

[Whitelightning777]

I have 4 slings myself. Only 2 of them were visible last time I checked them. It's always touch and go with them until they get over 1 inch or maybe 1.5 inches.

 

[SpellKaster4]

I think that's going to be the hardest thing for me to get used to with this new hobby. I'm used to "normal" pets, dogs and cats and whatnot. They eat every day and don't die unless something crazy happens usually.

 

[Enn49]

@Nunua I'm so sorry.

 

[Dave Jay]

A sad day in my little T family... I don't know what happened, but I just found my tiny C. elegans sling (DL max 0.5 cm) in a death curl.
I got worried because there was no movement in its small vial, after all it was an active sling... I was thinking that it has buried in the middle of the vial, so I just couldn't see it.

Today I did a full check on the vial and found the tiny baby dead from the central part of the vial It was doing so well. It molted and seemed to eat relatively well (at least its abdomen was plump), but something went wrong anyway. I miss the wee kid already. I really wanted to see it to grow and develop the adult colours.

I'm sorry to hear that, it's always harder when you don't know why I think.

 

[Nunua]

Thank you @Enn49 and @Dave Jay - Yea, it truly sucks to not know what went wrong with it, but I'm trying not to overthink. Tiny slings are delicate after all and I'm pretty sure there wasn't much I could've done for it.
One day I will get my new dwarf babies, hopefully with more experience and luck.

 

[Dave Jay]

Sometimes it is just luck of the draw, I bought 18 slings of the same species, and while I used 3 types of containers for enclosures they were set up almost identically and care was the same, one died the other day for no apparent reason while 17 are still going strong. I doubt anything I did or didn't do was to blame, it's just one of those things .

 

[Enn49]

Thank you @Enn49 and @Dave Jay - Yea, it truly sucks to not know what went wrong with it, but I'm trying not to overthink. Tiny slings are delicate after all and I'm pretty sure there wasn't much I could've done for it.
One day I will get my new dwarf babies, hopefully with more experience and luck.

It's always hard to lose one but I'm sure there was nothing you could have done, some are just not meant to survive.

 

[Whitelightning777]

I found 3 out of 4 of mine. They did their own very tiny burrows. The one I didn't find ate last time so I'm not worried.

I'd suggest only doing a sling over 1 inch in size if at all possible. Some people say just get them at a minimum of 1.5 or 2 inches.

Definitely try again & don't give up.