Feeding A.Avic

Megalodon

Arachnosquire
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Jul 17, 2004
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i just got my A.Vic sling the other day and it is in a 2-3 inch clear plastic pill bottle with some substrait and twig, seems to be doing great so far.

my question is this tho, the sling has been webbing and spending most of its time right round the top of the jar, im worried that next time i go to drop a couple crikets in she will run out and become food for one of my fiances cats.

whats the best way to feed my A.Avic without it meeting an untimley end?
 

Immortal_sin

Arachnotemptress
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what I've done is to spray a bit of water through the vent holes prior to opening the lid...that is, provided you have some in your lid. Most of my slings know that when I open the lid, it's feeding time, and they either move down and out of the way, or (like you are worried about) they make a break for it.
Obviously you know to NOT have the cat in the same room while feeding your spider :)
 

sanguinarian

Arachnoknight
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Mar 27, 2004
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If you keep your avic in an upside down jar you won't have to worry about escapes. I put substrate in a smaller lid in the jar lid so it wont clog the jar threads. I have my versi in a mustard jar, my avic. avic in a peanut butter jar and my a. metallica in a pretzel jar. I use screwed in corkbark for them to climb on.Hope that helps.Make sure there are plenty of ventilation holes.
GOD bless, Clint
 

Megalodon

Arachnosquire
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lol yeah they will be placed elsewhere when its feeding time, ill try the spraying thing see how it works, or ill just feed it where if she does make a run for it it will be easy to get back in
 

Megalodon

Arachnosquire
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another question while this thread is going, my father in law just brought over a whole bunch of baby crikets he caught at his house out in the country, is there any danger of feeding them to my A. Avic? or are they bassically the same as store bought crikets?
 

Sheri

Arachnoking
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This is what I do for feeding smaller slings that are in short containers. I place them in a larger container with substrate in it, I keep the lid handy. When I remove the lid to the sling's enclosure, if it runs out it will simply be in the larger container, which is already suitable for housing. This way, I simply have to out the lid on, no tranferring back etc. So far, I have had none run out. But I wait for them to either burrow or web before feeding, The instinct (usually) seems to be that they would prefer the comfort of thier secure burrow or web retreat to running crazy if they are threatened or scared by the activity of feeding time. There are some species that may be excpetions to the rule, but I have never even had a problem with my P. irminia who is notorious for escaping when the lid is opened.
 

Megalodon

Arachnosquire
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sheri said:
This is what I do for feeding smaller slings that are in short containers. I place them in a larger container with substrate in it, I keep the lid handy. When I remove the lid to the sling's enclosure, if it runs out it will simply be in the larger container, which is already suitable for housing. This way, I simply have to out the lid on, no tranferring back etc. So far, I have had none run out. But I wait for them to either burrow or web before feeding, The instinct (usually) seems to be that they would prefer the comfort of thier secure burrow or web retreat to running crazy if they are threatened or scared by the activity of feeding time. There are some species that may be excpetions to the rule, but I have never even had a problem with my P. irminia who is notorious for escaping when the lid is opened.
see thats what i was thinking, if i just place the smaller container with the sling in it in a larger one then the furthest it would go would be the larger container, thanks for the info
 

Kismet

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Jun 30, 2004
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Kinda similar to Immortal_sin's suggestion but when I go to feed my avic slings and find them on or near the lid then I tend to blow VERY gently over the vent holes, they then move down or into their web, I can then open the lid, pop in the cricks and close the top without them escaping or getting trapped in the lid.

Having said that I often find them sitting on top of their web as though they're waiting for the magic cricks to fall from the sky {D but I've never seen any of them try to run out while the lid is open, they do seem to feel more secure where they are and if they do get spooked they tend to go down back into their web rather than up and out.

Opening the containers in a bigger one is a good idea though, you can never be too careful with these wily little fellas.
 

Megalodon

Arachnosquire
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how about feeding them wild crikets? good idea? bad idea? does it matter?
 
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manville

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TheHypnoToad said:
how about feeding them wild crikets? good idea? bad idea? does it matter?
Feeding them wild crickets is a bad idea. It is better if you buy them from stores.
 
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