Need input, A. metallicas on hunger-strike

Cirith Ungol

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I've had enough now, my metallicas drive me nuts! Do I have to play Metallica in the background to get them eating or what?

Here's the list of what they refuse: Pillbugs, dead roaches, newly shed baby crix (not pinheads but the slightly larger variant), pre-killed maggots, cricket legs.

My last try now is maggot pieces put in their web. If they don't take those I'm absolutly out of ideas.

They MAY all be in pre-moult but I wouldn't know. I just received them about 1½ weeks ago and have no idea when they moulted last time.

Please shower me with suggestions, questions and whatnot!

Thanks!
Cirith
 

Stracs-arachs

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Try the pin heads. Just make sure they are hydrated. They will eventually grab a cricket. :)
 

Vys

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Slings, jo?
How many are they? I mean - if less than three then probably they wish to molt. If more, try completely changing one or two's enclosures?

Avics are such sloths, they're prolly just being slow :p
 

Cirith Ungol

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They are three (slings). Well, I guess I just will let them take their time... but MAN do they take their time! Their feeding habits are absolutely nothing compared to my cyano's!

Some good news now though, one of the slings seems to have found the maggot piece that was stuck to the net. One down 2 to go. At least now I know that even A. metallicas as a species do in fact eat ;)
 

rgfx

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my versi slings are loath to leave their webs to go hunting, just hang out the entrances. This is the problem with crix & arboreals cos crix don't climb like locusts (I can't find lox small enough at the mo). I just had to chase a cricket into one of their webs to get the sling to grab it.
They do respond well to small moths though, cos they fly all round, they get the slings attention. I haven't had any moths in my flat lately cos it's been raining a lot, so it looks like I'll be doin a bit of cricket herding for a while.
I'd recommend trying moths/midges/mozzies etc. I know there is a bit of a risk with wild prey, but I think it's better than Ts becoming lazy from too many fast food deliveries.
 

Catherine

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Cirith Ungol said:
They are three (slings). Well, I guess I just will let them take their time... but MAN do they take their time! Their feeding habits are absolutely nothing compared to my cyano's!
I couldn't compare the feeding habits of my avics to my C. cyanopubescens (i assume thats which cyano you meant!) My C cyanopubescens go mental as soon as there are crickets in the tank, stuffing their mouths full of still wriggling crix until they can't fit any more in. On the other hand, I can count the number of times on one hand the times i've seen my avics eat. maybe they are just shy. My slings will eat pin heads, and occasionally a small piece of fresh mealworm, but i never see them eat. The next day the crix are all gone. Thats the only indication i get that they are eating!
 

Cirith Ungol

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Catherine said:
I couldn't compare the feeding habits of my avics to my C. cyanopubescens (i assume thats which cyano you meant!) My C cyanopubescens go mental as soon as there are crickets in the tank, stuffing their mouths full of still wriggling crix until they can't fit any more in. On the other hand, I can count the number of times on one hand the times i've seen my avics eat. maybe they are just shy. My slings will eat pin heads, and occasionally a small piece of fresh mealworm, but i never see them eat. The next day the crix are all gone. Thats the only indication i get that they are eating!
Yup, cyaneopubescens is what I meant. They eat like hogs on a rampage!

I guess the only thing that will help is giving the avix som time. I just put in a w/c fly with the one avic m. that's without netting. (It's piece of food is on the ground so I gave it a better chance of catching something by putting that fly in there.)
 

Catherine

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Cirith Ungol said:
Yup, cyaneopubescens is what I meant. They eat like hogs on a rampage!

I guess the only thing that will help is giving the avix som time. I just put in a w/c fly with the one avic m. that's without netting. (It's piece of food is on the ground so I gave it a better chance of catching something by putting that fly in there.)
I've fed my larger avics moths. I just let waxworms pupate into moths and release them into the tank, it's a hell of a thing to watch them catch it mid flight. :razz: Also, i know they are pesticide free. I live in the middle of a city, so wouldn't trust any thing caught, probably full of god knows what!
 

Cirith Ungol

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Catherine said:
I've fed my larger avics moths. I just let waxworms pupate into moths and release them into the tank, it's a hell of a thing to watch them catch it mid flight. :razz: Also, i know they are pesticide free. I live in the middle of a city, so wouldn't trust any thing caught, probably full of god knows what!
I live in northern Sweden... I've never heard of or seen any pesticide spraying arround here (unless there is some on the fields far far away). So I'm pretty confident the w/c insects arround here are p-c free. Good idea about the waxworms, gotta try that later on whey they are juvies. Now tho I seem to have my trouble finding good feeders for them.
 

Czalz

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My avics also are slow to eat, but it seems I have good results with baby hissers. The baby hissers are much more prone to climb the walls, and offer an easier fare for the lazy little buggers.
 

Vys

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Cirith Ungol said:
I live in northern Sweden... I've never heard of or seen any pesticide spraying arround here (unless there is some on the fields far far away). So I'm pretty confident the w/c insects arround here are p-c free.
Additionally, you'd think pests would indicate that they were laced with pesticide, if somewhat unvoluntarily.
 

rgfx

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Just thought, are their webs opaque looking? they do that when they're gonna moult. One of my versi slings (the fatter one) has a very opaque web and hasn't eaten in a week, I reckon he's gonna moult soon.
 

Cirith Ungol

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They've hardly webbed at all compared to my purpureas and versi. It's very hard to see at the moment.
 

Huk7

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As said before, using waxworms and then letting them pupate and hatch as moths is a good idea, but this would be dependant on the size of your Avics.

I have A.versi slings and although I have evidence of them feeding (by the cricks disappearing and the abdos getting bigger) they are very secrective eaters, who only appear to eat at night. I have only seen one actually catch and eat a cricket.

It may well be worth checking your humidty to make sure it is at the optimum level, as this can be a major cause for any Avic not feeding as they can be prone to poor humidity. (anyone have any different experience??)

If they are all about the same age, or indeed from the same brood, they may just be all syncronized to moult around the same time.

Good luck and keep us posted!!
 

prettykill

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I've had avic slings go on hunger-strikes for as long as a month around molting time, and it seemed like the metallica was the worst.
Some things that seem to work:
Young roaches, hissers, lobster roaches, or whatever species. They climb the sides of the walls so the sling notices it, and pack a lot more of a nutritional punch than a cricket. May not eat more often, but at least it gets more out of it.
Putting a few sprigs of fake plants (the ones for fish tanks) in the container for the sling to climb on and web around. Our avics have been building elaborate tunnel-like webs and hunting more readily since we began going that.
Make sure they have enough humidity and heat, too, they seem pretty sensitive to it. Who knows, maybe playing a little Metallica helps too, mine don't seem to mind. :)
plhm
 

Snipes

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I had the same problem with my 3 A. versicolor slings when i first got them. I pre-killed crickets and hung them from the top of the vial since they liked to walk around near the top of the vial. Using the lid i was able to hang them by the legs. Eventually they found the food and ate.
 

Greg Wolfe

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Hunger strike...

Yeah, I know what you mean. I have mucho avic slings and many of them seem to fast for periods of time. After I get slings I let them acclimate and settle in and feed them tiny pinheads. After a few days they will commence eating. I wouldn't write them off just yet!
Greg
 

Gesticulator

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Yeah, avics are not real avid eaters as a general rule compare to others. One of my A avics went on a hunger strike for about 5 months!!!! Even my A versi sling seems only to eat one or two after a molt, then stop till the next molt. Another is a glutton until stuffed then stops for weeks at a time. I actually try to fling the crickets into the web, but it's not a very good strategy. If it is hungry it will look for food. It is tricky with avics. I have noticed that if they are webbed in, they do not eat, but when they come out of the web, they will usually grab the cricket. My A metallica is quite large at 5 inches and seems to be on weight watcher as well.
 
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