Paranoid about Ts dying

Driller64

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Ever since being tramatized (I'm joking about that, okay?) by my Lasiodora parahybana sling suddenly curling up and dying, I am now extremely paranoid about my GBB sling dying. I mean, even if it goes into an even slighly out of the ordanary pose, I have to open the cage and poke it a little to reassure myself it is still alive. It cost me $40, so I don't want the money going to waste, which it will if it dies. Is there anything I can do about this? I do have ocd that could be a factor.
 
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microlepis

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Poking at it will just stress it out more and have more of a chance of something happening to it. Make sure you give it clean water/fresh food, making sure there are no dirty leftovers, you should be fine. What is your setup like?
 

Driller64

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It is a 1" sling, so it is not big enough to have a water dish. It is in a small container that sits on my desk. Here is a picture of it: uploadfromtaptalk1386951554790.jpg
 

microlepis

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Ah, I missed the sling part! You are doing everything fine, I wouldn't worry about the sling unless something specific happens. I raised my GBB in something similar until transferring it to a kritter keeper once it got larger. One thing I have started doing for my smaller slings is to prekill the cricket, that way there is no chance of a cricket hurting the sling. I had a small Avic. die from a cricket biting it (at least, I think that's what happened).
 

Driller64

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That is reassuring somewhat. I also added a humidity meter into the container at the urging of my Dad to monitor the humidity. Don't think it works, though. :(
 

MarkmD

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Looks like your doing everything just fine, the pic of the setup is good, I felt the same way when i got my first slings, think (we all did to an extent lol). try not to poke your T as it does stress them out.
 

Driller64

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Also my Dad is on my ass a lot about my two T deaths (G. rosea and L. Parahybana, respectively) and may not buy me any more Ts if I can't get the remaining two to live. This is somewhat understandable, considering the sometimes jaw-dropping prices of them.

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Beary Strange

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The set-up itself looks fine aside from one thing: needs more ventilation imo. I don't know if there's a ton up top that I just can't see but it doesn't look like there are more than a few little pokes. :c Also I've had success with stressed slings by giving them mini hides (leftover cork pieces, curvy fake leaves).
 

BobGrill

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Well I can tell you that poking them is only going to make matters worse, so you should not do that. Also, I would add a few more holes for better ventilation. GBBs are very hardy, it's pretty difficult to kill one. Just keep the substrate dry.
 

Julia

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Keep in mind that slings are a lot more fragile than their larger counterparts. A couple years ago, after moving into my house, I had my collection in a room that I didn't realize stayed colder than other rooms (due to more windows and just poor heat flow into that room). Well, during the first cold week of winter, I had 4 slings and 1 juvie die. All of my larger/older tarantulas were fine. The slings were just too small to be able to take the cold (which was probably around 65 degrees in there). It happens.

Your GBB will probably do fine! More ventilation, as others have said. Keep it away from outside windows or anywhere else that gets a cold draft (my mistake). You don't really have to pre-kill crickets, just crush their heads. They will still move around as normal but won't be able to bite, of course. And finally, get yourself a part-time job so you can buy your own spiders and not have to worry about your dad getting mad at you if they die. :D
 

Driller64

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I'm coming home from school on the bus right now so I will remove one of the bits of tape on the big air holes on the container (the container was previously used for keeping crickets). I am trying to get a job since I am now 16.

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Mike41793

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GBB's like it dry so i would add in some more ventilation too.

Good luck!
 

Shrike

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If you can resist the urge to continually poke the sling, that's a huge step in the right direction. Assuming you're caring for them correctly, they're tougher than you think.
 

Driller64

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Well I can tell you that poking them is only going to make matters worse, so you should not do that. Also, I would add a few more holes for better ventilation. GBBs are very hardy, it's pretty difficult to kill one. Just keep the substrate dry.
Just saying, its also said that its pretty difficult to kill a Lasiodora parahybana...
 

Will240393

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I remember i prodded my B.smithi after panicking seeing it in a deathcurl sorta pose which later turned out was just grooming well i learnt my lesson she did not appreciate that one bit.
 

Keith B

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Ever since being tramatized (I'm joking about that, okay?) by my Lasiodora parahybana sling suddenly curling up and dying, I am now extremely paranoid about my GBB sling dying. I mean, even if it goes into an even slighly out of the ordanary pose, I have to open the cage and poke it a little to reassure myself it is still alive. It cost me $40, so I don't want the money going to waste, which it will if it dies. Is there anything I can do about this? I do have ocd that could be a factor.
Has it stopped eating and nice and fat? The fact that you can move the container without it zipping about, and it doesn't run up your arm or out of the cup when you poke at it, then it's possibly heading towards pre-molt, and it's a REALLY bad idea to poke at it in this phase. GBBs are usually pretty schizophrenic when not nearing a molt. I haven't kept lots of them, but mine is that way, and I hear a lot about others seeing similar behavior. Just keep it well fed, relatively warm, well-ventilated, and not super damp until it grows up a bit, then you're set. The substrate should make very little to no condensation on the sides if it's wet enough to make it humid but dry enough not to squeeze water out of it. IME sling death rates are pretty low unless mistakes are being made, or "freak coincidence" happens. I haven't experienced freak coincidence, so I can't give an example, but now and then a keeper seems to post losing a few, seemingly mysteriously.
 

MarkmD

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Just saying, its also said that its pretty difficult to kill a Lasiodora parahybana...
LP are quite hardy, it really depends on how you keep them, just now i have 2 LPs and 2 L,Klugi they are doing very well and all have different personalitys, some stay in theyr hides others like being outside etc, they will/do withstand cold temps and not eating for months, they are like big G,Roseas or G,pulchripes, except usually a few inches larger and with different temperaments (as all T's get), guess I didn't have to explain but thair it goes.
 

Formerphobe

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It needs more ventilation and for the substrate to dry out. GBBs do not tolerate dampness. Careful with the size of your vent holes or the sling could get stuck in one. At one inch diagonal legspan, it can have a one inch water bottle cap as a water bowl, once the substrate has dried. It might also appreciate a bit of corkbark to attach webbing to.
 

viper69

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Just saying, its also said that its pretty difficult to kill a Lasiodora parahybana...
It's also really hard to kill to a GBB as well. They are like Goldfish of the T world (among other species), easy to take care of. I keep mine on bone dry cocofiber, never a problem.
 
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