First time Sling Care questions?

Hello everybody, i've just treated myself to four lovely little slings and was just wondering if you guys could give me some advice on raising/keeping them, these aren't my first t's as i've got two juvenile's but it's my first time with slings and i've read that slings aren't the easiest to keep alive so i'm just a little worried i'll mess up.

I'll list the species i've just purchased

1 x Brachypelma smithi (1cm)
1 x Brachypelma albopilosum (1cm)
1 x Cyclosternum fasciatum (1cm)
1 x Hapalopus sp. "Colombia" (1cm)

I've just re-read the sling care section in the tarantula keeper's guide and just wanted some reassurance on a few things

1. Are my slings big enough to eat? I've seen people saying yes and no online
2. I'm going to water them by keeping one side of the substrate moist? is that a good way of doing it?
3. Are any of the slings hard to raise? from what i've read online they seem to be pretty easy?

Sorry if this is overkill but i'd really appreciate the advice/help as i worry far to much

1. I would say yes, anything past 2nd instar is ready to be a spider. I would pre-kill crickets and maybe give them a leg for a meal or even the whole cricket if it's smaller than the sling.
2. Yes just change up the moist spot every so often to discourage mold growth.
3. Pretty much all slings are easy to raise. Avics get a bad rap but they are not very hard. The brachys will grow slow so that is the only "challenge" I can forsee with them. The C.fasciatum I think are pretty hardy but fast. I personally have a H. sp Columbia juvie that I got the same size as yours and it was pretty easy to raise. They do like to bolt though but are very voracious eaters.

awiec said:

1. I would say yes, anything past 2nd instar is ready to be a spider. I would pre-kill crickets and maybe give them a leg for a meal or even the whole cricket if it's smaller than the sling.
2. Yes just change up the moist spot every so often to discourage mold growth.
3. Pretty much all slings are easy to raise. Avics get a bad rap but they are not very hard. The brachys will grow slow so that is the only "challenge" I can forsee with them. The C.fasciatum I think are pretty hardy but fast. I personally have a H. sp Columbia juvie that I got the same size as yours and it was pretty easy to raise. They do like to bolt though but are very voracious eaters.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the help, i appreciate it very much.

George18 said:

Thank you for the help, i appreciate it very much.

Click to expand...

Yup we are here to help. Once they reach 5-6 cm you can treat them more like juvies and adults.

I have my first slings for 2 months now. A. geniculatta, B. bohemi, B. smithi and L. parahybana. All around the same size as yours. I have found out first hand that they are not that difficult to raise as long as you give them that little bit of extra care that they require. awiec gave good advise, feeding them pre-killed items at that size will be fine, I find cut up mealworms to be a good food item for mine. Changing the moist spots is a mould deterant, just dont over water the substrate, it only needs to be damp.

I was expecting my slings to be so delicate and fragile but they are actually pretty hardy when looked after properly.

Yeah I got 3 slings about 2 or 3 weeks ago after thinking I'd never want to raise any. But it was a way to acquire more Ts for little cost and no space!

I've found out quickly that they require like almost nothing extra really. Just that little bit of moisture, and lots of feeding. You cannot over feed these guys... They want to grow!

I have 2 B. Albipilosums and I'm co raising an H. Mac to get into old worlds.

They're all fun. The Albipilosums are always out and about, like having fat house spiders.... and they tackle pinhead crickets like wwf wrestlers.

The H. Mac hides a lot, but every now and then it comes out and crawls around the lid of the deli cup. It's very sensitive to movement though and is quick to retreat. It is super cool when it hunts.


All in all.... they're just little tarantulas. Not much trouble at all. And they're pretty hardy and can survive well for a while without you just like your bigger Ts.

I will probably not buy any more adult Ts ever again if raising these guys goes well.

gobey said:

I will probably not buy any more adult Ts ever again if raising these guys goes well.

Click to expand...

^^^

This is how I feel now. While I'm aware that any of my slings could die at any time(touch wood), I have found it to be a great experience to be raising T slings for the past 2 months. When I started in this hobby I was happy just to finally have one T and never thought about raising slings but now I feel that I'm properly in the hobby because of the slings.

I'm so excited now to see how my babies will grow and how they will learn to hunt. I'm especially excited about seeing them develope their colours.

As said before in this thread, all it takes is to give them that little extra bit of care and you should be ok.

/\

Totally! I literally just got done dropping water into their deli cups (I use an old re-nu dropper)
And tossed some pinhead crickets in. Although one escaped and now there's a baby cricket somewhere in my room. He's doomed though as there's a ton of house spiders waiting for him.

And boom.... That's it. That's the first real maintenance I've done on my 3 slings in like 3 days. And before that was just feeding. And feeding them is kind of whatever I feel like.... I am lucky enough that I can get micro crickets from my friend who keeps and breeds Ts and manages an exotic pet shop.

But my Albipilosums are just as happy to eat adult cricket legs and dead mealworms. They're not picky. Although it's much more fun to see them tackle live prey sometimes it's hard to grab one of those little guys alive unharmed.

H. Mac however. He needs live micro crickets or he won't come out of his hide. He's webbed off a good area of shpagnum moss and hides there most of the time and only comes out when crickets come exploring. And he's funny to watch. Because I swear he hasn't mastered the element of surprise yet.

For about 40 minutes now he's tried each time this cricket comes to either side of his home to grab him.... no luck. The Damn cricket even got stick upside down in the web for a bit and H. Mac didn't capitalize.

It's pretty funny. Better than what usually happens. Which is the crickets go everywhere in the deli cup EXCEPT where the tarantula lives.

Anyways yes... to re hammer the point. Slings are easy. Really they are. There really isn't any real reason one should just die on you unless you totally neglect it for a long period of time.

I have the utmost confidence that my slings will make it to adulthood in my care. What determines if I continue to only raise slings isn't the ease of care.... it's just how much patience I discover I really have lol...

GG80 said:

^^^

This is how I feel now. While I'm aware that any of my slings could die at any time(touch wood), I have found it to be a great experience to be raising T slings for the past 2 months. When I started in this hobby I was happy just to finally have one T and never thought about raising slings but now I feel that I'm properly in the hobby because of the slings.

I'm so excited now to see how my babies will grow and how they will learn to hunt. I'm especially excited about seeing them develope their colours.

As said before in this thread, all it takes is to give them that little extra bit of care and you should be ok.

Click to expand...

I started off with slings and have recently started buying adults. I was not confident in my ability to deal with a big spider so I figured a baby would be better to grow with instead...and I started with a versi who is still alive and kicking. I like little babies better as I can learn their personality and watch their metamorphosis into adults. But I have gotten a few of my slings pretty dang fat so they get a week off rations until a molt or they slim down a little.

George18 said:

Hello everybody, i've just treated myself to four lovely little slings and was just wondering if you guys could give me some advice on raising/keeping them, these aren't my first t's as i've got two juvenile's but it's my first time with slings and i've read that slings aren't the easiest to keep alive so i'm just a little worried i'll mess up.

I'll list the species i've just purchased

1 x Brachypelma smithi (1cm)
1 x Brachypelma albopilosum (1cm)
1 x Cyclosternum fasciatum (1cm)
1 x Hapalopus sp. "Colombia" (1cm)

I've just re-read the sling care section in the tarantula keeper's guide and just wanted some reassurance on a few things

1. Are my slings big enough to eat? I've seen people saying yes and no online
2. I'm going to water them by keeping one side of the substrate moist? is that a good way of doing it?
3. Are any of the slings hard to raise? from what i've read online they seem to be pretty easy?

Sorry if this is overkill but i'd really appreciate the advice/help as i worry far to much

Click to expand...

1) You can eat your slings whenever you want to, but they're a lot juicier when they're bigger. Like awiec said, generally by 2nd instar a tarantula is ready to eat. There are species that don't eat until third instar, though. If they're being sold to you, they're ready to eat. If you can't find live prey small enough, you can always prekill and/or cut up crickets for them. They'll scavenge feed.

2) Yes, that would work. I don't usually keep an entire side moist (though I do keep slings moister than I would when they're adults if they're a dry species) to water slings, instead I'll spray the side of the vial or enclosure that I have them in and they'll drink the droplets. It is fine to keep some of the substrate moist, though.

3) Slings are just as easy to raise as juveniles and adults. It just takes some common sense. More often than not, if a sling dies it's due to overcare. They need to eat a bit more often, but beyond that just let them be spiders and they'll be happy.

You have some great species there, good job picking your starters. Enjoy them.

I know slings are strong and easy to care but still i got the feeling they arent! Thats human instinct i guess

LordWaffle said:

1) You can eat your slings whenever you want to, but they're a lot juicier when they're bigger.

Click to expand...

Simply hilarious, I literally...laughed out loud!

Why thank you.

Neoza said:

I know slings are strong and easy to care but still i got the feeling they arent! Thats human instinct i guess

Click to expand...

Most animals in general are ready to take care of themselves when they are babies, mammals and birds are the weird ones with being helpless at birth.

Neoza said:

I know slings are strong and easy to care but still i got the feeling they arent! Thats human instinct i guess

Click to expand...

Yep. Even though I know mine are doing fine I still have that little voice in the back of my head that says, 'just have a quick look to make sure they're ok'. But we have to realize that these amazing animals have survived since before the dinosaurs. They're well able to take care of themselves.

awiec said:

Most animals in general are ready to take care of themselves when they are babies, mammals and birds are the weird ones with being helpless at birth.

Click to expand...

thats so true!!