Waterdishes... mana from heaven?

klawfran3

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I never really believed water dishes were necessary in all honesty. I never used them and my tarantulas seemed to get along just fine. Well today, for the first time, I put a fresh water dish in each enclosure just to see if they are really so useful, and in less than two hours I saw nearly a third of my collection drinking from them. So far I have caught seven in the act of drinking. I think I may have to switch to using water dishes now.
 

pyro fiend

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Dec 29, 2013
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Welcome to the darkside.. the promised cookies are located in the table to the right ;)


In all honesty i had the same idea about herps many-a-moons ago and had the same reaction apon adding them, same with live plants in my aquaria "its just pointless and a waist of my time" id say..then added it and loved them hah.. now you gota try everything once ;p
 

14pokies

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I never really believed water dishes were necessary in all honesty. I never used them and my tarantulas seemed to get along just fine. Well today, for the first time, I put a fresh water dish in each enclosure just to see if they are really so useful, and in less than two hours I saw nearly a third of my collection drinking from them. So far I have caught seven in the act of drinking. I think I may have to switch to using water dishes now.
lol. Thats the worst part of raising slings for me. It drives me nuts not having a water dish in an enclosure.
 

GG80

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Nov 26, 2013
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Water dishes for slings

lol. Thats the worst part of raising slings for me. It drives me nuts not having a water dish in an enclosure.
I experimented with tiny water dishes for my slings a while back after a mould incident and it seems to be going good. I used the tips of plastic clothes pegs.

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As you can see, they are very small and I just leave 4 drops of water in each one. I have witnessed the slings drinking from them on a number of occasions and after 3 months of using them I can say with confidence that they have been a success.
 

Enn49

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Apr 3, 2014
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I had always been told that you shouldn't give them water bowls until they were 1-1.5 inches but AB members have convinced me otherwise so very soon my lot will all have bowls.
 

Poec54

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I had always been told that you shouldn't give them water bowls until they were 1-1.5 inches but AB members have convinced me otherwise so very soon my lot will all have bowls.
My 1/2" slings get water bowls, the lids form 16 oz water bottles. None of them drown. The smaller a spider is, the more likely it is to dehydrate. Sometimes a few hours without water can mean the difference between life and death for them.
 

shawno821

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What about an upside down Monopoly house? The pointy end will sit nicely in dirt.
 

Biollantefan54

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When I saw his water dish picture, I thought it was a monopoly house at first too lol. Giving slings a water dish makes it a lot easier too.
 

cold blood

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I'm always surprised at just how many people are resistant to water dishes when threads like this come up. A simple water dish simplifies everything. Like poec, once my slings get over 1/2", they all get water dish's of some sort. I like the water bottle lids a lot, but also utilize both shells I find (look good) as well as bullet sinkers as they have a concave end opposite the pointy end which buries nicely. I see all my t's drinking at times, especially the slings. Just yesterday I re-filled a shell "dish" is my B. smithi enclosure that dried over the night. It walked right to it and stuck its face in for a long drink. That B. smithi is 3.7". The biggest issue I have with the smaller dish's is that they are quickly and easily filled or covered by an industrious sling. My little P. muticus filled the cap just last night, as did a P. cancerides sling. But its really not too much work or effort to dump and re-fill.
 

klawfran3

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I'm always surprised at just how many people are resistant to water dishes when threads like this come up. A simple water dish simplifies everything. Like poec, once my slings get over 1/2", they all get water dish's of some sort. I like the water bottle lids a lot, but also utilize both shells I find (look good) as well as bullet sinkers as they have a concave end opposite the pointy end which buries nicely. I see all my t's drinking at times, especially the slings. Just yesterday I re-filled a shell "dish" is my B. smithi enclosure that dried over the night. It walked right to it and stuck its face in for a long drink. That B. smithi is 3.7". The biggest issue I have with the smaller dish's is that they are quickly and easily filled or covered by an industrious sling. My little P. muticus filled the cap just last night, as did a P. cancerides sling. But its really not too much work or effort to dump and re-fill.
aren't sinkers made of lead? I wouldn't want to drink out of a lead dish, let alone one of my tarantulas.
 

cold blood

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aren't sinkers made of lead? I wouldn't want to drink out of a lead dish, let alone one of my tarantulas.
As lead becomes increasingly banned, the industry is now going to steel (which is what I am using) or tungsten (which is what I use exclusively for fishing applications). I definitely wouldn't recommend using lead...good point, I should have made that clear.
 

klawfran3

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As lead becomes increasingly banned, the industry is now going to steel (which is what I am using) or tungsten (which is what I use exclusively for fishing applications). I definitely wouldn't recommend using lead...good point, I should have made that clear.
ahh ok. I assume you have a bunch of them lying around, since you seem to go fishing a lot. Are they pretty cheap?
 

cold blood

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Very, you can get a small bag for a buck or two. I dip them in wax to seal them at the point. The concave "dish" part is small, I need a syringe to fill it, but sizes can vary.
 

14pokies

Arachnoprince
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I experimented with tiny water dishes for my slings a while back after a mould incident and it seems to be going good. I used the tips of plastic clothes pegs.

View attachment 131560
View attachment 131561
View attachment 131562
As you can see, they are very small and I just leave 4 drops of water in each one. I have witnessed the slings drinking from them on a number of occasions and after 3 months of using them I can say with confidence that they have been a success.
your a mental giant!!! Im gunna give that a try thanks.
 

assidreemz

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Sep 10, 2014
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after reading this thread i think i will try a water dish or two

thats pretty crafty though, with the clothes pin
 

David VB

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Jan 21, 2014
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I too believe in the power of waterbowls :p For the smallest ones i just use a water bottle cap with a pebble in it ;)
 
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