How to Kill Time Waiting for Slings to Grow?

NTslinger

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 14, 2015
Messages
18
Hey Guys,

After keeping juvenile-adult T's, many of which are now MMs that have passed or at death's door, for several years now, I finally bought some sling species in multiples. I was wondering how you guys pass the time from the moment they're itty bitty 1/4''
slings to when they finally start being recognizable as tarantulas.

I'm currently waiting for school to resume, I'm not working too much at the moment, and I tend to spend time with friends and family once the sun goes down, so believe me when I say that I've been doing a whole lot of nothing during the day. Add tiny slings to my situation, and you've got a crazy young man dying for his babies to molt :biggrin:

Luckily, I do have a couple of adult tarantulas to help me satiate my need to look at something larger. Believe it or not, I can spend an hour just observing my Grammostola rosea and G. pulchripes. I can spend even more time watching my Nhandu coloratovillosus. Unfortunately, my very favorite to look at and admire, a Pterinochilus murinus MM, doesn't look like he'll be around much longer, so I soon won't have him to sink my observation time into.

I've also spent hours on here just reading as many posts as I possibly can. I've briefly read posts on here before, but I just made my account not too long ago, and I'm so glad I did. I'm having a blast reading through old posts to pass the time.

I'd actually like to know how YOU guys pass the time or maybe acquired the patience when working with small slings.

Sorry if my post was longer than it needed to be, and thanks for bearing with it!

-N
 
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jdl

Arachnosquire
Joined
Oct 27, 2011
Messages
95
I just make sure to have plenty of spiders to feed and water in the collection. I started with around 15 slings and now have around 500 with around 100 adults. as the collection has grown, there are always spiders molting. I try to get at least three of any new species, then the chances are at least one will be female.
 

NTslinger

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 14, 2015
Messages
18
Cold blood, I guess I'll have to look into fishing as a new hobby!

Jdl, I actually bought all my new species of T's in groups of 3 in the hopes one out of each group turns out to be a female. I might buy more when my funds permit me to do so. I would love to someday have as many tarantulas as you do.
 

Angel Minkov

Arachnobaron
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Messages
595
Getting more Ts takes your focus off of molts and redirects it to care, maybe breeding plans and at some point you start getting molts every week.
 

dementedlullaby

Arachnobaron
Joined
May 8, 2014
Messages
300
Haha that's a bit of an odd question! I don't really do anything to kill the time, I just keep on truckin' so to speak.

I find that the hobby has given me a bit more of a patient outlook on things though. Waiting nearly a year for an itty bitty E. sp red to molt (just once!) will do that :D.
 

Cavedweller

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Messages
1,064
I get more Ts and pedes :biggrin:

I like keeping my time filled with art projects, more of them than I can handle. Model kits, sewing, drawing, beading, whatever I can get supplies for.
 

scott99

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Messages
160
Just enjoy them while they are young, they are a sling only once in their life time. They will grow up before you know it.{D
 

NTslinger

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 14, 2015
Messages
18
Hmm, so it seems like I just need to get a bunch more tarantulas, get more hobbies, and enjoy my little ones before I send them off to Bigger Enclosure Community College!
 

Ellenantula

Arachnoking
Joined
Sep 14, 2014
Messages
2,009
You need to spend your time taking T pictures and discussing your Ts more here on Arachnoboards! Start raising feeders your Ts. Beats watching paint dry. I recommend hanging out here more though. :)
 

Arachnomaniac19

Arachnolord
Joined
Aug 23, 2014
Messages
652
It's always nice to get into other arachnids like Uropygi (I know it split), Amblypygi, Opiliones (with one "L", LOL), scorpions, ect. You should also check out your native inverts. There are always cool things out there!
 

spiderbesideher

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 17, 2015
Messages
76
Lol... One of the reasons I love t's is that they are relatively "low maintenance"... Between a full time and part time job, I find I turn around one day and they're all grown up :') sniff
 

Steve123

Arachnosquire
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Sep 19, 2013
Messages
87
The Original Arachno Board...

I knit teeny little baby booties for all of them.
LOL, yeah, you can only do so much reading and observation, so meh-be research, photo documentation, walk in the woods, live in a cabin by a lake called Walden, hypothesize, breed--let your mature males fulfill their main their mission in life.

Easy - get more T's! :)
I'm short on much of what's required for deep thoughts suggested above, so I take the easy route too, just get more Ts! When you get to the point where you can't feed everyone in one day you won't be arachno board anymore. Doesn't have to be expensive-Oo!

I suggest less whining about boredom like an 8-year-old, let it force you to use your imagination. :p
 
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Ellenantula

Arachnoking
Joined
Sep 14, 2014
Messages
2,009
Lol... One of the reasons I love t's is that they are relatively "low maintenance"... Between a full time and part time job, I find I turn around one day and they're all grown up :') sniff
I relate to both -- the 60 hour week and that they grow up so fast. I just realized last feeding that I only have one sling that cannot take down a full size cricket. They grow up so fast. :(
 

FireSpider

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 2, 2015
Messages
19
I feel like I have a good mixture of larger juveniles, slings, and a few mature females right now. It's nice to pretty much have all the life stages at once (except mature males, for the moment). With keeping inverts as a hobby, there is literally always something new to read or research. At the moment I just started reading about Avicularias because the woman at my local pet shop wants to give me a "pink toe" for basically nothing because it's been in her shop for the better part of a year. Obviously I'll want to try to figure out what species it actually is, not to mention needing to learn the details of caring for an arboreal. Before that I was researching hissing cockroaches (a more in-depth subject than you might think). Who knows what I'll be learning about next. I certainly never get bored with the hobby, and really doubt I ever will. I want to breed Ts someday, and there's so much to learn and experience before I even get to that point.

I have tons to occupy my time, though. I have a job (only part to 3/4 time, though), I do things with my friends and family, and I write novels. I'm also quite fond of "wasting time" with TV marathons and computer games, which I don't feel the least bit sorry or guilty for. In short, I'm never bored, lol.
 

NTslinger

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 14, 2015
Messages
18
To the folks who have busy work weeks, I definitely feel you. I'm really lucky that my schedule is so relaxed right now, although I'm dreading the end of this month because my schedule will go back to being long and hectic once again.

To everyone who suggested that I look into other arthropods, I just might. My OBT is, unfortunately, in terrible shape ,and he looks like he'll be going any week now. However, I might be getting more invertebrates to help dull the pain.

I guess I'm just really new to having slings, and their novelty is kind of making me focus on their growth and molting. I'm hoping it wears out soon haha. Who am I kidding? I'm just impatient! :laugh:
 
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