New to Ts: Sling Question

ReignofInvertebrates · Sep 25, 2015

The one question I have is: can you keep a sling under 3/4" on a complete diet of pre-killed or cut up crickets? I don't readily have fruit flies and may be getting some spiderlings soon. Looking at G. pulchripes and B. vagans.

14pokies · Sep 25, 2015

Yup no problem.. At that size though you can givem half inch live crickets most LPS will havem about that size..

Fruit flies are bad for slings anyways.. Not enough nutrition..

Ethan4791 · Sep 25, 2015

Yes you can, a sling between 1/2 to 3/4 should be able to take down a live pinhead cricket as well

PanzoN88 · Sep 25, 2015

+3 that is what i feed my B. Albopilosums twice a week.

cold blood · Sep 25, 2015

Halved mealworms or wax worms are other great alternatives as well....mealies are probably the easiest feeder and I regularly supplement the cricket diet with them for slings....same for waxies, although they're easy, can be a little messier...still not like a smelly cricket.

All slings will scavenge, although as mentioned, many will easily take down their own appropriately sized prey at that size....its just not always easy to get little pinhead crickets for the little guys.

Blueandbluer · Sep 25, 2015

Grasshopper99 said:
The one question I have is: can you keep a sling under 3/4" on a complete diet of pre-killed or cut up crickets? I don't readily have fruit flies and may be getting some spiderlings soon. Looking at G. pulchripes and B. vagans.

Fruit flies are crap. They escape, are never as "flightless" as advertised, are a pain to obtain and keep, and aren't even good feeders. Any slings small enough for ffs could also easily take a cricket leg or head.

SuzukiSwift · Sep 27, 2015

At that size they can eat pre killed food or live food (make sure it is not bigger than them). Some slings are more jittery towards eating live food so if this is the case then pre killed food is the way to go. However eventually they will get to a size where eating live food is preferable, around 1.5" you're going to want to be giving live food

GG80 · Sep 29, 2015

I hate dealing with small crickets so until my slings are big enough to take medium sized live crickets they get pre-killed. I have a 1.5" B. smithi who still gets pre-killed and he eats it no problem. I usually wait until they are 2" before I feed live prey.
While I am aware they will take live prey at smaller sizes, I just can't stand trying to catch small prey and having some escape. Everyone wins.

SpiritScale · Sep 29, 2015

Well, the truth of the matter underneath it all is we don't know the exact nutritional requirements of tarantulas, particularly across their life-stages.

That said, from what I have read, been told by the more experienced breeders/keepers I've talked to and what my two cents from personal experience of raising about 20-40 different slings of varying species....pre-killed prey or pieces from larger prey seem to do the trick and the slings have grown well.

I rarely if ever offer live prey to slings under 1-2 inches for a couple reasons: I *hate* dealing with pinheads and other teeny feeders, I don't often have access to reliable and healthy prey at that size and live prey can be (even if properly sized) intimidating or downright threatening/dangerous to little slings.
Usually I offer pre-killed whole prey or pieces of pre-killed crickets or mealies. Cricket legs work great IMO.

8Legs8Eyes · Sep 30, 2015

My smallest tarantula at the moment is a 3/4 inch LP. He has just started tackling itty bitty dubia nymphs and I am rather proud. He started out about half this size with me and up until now would run if I introduced anything live, even if it was smaller than him. Prekilled or cut up pieces worked until he became confident enough to start tackling things.

Chris11 · Oct 3, 2015

my 1/2" B. vagans takes down pinnies like a madman! it bolts around the container at mach 5 and finds a vulnerable angle then strikes... very impressive

Ellenantula · Oct 3, 2015

I have never fed pre-killed; I've always had pinhead/juvie crix or roaches to fit T size. Even the littlest Ts seem to enjoy the hunt. I try to drop in feeders right in front of T for an easy grab. If that fails, mine usually learn, eventually, that it's best to lie in wait and ambush rather than run themselves ragged to tackle. B lats especially can be a bit fast!

I have never tried flightless fruit flies.

fowlmoodmandy · Oct 3, 2015

this is very interesting to me. I did not know they'd eat pre killed foodstuffs. How does that work? They just 'sniff' it out?

cold blood · Oct 3, 2015

Most ts will take pre-killed without issue. I. mira is one of the only exceptions I've observed and that's basically because they stay behind a trap door until they feel movement. Rosea is another, just picky eaters...mine won't touch mealworms, supers and its the only t I've ever had refuse a wax worm...pre-kill doesn't work with her. Everything else I've fed has eaten pre-kill without issue.

BobGrill · Oct 4, 2015

fowlmoodmandy said:
this is very interesting to me. I did not know they'd eat pre killed foodstuffs. How does that work? They just 'sniff' it out?

Young spiderlings in particular will scavenge dead prey. They don't have noses, therefore they can't smell. They will usually find it if you drop it somewhere near them.

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GG80 · Oct 4, 2015

fowlmoodmandy said:
this is very interesting to me. I did not know they'd eat pre killed foodstuffs. How does that work? They just 'sniff' it out?

Not smell as such but I've read that they can sense the chemicals given off by the dead prey much like they can sense where a water source is located. However the pre-killed meal must be fresh, no more than 24 hours is the general consensus here but I've seen some of mine latch on to the meal after the 24 hour timeframe.

cold blood · Oct 4, 2015

Yeah, often they appear to go right to it, like they know its there, other times they stand over it for extended periods of time before picking it up.

Blueandbluer · Oct 4, 2015

BobGrill said:
Young spiderlings in particular will scavenge dead prey. They don't have noses, therefore they can't smell. They will usually find it if you drop it somewhere near them.

Sent from my LG-D801 using Tapatalk

They may not have noses, but they have chemosensitive hairs that work similarly to the chemosensory aspects of our nasal passages -- so actually they kind of smell with their feet. I like to tease my spides that their feet are "smelly," but somehow they never seem to find it as funny as I do...

BobGrill · Oct 4, 2015

Blueandbluer said:
They may not have noses, but they have chemosensitive hairs that work similarly to the chemosensory aspects of our nasal passages -- so actually they kind of smell with their feet. I like to tease my spides that their feet are "smelly," but somehow they never seem to find it as funny as I do...

I'm aware of this

I always saw it as more of tasting than smelling but I suppose you could consider it either.

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Draketeeth · Oct 6, 2015

I never had the stomach to do pre-kill or body parts. yick. When I needed little crickets for my tarantula (approx. penny sized at the time), I told the pet store to fetch me out their daintiest darlings because I had a very small mouth to feed, and they pulled out their littlest crickets. As soon as I felt comfortable with my T's size and ability to take prey (quarter-half dollar sized), I switched over to little dubia nymphs (less prone to dying, and far less stinky).

Thankfully my little 'un has always been a predator and we haven't had any picky eater or prey size issues, so hopefully your little 'uns / potential little 'uns won't give you any trouble either.

New to Ts: Sling Question

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