What to feed?

dizzylizzy · Apr 4, 2010

We just bought this wee little b.smithi yesterday, I`d like to know how often and what to feed it, we have some really small crickets, whats the best way to go about this? Thanks for any and all info.

Spidercrazy · Apr 4, 2010

id say go with pin head crics, or cricket nymphs there really small

ametan · Apr 4, 2010

If you search, there are a lot of topics on sling care. One that started off on a different note, but was very informative for me was My slings like fishfood...

Stopdroproll · Apr 4, 2010

Maybe 1-3 a week or every other week, your call.

Scoolman · Apr 5, 2010

My first four G pulchra were that size when I got them in December. I fed them 1cm (.5")crickets. They even managed slightly larger ones on occasion. I fed them about 4 crickets/week at a rate of about one every couple days. Keep in mind I am power feeding to get them to the juvenile stage a little quicker. They have molted twice and are now about 2.5".

Slappys_g1rl06 · Apr 5, 2010

I'm not too experienced here yet but when I bought my G. pulchripes and even my GBB right now, they both were/are that size and they could eat some good sized crickets! Like Scoolman said, I stuck to no bigger than 1/2" crickets and they managed to tackle them just fine. My friend I bought my t's from recommended only feeding them bugs that are roughly the size of their opisthosoma to be safe. I only feed my guys about one or two a week. Hope that helps!!

Teal · Apr 5, 2010

I was expecting a TINY sling... but a sling that is quarter-sized can easily take down a .5" cricket! I would recommend taking the back legs off the cricket, just for safety... but 2-3 week old crickets should be just fine

SDiego · Apr 5, 2010

If you have small crickets, just toss them in there. He'll eat them. Anything that's just a little smaller than him will be fine. You can also kill a larger cricket and stick it in there too. Spiderlings will scavenge recently killed insects if you stick them in there.

Link · Apr 5, 2010

It also looks like it's going to molt soon.

dizzylizzy · Apr 5, 2010

Thank you all for your help, much appreciate it. Very new to all this, We`hooked

Link, how can you tell its going to molt soon?

Scoolman · Apr 5, 2010

dizzylizzy said:
Thank you all for your help, much appreciate it. Very new to all this, We`hooked
Link, how can you tell its going to molt soon?

The opisthosoma (abdomen) will become very dark, enlarged, and somewhat shiny. Yours is not quite there yet, but keep watching.

forrestpengra · Apr 5, 2010

Do keep in mind that you aren't going to have a monster over night either. B. smithi are a slow growing T. They are very much worth the wait though. If this is your first I can guarantee it won't be your last... especially if you linger on AB long... lol...

Below is a growth chart I found for B. smithi on the web. Everyones experience will be different though.

Molting:
Date Old LS New LS
08/04/2000 -"? ½"?
08/28/2000 ½"? ¾"?
10/04/2000 ¾"? 1"?
11/05/2000 1"? 1¼"?
12/08/2000 1¼"? 1½"?
01/18/2001 1½"? 1¾"?
03/23/2001 1¾"? 2"?
05/21/2001 2"? 2¼"?

dizzylizzy · Apr 15, 2010

Our B.smithi molted today woo hoo,I woke up at 5 am, first thing I do is check our T`s, sure enough B.smithi was almost all out, checked again 15 min later on its back, I cant wait to see it all new, it looks like it grew quite a bit, pics later. You were so right Link, thanks:clap:

sjn01 · Apr 15, 2010

They say its good to supplement the cricket diet, by putting half an orange in with the crickets so they can ge their fluids, and whatever you feed your crickets, i think most people feed them fish flakes but i use cricket vitamin food i got from my exotics pet shop.
They say its good to feed the cricks a day before you feed the to your Tarantula to make they more nutritionally valuable. I sometimes squash the back of the neck of a larger sized cricket and put it in with my sling

Also feel free to disregard this, but i think its better to raise spiderlings on wet paper towels. That way they get all their moisture easily and its easier to keep an eye on everything.
You can put a thin layer of moist vermiculite or something under the paper towels and that will help maintain humidity

sjn01 · Apr 15, 2010

what did you guys mean by molting too soon, you mean by over eating? What can happen in such cases?

winwin · Apr 15, 2010

dizzylizzy said:
Our B.smithi molted today woo hoo,I woke up at 5 am, first thing I do is check our T`s, sure enough B.smithi was almost all out, checked again 15 min later on its back, I cant wait to see it all new, it looks like it grew quite a bit, pics later. You were so right Link, thanks:clap:

Congrats! It feels good to have a T molt huh? I'd say powerfeed it until it looks good enough to start growing slow. Mine molted from 2"-2.5" within a month of powerfeeding it and it's starting to show its colors, it looks so much better than before it molted, I think the climate here is also a factor for its growth.

I'm no expert though, i only have 1 T and i feed it everyday alternating worms and lats.

dizzylizzy · Apr 15, 2010

we feed our crickets fish flacks, carrots, celery, oranges, crushed cat food,
have a supple of water for them, and sprinkle the food with calcium with vit.d we have a pacman frog also. Plus a canary, and 1 cat, one GSD.

dizzylizzy · Apr 15, 2010

yes it does winwin, our pink toe molted 3-30-10 so this is our second molt, we have 2 G.rosea, and one not quite sure of.so lots of molts in the future, going up to clovis this weekend to check out more T`s, im stoked

Terry D · Apr 15, 2010

No wet paper towels or additives for crick food

sjn01 said:
They say its good to supplement the cricket diet, by putting half an orange in with the crickets so they can ge their fluids, and whatever you feed your crickets, i think most people feed them fish flakes but i use cricket vitamin food i got from my exotics pet shop.
They say its good to feed the cricks a day before you feed the to your Tarantula to make they more nutritionally valuable. I sometimes squash the back of the neck of a larger sized cricket and put it in with my sling

Also feel free to disregard this, but i think its better to raise spiderlings on wet paper towels. That way they get all their moisture easily and its easier to keep an eye on everything.
You can put a thin layer of moist vermiculite or something under the paper towels and that will help maintain humidity

According to most long-time keepers- no additives, especially those with calcium for t food- only for herps. The added calcium could possibly cause molting issues with t's in the future. Also, please DO NOT keep your spiderling on WET paper towels. If you're going to keep them on paper towels, only lightly moisten one corner during usual misting. Btw, I'm all for power-feeding of smaller slings up to 3" or so! Cheers, Terry

dizzylizzy · Apr 15, 2010

ok, I wont sprinkle it on our food we feed our crickets anymore, we feed the crickets good enough .And I dont use wet anything on our little B.smithi.

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