Slings??

[Andrew Murdoch]

I have three L.para slings, they have molted a couple of times now and I think there leg span must be around the inch mark. I little pots I have them in are of a slightly larger diameter (not much though) At the moment they have just molted and there legs appear to be very pale in colour.
* Am I going along the right lines when I say that I am going to put them in slightly larger pots?
* As for feeding, I find this difficult as I dont always get tiny crickets. I have put in squashed crickets before and there have been times when the slings appear to eat and other times when I have removed the crickets. I am aware that T's prefer live food. I have also put smallish crickets in the pots and the slings have scarpered up the pots to get away. I am thinking about pulling the legs off of my smallish crickets to give the slings a fighting chance as well as getting live (if somewhat disabled) food. Is this a goodish idea, as I cant seem to get very small crickets?
*Also someone posted up a reply about feeding maggots to slings, am I right in saying I get them from the tackkle shop, and are wax worms too big?
I just want to keep myself right. I have probobly asked similar questions. But once again I would like to hear other members experience.

[Stuart Common]

hi Andrew, I had the same problem last week for mine as the local stores had ran out of micro crickets so got some small ones and took the legs off, but left the very front ones so they still moved about a bit and they seemed to be ok, especially with the larger slings.

I did source some from livefoods.co.uk at the end of last week so ordered some of their micro crickets and x. small, and tbh there isnt that much difference in their size but they arrived the next day and didnt cost much

[Kate Arbon]

I am pretty lucky that my L. para sling doesn't mind prekilled crickets. Would love to see some pics of yours cos I never get to see mine! It's my only pet hole, lol.

[Tom Forman]

killing an insect and then feeding it to the sling is absolutely fine and I would not say that the sling has a preference for the one or the other.

It's just that killed insects can go completely unnoticed by the spider.

and its alot more fun to watch your spider rush out of its burrow and attack at lightning speed.

My slings are still partly scared of pinhead crickets but they are eaten after 24 hours.

Removing the crickets legs is the best thing you can do to get your spider interested in the cricket. I'd be surprised if it was still alive after 24 hours.


waxworms are too big unless you breed them yourself, then you'd have access to all sizes.

[Colin D Wilson]

waxworms are too big unless you breed them yourself, then you'd have access to all sizes.

This ends up as a chore in itself though after a while.
Best to go and buy undyed maggots from a tackle shop in my opinion

[Nicola Dolby]

Well said Colin. I bought some squat maggots from my local fishing shop in febuary. there are enough there to feed half a dozen slings until they are all big enough to catch small crickets for themselves. I keep them in a container at the bottom of the fridge where they can't get out and contaminate the food, where they are alive and well but due to the temperature won't pupate. And the cost for all this spid food for about 4-5 months? £1.10
I wish people would catch on.

[Rich.Harrington]

Well said Colin. I bought some squat maggots from my local fishing shop in febuary. there are enough there to feed half a dozen slings until they are all big enough to catch small crickets for themselves. I keep them in a container at the bottom of the fridge where they can't get out and contaminate the food, where they are alive and well but due to the temperature won't pupate. And the cost for all this spid food for about 4-5 months? £1.10
I wish people would catch on.

Star idea on the fridge there, i'm guessing you just throw in bits of veg/fruit for food?

[Tom Forman]

idon't know why ppl keep saying waxworms are a chore.
They are the easiest insect I am keeping.

The only problem I had recently is that I lost half my lesser waxworms cause the substrate started to ferment... I thought I could get away without ventilation holes and I managed for a month or so but in the end it all turned sour heehee.

[Tom Forman]

maybe the greater waxworm is more of a chore, I am just starting with them.

The lesser waxmoth is very easy to handle and will only fly away when startled but I am suspecting I a going to have more trouble keeping the greater waxmoths in their container.

breeding the insects I feed my T's is half the fun of the hobby. I wish more ppl would catch on to that but each to their own lol.

[Nicola Dolby]

Hi, the maggots don't need feeding unless you're planning to keep a load. By the time they are conking out te spids are ready to move onto larger things. When I get mine they come with some soil and other things I'd rather not guess. As for feeding I don't know as I've never really needed to. Sorry I can't help more.

[mary walters]

I use maggots for new slings, lil squat maggots, undyed, so much easier than micros, never fed them and they come with maize flour at my local shop. Thing is, when they turn into flies they are then food for arboreal juves and mantids, no waste, any left after that go on bird table when dead....