why wont my spiderlings eat?

[jon stewart]

hi there, ive got half a dozen chili rose spiderlings, about the size of my little finger nail, and i keep them in one of those live food tubs that i have sectioned off into 6 small compartments. this tub sits half on and half off a heat mat in a section of my tank. the humidity seems ok (condensation on the lid of the tub but not soaking wet substrate).

so, what can i do to get them to eat? ive had them about 3 weeks now, and ive offered them crickets (chopped up and twitching for 2 days), tiny locusts live, chopped up mealworms, chopped up earthworms and even live black ants, but so far none of them have eaten anything!

im starting to worry that they might die on me...

[Peter Lacey]

I have 5 curlies and felt the same was happening. I purchased a box of pin-head crickets and although they don't eat one per day like recommended, they do eat. For one in particular I had to feed it a half dead pin-head. I make sure there's moisture and give them plenty of soil to burrow in. Others have suggested feeding them maggots so you might want to try them, the uncoloured ones you find at bait shops.

[Tom Forman]

Hi jon,

you heatmat scenario sounds less than ideal. By the way I have understood it you are heating half of the 6 spiderlings and the others are getting a little less heat? Do not keep spiderlings too close to a heatmat. They are in such small containers that they cannot escape the heat if it gets too much for them.

I mean as long as you are sure the temp in the container is fine then ok but it just doesn't sound too good to me. If it was me I would place the heatmat inside of a small container/tank/box(at the back, not on the floor) and make sure the temp is good in there, then place the container you have now with the 6 spiderlings in it inside of this other container.

About the food, you are most likely feeding the wrong kind.

For the very smallest of spiderlings I reckon springtails are the best but its not really worth getting springtails for just 6 spiderlings as it is only good food for the first couple of months, they quickly outgrow them.

Slightly bigger than that can handle pinhead crickets but even pinheads are scary to a sling, they are the most common insect in the hobby but not one of the best by any means. I have started using freshly hatched pinheads with spiderlings that I've had for half a year now and even with them, i cut off the legs and dunk the pinhead in water so it is less scary to the sling.

If you ask me a much better alternative for spiderlings is the smaller fruitfly. I haven't actually got any atm as they breed so fast they need a fair bit of maintence but I did have some a few months ago and can highly recommen them. They should not be fed excusively but then again no insect should be fed exclusively, a varied diet is always best.

waxworms and maggots are one of the most accepted foods you could feed, highly fattening but good for getting a spider to eat, unfortunately it is very hard for you to get baby ones imo and you will need faily small ones. Maybe a chopped up maggot would work better than a chopped up cricket. Worth a try if you can easily get maggots at a tackle shop.

So considering what Ive just written, I would recommend you get some smaller fruitfly the Drosophila melanogaster, good place would be ebay.

But my most rated feeder insect shop is www.dartfrog.co.uk They have the most variety and are a good shop and reliable.

From my experience if I were to raise slings to adulthood this would be their diet:

first few months: springtails

next 6 months: smaller fruitfly

next 6 months: bigger fruitfly, baby waxworms, pinhead crickets

after that: crickets, roaches, waxworms, mealworms and bigger flies like the musca domestica

Hope that helps you with your problem but don't worry about them not eating too much. They can survive it.

[Andrew Ferguson]

Doesn't Stan Schultz's book say tarantulas and ants don't mix? I would have thought an adult ant and a spiderling would be a dangerous combo
My copy (of Stan's book) is packed away ready for the move so I cannot do a check.

[James Box]

i've heard that from a number of sources: ants are dangerous to inverts.

the first question Jon is how do the spiderlings look? are they fat and active? are they looking dull or bright?
if they are fat, active and bright, i suggest keeping the water up, and keep offering mashed up crickets and mealworms.
if they are fat and dull, again, keep up the water, and back off on the food...they may be heading into pre-moult.

i know as adults, G rosea's are notorious for fasting. this MAY be true as slings, i'm not experienced enough with slings of this species to know.

not really sure about the enclosure, to be honest...unless each section is sealed, and i do mean sealed, they may start to get into each other's sides...that may be alright as slings tend to be more tolerant of other slings, but it may stress them out, maybe enough not to eat.
i may have it wrong, but it sounded like they may just be too close to each other. i'd personally have them each in individual tubs.

my two rosea rcf's are in their own cricket tubs with cut milk top lids. this is how they were set up when given to me, and they seem MORE than happy with the arrangement. they are eating, singing, dancing...etc
they are also the same size as yours.
as for the space, they use it, and are able to find food, so previous worries about that kind of set up have been set aside, and i've done it for a number of others as well.

Tom's suggestion of a larger container being used with their enclosures inside once the temperature is a good one. i don't personally do that, but i also don't use heat mats right against sling tanks. i have enough mats and an oil filled radiator, so the ambient temperature in that corner is enough, so the effect is the same as what Tom suggested.

one of the biggest dangers with slings (as far as things we can prevent are concerned) is dehydration. they get most of their water from prey, but will also happily suck moisture out of substrate. so if they still seem fat and active, keep trying the food, but don't panic yet. they are slow growers and the moult cycle is not rushed.

one thing though, while squats are a food source i've heard of many using (will try them myself soon), i have heard from many sources that fruitflies are NOT nutrionally complete by any stretch of the imagination. if i used them, i would use them as a supplement rather than a proper diet source.

[Clinton Hogben]

Doesn't Stan Schultz's book say tarantulas and ants don't mix? I would have thought an adult ant and a spiderling would be a dangerous combo
My copy (of Stan's book) is packed away ready for the move so I cannot do a check.

I thought the same I believe ants squirt formic acid in self defence and can harm a spider especially in numbers

[Peter Lacey]

I should have mentioned my concerns with the heating and I mirror Tom's set up with my slings, actually I have most of my Ts in a large Exo with 1 heatmat.
Flies are definitely not a good single source food item according to Schultz and he found defects and deficiencies in spiders raised solely on them.
To my recollection Ants are referred to as a danger to the tarantula in the wild by Schultz and he says its one of the only creatures that will make a T evacuate its burrow rather promptly. I don't remember him suggesting it was a bad food source but we all know they have strong, powerful jaws.

[Louise~Nichols]

hi there, ive got half a dozen chili rose spiderlings, about the size of my little finger nail, and i keep them in one of those live food tubs that i have sectioned off into 6 small compartments. this tub sits half on and half off a heat mat in a section of my tank. the humidity seems ok (condensation on the lid of the tub but not soaking wet substrate).

so, what can i do to get them to eat? ive had them about 3 weeks now, and ive offered them crickets (chopped up and twitching for 2 days), tiny locusts live, chopped up mealworms, chopped up earthworms and even live black ants, but so far none of them have eaten anything!

im starting to worry that they might die on me...

Firstly I'd think about repotting them into individual containers...but here's the flipside of this: some slings get a bit *rattled* by change of scenario when they first arrive with a new owner, so some slings just don't want to feed anyway until they've settled. So yours may just be finding their feet and a change of pot may disrupt them yet again...on the other hand, the change of pot may help improve their environment so that they feel like having a munch (not on ants!!).

Secondly...move the heatmat. If you want to use a heat mat, find a plastic box which you can place your little pots into, then tape the mat onto the container lid, so that they're heated from above, but not in direct contact with the mat.

Also your little newcomers may be getting ready for a moult, so that would also detract from their appetites.

Hope this helps a little, and try not to stress too much, Roseas are hardy slings, but they fast much the same as adults can at times...although it's usually just before they moult or when stressed. Good luck anyway, keep us updated.

[Oli Dodds]

why wont my spiderlings eat?

How long is a piece of string?
Keep sticking pinheads infront of them and be patient; they can live longer then you think!!
I have a sling that ate its first meal last week since i got it at the last Newark show! Smaller then my little fingernail and has only moulted once since Newark!

[jon stewart]

cheers people!

now removing ants and squishing up crickets...

what i meant was the tub is divided widthways into 6 strips and one end of each strip is just about on the heatmat... now moving it away from the heat a bit.

[Tom Forman]

fruitflies might well be nutritionally deficient but they are great for getting slings to eat if you ask me. Even if you feed your slings fruitflies exclusively for one month you will be fine. I have done this with 6 of my slings, no problms. From what i have heard feeding fruitflies exclusively for 6 months + will start to cause a low mortality rate.
Maggots incidentally are just as nutritionally deficient. Because maggots are infact flies in their larval stage...

I wish there were more insects available to feed the T's but i did already mention to try and keep the diet varied to avoid these nutrietional deficiencies.

[Peter Lacey]

Sorry Tom I wasn't suggesting you hadn't recommended a varied diet, just reiterating that what Schultz found. However, I thought maggots and various forms of larvae were high in nutrients and protein plus if I'm right Ray Gabriel and a number of other breeders feed their slings solely on maggots.
The crux of it is, if your slings aren't eating but start to take X, then X its obviously the thing to feed them on until they start eating Y.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

[mary walters]

I feed new slings on squat maggots simply because it is easier to get a maggot into a small container with a sling inside bent on getting out than trying to get a weeny fly in there. Plus I think they are nutricious because they have no waste skin that I have ever seen, mine eat every scrap. Mine get maggots up to first moult or so, then fruit flies or micro's.

[James Box]

agreed, it doesn't follow that the mature animal would have the same nutritional value as the larvae of the same species necessarily.

but i can see the value in using them for a time and then changing the diet when possible.

also, it should be possible to dust them with vitamins which would help.

a bit off topic, but i've been doing some digging on the subject of nutrition because i've just obtained a number of Ancylometes bogotensis, a true spider species, and they are even more sensitive than tarantulas to fruit fly diets, and most died when fed exclusively on fruit flies.
in the course of that digging, i have found that bloodworm is quite nutritious. i have no idea how a tarantula sling would take to them, but might be worth a go. you can store them in the freezer and thaw a few out as needed.
i had a bag full because i've got newts that like them.

[Claudia Baines]

I'm glad I read this post, as I have a spiderling I got at Kettering on Sunday, and it is in a tiny viv which is half on and half off a heat mat. I will go and take it off the heatmat as soon as I get home.
Could anyone recommend advice about humidity for an A. versicolour sling? I have been given quite a lot of conflicting advice on this now and am rather confused about how humid to make the tank.
I hope your slings eat something soon, so you are reassured they're OK!