Sling out for 1st time

[bev7o9]

I decided to take a pic of my spiderling 5 days after it moulted. I thought to show it best i would put it onto my hand, it has never been out before and after sitting posing for a few pic's it took off running up my arm so fast i couldnt catch it! It went behind my head and in that moment i suddenly realised it hadnt been such a good idea after all! I just stood there wondering how the hell id catch it again esp since i dont know where it is at this point and i was affraid to leave the room in case it fell/jumped off or one of my dog ate it....
Luck for me it trotted not into my hair but round and back down my other arm where i manage to catch it. Anyone had this happen and what would of of had to do if it hadnt shown up round the front again?
It is a avic fasciculata although it changes colours so much when it moults i get it mixed up with my pink toe sling!
ive added a few pic's of the slings after the last 2 moults and before one went for a sprint!

Moderators Note: As stated in the rules and regulations
"(10) Photographs and gallery images; please refrain from posting images of handling this only encourages such activities and there a lot of younger patrons on this forum that may influenced by such images and may attempt handling unnecessarily and as a result injure the tarantula or themselves"
One image has been removed as it was in breach of the above guideline.

[jason holland]

lovely looking colours. great little T's you got there. (just to let you know, ur story or pics my be edited due to the bts no handling policy - and yes ive had the same prob as you. the other day, my smithi was climbing on me, and climbed onto my back, i just asked my bro to move him onto a large book, where i then took over)

[Stuart Lee]

I posted this on another forum but ill copy/paste it as to let you know what I went thru last week


I’ve just had the worst 3 hours of my T keeping life, No I didn’t get bit and I didn’t have hairs flicked on me. I lost a sling...

I have a P. Metallica sling about 5c.m and just rehoused it into a taller jar. It was still sitting on the lid of its old house so I put that in as well and thought Id get it out later.
Today I came from work and fancied some chips from the chippy but noticed the metallica had moved off the lid so what I do every time without fail is go upstairs and use the bath incase any one jumps out but cos I’m in a hurry I do it on the window cill downstairs. Now as I lift the lid gently out the metallica runs up and falls out the top of the jar onto its back on the window cill and before I can even think it’s off the cill and in between my radiator

Now its 2 o’clock and I have to fetch my kid from school at 3:15 so I’m panicking getting torches looking down in between the radiator which isn’t on thank god.
I can see the metallica sitting down one of the slats so I try sliding cardboard down so its stuck in one slat and cant wonder off into the others I’m cutting cardboard up to fit the top so it cant go back down, this is taking ages and the times ticking away. Finally I think I’ve got everything covered so I start pushing some wire down the slat hoping the T will drop out the bottom and then....

Nothing, T has disappeared I’m panicking even more now, time is 3 o'clock, Looking down all slats and cant see anything, then I think I can see abdomen with legs wrapped up as if its covering it self. Dam 3:10 got to go fetch my kid.

On the way I phoned my Mum n Dad and they were on the way to help, more eyes the better. When we got back from school my mum n dad arrived and we all thought what to do, we came up with covering the radiators top totally with cardboard apart from a gap that the T could come thru, Put cardboard in between the slats again so now the T could only go up or down. Got some wire with a bit of sponge on the end and my dad started pushing the wire slowly up the slat. At the top of the slat I had a really small jar upside down over the only hole the T could come thru, and bingo, T comes thru hole and into jar. Panic over...

Sorry for the essay lol but thought Id share with you my pain and then joy, I’ve not had the Metallica that long but it was a T id been waiting to get for ages and to think of it getting lost nearly killed me lol.

Any way I’m feeling better now T is safe in its home again, Ill never rush again and always use that bath..

[James Box]

i can vouch for that sentiment, Stuart...i've rushed things before...with tragic consequences a couple times! we all make mistakes and we learn from them, hopefully
i reckon if you have to rush, chances are what you're doing with the T's etc can wait til later...just not worth it! but we all do it at times...
anyways i am very pleased you got your sling back!

bev709...i've had some close calls with slings running out and onto my arm...the most recent scare was a 1.5" or so S philippinus...just barely managed to catch it blind on my tricep...thankfully none the worse for wear.
also nearly lost a 3" L parahybana that ran over my shoulder and behind a couch...had to turn the room upside down before finding it!
so i completely understand the panic!
i think your post serves as a cautionary tale
at any rate, that's a lovely sling...they are an amazing spider.

[Alexander Ramsey]

Advice heeded

Bev, great pics!!
Stuart and james, great essay, lmao for ages!!
All, advice well heeded!

[bev7o9]

pic removal

Cheers for the reply's. I didnt realise you couldnt post pic's of spiders on you so sorry about that, it was a great pic tho if anyone wants to see it check out my facebook or bebo under same name.
I love watching slings grow but like to pass them onto others once they get bigger, not sure if this makes me a bad keeper or not.
bev