How long can slings go without food

[Alexander Abrams]

Hi

I have two Euathlus slings, sp Red and vulpinus. As I've not been able to get brown micro crickets for a while, it's been nearly two weeks since they've eaten. The sp Red is about 1cm in size the vulpinus is slightly smaller, how long can they go without food?
Any advice would be gratefully accpeted.

Thanks
Alex.

[Peter Lacey]

The simple advice is as long as their abdomens look a reasonable size its likely there's no immediate worry. Tarantula are renowned for going without food for long periods but slings aren't as hardy.
Why not try to get maggots or mealworms (of an appropriate size) instead or make an order online from livefoods.co.uk or similar.

[Matthew Potts]

or you could get size twos, crush them and put bits in.. If I cant get micros thats what I normally do

[Colin D Wilson]

Also slings will survive on just water for quite an extraordinary amount of time, even a small amount of fresh meat will suffice for the interim

[Chris Sainsbury]

Hi
Spiderlings and indeed spiders in general are a lot more robust than they are credited for in my honest opinion, and two weeks without food is nothing for them. I only feed my spiders maybe once sometimes twice a month (including spiderlings) and they all seem fine with it even if they do grow fairly slowly.
I have also left them without food and water for over 5 weeks in the past during the warm months of May & June and from all of the ones I kept at the time the one I lost was a sub P. murinus of all things. I don't recomed this on a regular bases btw but just want to show that it can be done.
I really wouldn't worry too much.
cheers
Chris