sling feeding

[Mark Shingleton]

hi,
just a quick question about my sling, s/he's a Euathlus sp flame, about 1cm.
just wandering is their any other food i can give a tarantula this size because the pinhead crickets i have real trouble catching, maybe i just not got the techneek yet but i was looking on tss and the smallest locusts are 3mm to 6mm, woul they be good, i thought id ask first cuz s/he's only a tiny sling and the locost back legs might injur it.
what do you guys think?

[Kathie Franotovich]

Hi Mark, quick disclaimer, I'm a new T owner too. I have a juvie and a couple of slings. On another forum, the experienced folks suggest cutting the prey insect in half, saying that slings are often perfectly happy to scavenge on killed prey. Some have suggested (and said they do this) cutting off a leg, and giving the sling a "drumstick". I get a bit queasy doing micro surgery on small crickets, but I love my slings so that takes preference

Kathie

[Christopher Smallman]

As Kathie says all tarantulas will eat pre-killed items.

I tend to do this for all my slings as their moult cycle is all over the place and some will feed then moult the next day (Lasiodora parahybana).

I would rather have to fish out a dead cricket than have a live one munch on a sling as it moults.

Do remember to remove dead cricket within 18 hours coz they dont half pong if left longer lol.

CJ.

[Colin D Wilson]

You could try dead crickets, chop up a mealworm, white maggots, try bean weevils or even pull a hind leg off an adult and leave it in for a night.

[Mandy Clinch]

I take the big jumping legs off medium locusts and my girls do ok with them and they are only babies. I know someone else who pinches the heads of mealworms....x

[Mark Shingleton]

thanx for the replys ill do that, i was wandering weather the chopping would work cuz i have to chop for one of my other's but just thought the slings mouth might be too small but if it works for all you ill give it ago, thanx again.

[Lee Corless]

Yeah, micro crickets can be a nightmare... I used to use a straw with a piece of sponge in one end and suck them up. ( A tip a guy from reptile shop told me)....I am really squweemish about crickets and cockroaches so chopping them up was a big no-no for me. so I moved on to a bean weevil colony. I picked mine up off ebay for a couple of quid and It has lasted well over 4 months and still going strong. You could also try feeding them squat maggots, which are the larvae of the house fly.

[James Box]

they grab their food in their chelicerae (fangs) and grind it up. while doing that they are coating it with digestive enzymes so that as they "chew", they are sucking up the liquefied nutrients from the prey item. so the size of the mouth doesn't matter
i had a couple of tiny iodius slings which i had to prekill for as i couldn't find microcrickets often. my only evidence it worked was that they grew...i never saw them eat til much much later when they had grown alot.

[christopher furlong]

Hi mark,
If you have trouble catching micro crickets try putting them in the refrigerator for a few minuits (no more then 15) This tends to slow them down for a short time and works a treat for me!I coax a few in to a small container then place this in the refrigerator.Dont place the whole tub of crickets in as constantly lowering the temperature cant be good for the longevity of the crickets.
Hope this helps
regards
chris

[Mark Shingleton]

ill try the refridgerator trick too, thanx

[Joanna Pendleton]

I do the fridge trick with all my crickets and it works a treat. Also just to say my little GBB sling only needed pin-head crickets when she was 2nd instar. Now she is 3rd instar and not even an inch and onto small crickets. They move up pretty quickly!
x