# How long should a sling burrow for?



## Juggernaut (Aug 10, 2008)

i have 4 slings atm, 2 going well and 2 i havent seen for close to a week, i know they can burrow after a shed and all were feeding well before they vanished. 
the species concerned are a.purpurea and b.auratum. do these guys normally burrow for ages? should i poke around or leave them to it?

Def not escaped before anyone asks! : victory:


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

Best to just leave them to it, they can burrow for quite a long time, I've had some burrowed for about 3-4 moults, until they can't fir down the hole any longer. :lol2:


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## Juggernaut (Aug 10, 2008)

vivalabam said:


> Best to just leave them to it, they can burrow for quite a long time, I've had some burrowed for about 3-4 moults, until they can't fir down the hole any longer. :lol2:


 cool thanks. i was getting a bit worried. should i be putting dead crix in then instead of live?


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

Juggernaut said:


> cool thanks. i was getting a bit worried. should i be putting dead crix in then instead of live?


I do, I always get worried of the cricket going down there and hurting the sling! Makes it easier for me to know if they are in pre moult then, as you can never see them. :lol2:


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## Juggernaut (Aug 10, 2008)

ive been reluctant to give them dead ones previously as i heard my emp scorp would take dead food and she wont go near it. she likes em wriggly! :lol2:


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

Juggernaut said:


> ive been reluctant to give them dead ones previously as i heard my emp scorp would take dead food and she wont go near it. she likes em wriggly! :lol2:


I've found the same with scorpions, I put a half dead cricket in with my little one, only have medium crickets, bit too big in all their feistyness! The scorp wasn't interested. Slings on the other hand are happy to eat dead food. : victory:


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## Juggernaut (Aug 10, 2008)

vivalabam said:


> I've found the same with scorpions, I put a half dead cricket in with my little one, only have medium crickets, bit too big in all their feistyness! The scorp wasn't interested. Slings on the other hand are happy to eat dead food. : victory:


Thanks for the info and help :2thumb:. i feel better about them now. its my 1st time with T's. Really enjoying them but they are confusing beasts!


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

Juggernaut said:


> Thanks for the info and help :2thumb:. i feel better about them now. its my 1st time with T's. Really enjoying them but they are confusing beasts!


They are at the beginning, but once you get used to their behaviour it becomes more normal, so don't worry! 

I was constantly asking questions when I got my first sling, she decided to be awkward and bury herself for about 2 months without even coming out, she sealed herself in. :lol2: Talk about worry!


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## Lucky Eddie (Oct 7, 2009)

Juggernaut, are you saying your A purpurea has burrowed?


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

Lucky Eddie said:


> Juggernaut, are you saying your A purpurea has burrowed?


mine has kinda burrowed, it's chucked dirt every where and webbed everything up. 

Although an actual burrow under ground does sound weird for an Avic, I assumed he meant the Brachys had burrowed, all of mine do it until they get to an inch or so.


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## Juggernaut (Aug 10, 2008)

Lucky Eddie said:


> Juggernaut, are you saying your A purpurea has burrowed?


yeah its the Avic, thats the one bothering me. not seen her for days. food is going missing but i cant see her. should i have a look? she did burrow after her 1st moult which scared us but she did re emerge, altho looking very weak


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## nunny (Jun 12, 2011)

Lucky Eddie said:


> Juggernaut, are you saying your A purpurea has burrowed?


Either that or its got out.i reckon.ihate it when I cant see my t,s l.o.l


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## ducks (Mar 28, 2010)

it's not uncommon for arboreal slings to burrow, I don't think? My a diversipes live on the lid of its pot, but the p irminia lived in a hole at the bottom of a sockweb for ages. Still does, sometimes.

I sometimes don't see my g pulchripes, which are juvies now, for months; the albop is a pet hole at all times, and the g pulchra sling spent several months buried, I think. All spiders are different. If the food is disappearing, I think you're safe. Even if it isn't, you are very probably safe anyway!


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## Lucky Eddie (Oct 7, 2009)

Juggernaut said:


> yeah its the Avic, thats the one bothering me. not seen her for days. food is going missing but i cant see her. should i have a look? she did burrow after her 1st moult which scared us but she did re emerge, altho looking very weak


Hmmmmm, strange IME.

Maybe it is looking for moisture / humidity?

Is there plenty of other cover in the tub? Fake leaves? sticks? cork?

I have found Avic slings would rather go upwards rather than down.


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## Lucky Eddie (Oct 7, 2009)

ducks said:


> it's not uncommon for arboreal slings to burrow, I don't think? the p irminia lived in a hole at the bottom of a sockweb for ages.


Agreed. I would expect it from Psalmos tho, and H macs and Encyocratella and Lampropelmas.................but not Avics.

It just 'seems' unusual behaviour for an Avic.


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## Juggernaut (Aug 10, 2008)

Lucky Eddie said:


> Hmmmmm, strange IME.
> 
> Maybe it is looking for moisture / humidity?
> 
> ...


its very moist, overmoist imo but the hydrometer says otherwise. there are several fake leaves but not much room for anything else as its just an old large morrisons soup pot. my other avic wont get off the lid which is why its puzzling me :S


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## Lucky Eddie (Oct 7, 2009)

Juggernaut said:


> the hydrometer says otherwise.


:gasp:

What type? Not a crappy dial jobby?


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

It may be too humid then, mines in a crappy pot and it dries out after a day, so mine is bone dry 6 days out of 7 (if I remember to water). It seems to be surviving(moulting, feeding, webbing) so I'm carrying on this way. :lol2:


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## Juggernaut (Aug 10, 2008)

Lucky Eddie said:


> :gasp:
> 
> What type? Not a crappy dial jobby?


nah its a digital one. i dunno, it might be the right humidity but im not 100 sure what it should look like. its quite misty and damp in there.


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## ducks (Mar 28, 2010)

that sounds too damp to me, though it's hard to tell from a description.

(Eddie, avics aren't all avics for much longer anyway! so - who knows.)


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## Lucky Eddie (Oct 7, 2009)

ducks said:


> that sounds too damp to me, though it's hard to tell from a description.
> 
> (Eddie, avics aren't all avics for much longer anyway! so - who knows.)


Agreed!.................on both counts!!!!!!!!


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## Juggernaut (Aug 10, 2008)

ducks said:


> that sounds too damp to me, though it's hard to tell from a description.
> 
> (Eddie, avics aren't all avics for much longer anyway! so - who knows.)


Ill try get a pic later. At work atm. It sounds too damp to me too


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## RandomDan (Oct 11, 2009)

I dont want to sound too down cus it could go either way, 
but i had a pair of versi's and one was the usual avic and made a hammoc at the top and stayed their, 
the other never really settled and i could see after a while it had dug a little trench (mine never lived in it though) 
unfortunatly this avic died after about a month of me owning it.
Im not saying yours will but this was my experiance!
If your doing everything you should be you can only wait and see really.


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## nunny (Jun 12, 2011)

I expected my gbb sling to stay near floor.but its webd the roof of its home.and stays in their.getting avics humidity and air flow correct is hard .too much humidity and you get mites.not enough is also not gud.i find it hard to get the correct temps and humidity in my avic enclosure.so hard to maintain it.


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

nunny said:


> I expected my gbb sling to stay near floor.but its webd the roof of its home.and stays in their.getting avics humidity and air flow correct is hard .too much humidity and you get mites.not enough is also not gud.i find it hard to get the correct temps and humidity in my avic enclosure.so hard to maintain it.


I'll have to disagree, I keep my avics pretty dry and both are fine... 

Although if they both die on me tomorrow, I shall make a public apology. :lol2:

Both have recently moulted in the last month and are back to eating. Although I do up the humidity a bit when they are due a moult. 

The are also both slings, one is about 2cm(had since BTS moulted twice) and the other is about 3.5cm(had since December, moulted 3 times) roughly, I'm all lost since my diary packed up on me!


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## RandomDan (Oct 11, 2009)

vivalabam said:


> I'll have to disagree, I keep my avics pretty dry and both are fine...
> 
> Although if they both die on me tomorrow, I shall make a public apology. :lol2:
> 
> ...


Same here, substrate is mostly dry, sprayed once or twice a week and LOTS of ventilation.
From all the reading ventilation seemed to be more important.


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## nunny (Jun 12, 2011)

vivalabam said:


> I'll have to disagree, I keep my avics pretty dry and both are fine...
> 
> Although if they both die on me tomorrow, I shall make a public apology. :lol2:
> 
> ...


Mines adult female..every thing I read on avics says high heat.high humidity.heat 25/28 humidity 80%..day.night temp 20/23..and 80 % humidity.


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

nunny said:


> Mines adult female..every thing I read on avics says high heat.high humidity.heat 25/28 humidity 80%..day.night temp 20/23..and 80 % humidity.


Mine are at room temp and dry. :blush: I forgot I have another avic lol! Sub adult, not sure if it's male or female, but that one is kept the same, room temp and dry. That's moulted a couple of times as well. :lol2: Never seen an apatite on a tarantula quite like Victors! :flrt:


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## nunny (Jun 12, 2011)

Yep ventilation is mega important.so like I say.thats why its so hard to maintain correct temp and humidity.read any book.look at any care sheet.they all say high temp and high humidity for avic..so your both saying that all the info on net and in books is wrong.maybe it is.


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## RandomDan (Oct 11, 2009)

nunny said:


> Yep ventilation is mega important.so like I say.thats why its so hard to maintain correct temp and humidity.read any book.look at any care sheet.they all say high temp and high humidity for avic..so your both saying that all the info on net and in books is wrong.maybe it is.


Im not saying that im just saying that from what iv found is that ventilation is most important, i do spray them fairly offen to ensure enough humidity.


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

nunny said:


> Yep ventilation is mega important.so like I say.thats why its so hard to maintain correct temp and humidity.read any book.look at any care sheet.they all say high temp and high humidity for avic..so your both saying that all the info on net and in books is wrong.maybe it is.


Definitely not, but we all keep in slightly different ways, we find things that works for us. 

I'm personally lazy, and as long as they are ok, I'll carry on being lazy, but if they ever showed signs of being distressed or unhappy, I would change the way I keep. As it goes, they are eating, moulting, webbing and pooping fine, so I'm guessing they are ok!

The way I do it has worked so far, so that's how I'll carry on. :lol2: If you find keeping them hotter and more humid is better, then that's the way that works for you. 

Also to be noted, the avics I have are usually recommended to be kept not as humid as some of the others.


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## nunny (Jun 12, 2011)

vivalabam said:


> Mine are at room temp and dry. :blush: I forgot I have another avic lol! Sub adult, not sure if it's male or female, but that one is kept the same, room temp and dry. That's moulted a couple of times as well. :lol2: Never seen an apatite on a tarantula quite like Victors! :flrt:


Ha ha top name victor,,mus admit better dry than hae mites


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## kris74 (May 10, 2011)

I have 6 versi from slings to large juvie and all are kept relatively dry as well. I don't like on line care sheets as they are mostly incorrect and full of misinformation. I spray weekly and feed weekly to 10 days, sometimes less to try to replicate the randomness of nature. I think an avic burrowing is cause for concern and I'd personally just whip it out and dry the substrate a bit if it's getting misted up and pretty wet. Can't hurt to try as long as you leave some web in their for the reintroduction, make it feel at home so to speak.


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## shell2909 (Jun 30, 2008)

kris74 said:


> I have 6 versi from slings to large juvie and all are kept relatively dry as well. I don't like on line care sheets as they are mostly incorrect and full of misinformation. I spray weekly and feed weekly to 10 days, sometimes less to try to replicate the randomness of nature. I think an avic burrowing is cause for concern and I'd personally just whip it out and dry the substrate a bit if it's getting misted up and pretty wet. Can't hurt to try as long as you leave some web in their for the reintroduction, make it feel at home so to speak.


Hey this is Juggernauts OH. The Avic hasn't webbed at all we've had it for about 2 weeks now. The other Avic has webbed and is at the top of her tub doing Avic things but this one hasn't done that.


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## bulkupman (Aug 16, 2011)

my slings burrow and i dont see them for ages, so far 3 weeks. i came home earlier than normally the other day and caught it having a explore, i bet i would of missed it if i didnt come home earlier!

its dug a little tunnel network and sits at the bottom, they are all well fed so i got nothing to worry about!


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## RandomDan (Oct 11, 2009)

bulkupman said:


> my slings burrow and i dont see them for ages, so far 3 weeks. i came home earlier than normally the other day and caught it having a explore, i bet i would of missed it if i didnt come home earlier!
> 
> its dug a little tunnel network and sits at the bottom, they are all well fed so i got nothing to worry about!


It depends what it is i guess, I have a tiny golden knee sling thats dug a nice pit but it sits at the edge waiting to be fed


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## shell2909 (Jun 30, 2008)

It was dead :'(
feel really sad, I really wanted a Ecuador purple pink toe, i got one then she died


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## nunny (Jun 12, 2011)

Oh bummer.ya going to try again with one.


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

That's a shame, sorry to hear this.


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## RandomDan (Oct 11, 2009)

shell2909 said:


> It was dead :'(
> feel really sad, I really wanted a Ecuador purple pink toe, i got one then she died


Im sorry to hear that!
If nothing else its learning but i know its still not nice!
Im sure you will have better luck in future just keep at it and you can succeed!


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## shell2909 (Jun 30, 2008)

Thanks guys.
Went to have a look on the spider shop but they don't have any of those ones for sale now


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## nunny (Jun 12, 2011)

This can happen with slings.aparentley avic slings are one of the hardest to bring on..good luck with future ones..have you tried spiderstore on classifieds on here.got my gbb sling off them .arived safe n sound..they normally have big list of slings


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## nunny (Jun 12, 2011)

Here you go one in stock
Virginia Cheeseman - Entomological Supplier - Spiders - Tarantulas - Small - Purple Pink Toe (Avicularia purpurea) Small


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## shell2909 (Jun 30, 2008)

nunny said:


> Here you go one in stock
> Virginia Cheeseman - Entomological Supplier - Spiders - Tarantulas - Small - Purple Pink Toe (Avicularia purpurea) Small


I've found an A.metallica on here that look nice so hopefully will get one of them


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## Juggernaut (Aug 10, 2008)

shell2909 said:


> I've found an A.metallica on here that look nice so hopefully will get one of them


Poor lil fella died  So we ordered the A. Metallica 

Also found the Flame Knee. Buried to the floor, chompin on sumthin


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## nunny (Jun 12, 2011)

Juggernaut said:


> Poor lil fella died  So we ordered the A. Metallica


Better luck with this one..at end of day.i reckon luck plays a big part with slings.i have 3 at mo .cant help butkeep checking them..


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## Juggernaut (Aug 10, 2008)

nunny said:


> Better luck with this one..at end of day.i reckon luck plays a big part with slings.i have 3 at mo .cant help butkeep checking them..


Hardly got a chance to be all purty like. More people keep Metallica's so we should be able to get more info on them and keep em alive!


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## RandomDan (Oct 11, 2009)

shell2909 said:


> I've found an A.metallica on here that look nice so hopefully will get one of them


When i was reading up about them i was told that if you got a juvi they are much more hardy!


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## Juggernaut (Aug 10, 2008)

RandomDan said:


> When i was reading up about them i was told that if you got a juvi they are much more hardy!


Yeah but more pricey tho


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## RandomDan (Oct 11, 2009)

Juggernaut said:


> Yeah but more pricey tho


Around £20 for avic Juvis


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## ex0tics (Jun 9, 2009)

I've never fed dead crickets unless I have the wrong sizes for them.
Just leave them to it!


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