# Slings and Bean Weevils



## Mutley.100 (Nov 3, 2008)

As some of you may know , I recently got myself 3 C.crayshawi slings from Mantis World . I was just looking on 'The Spidershop' and saw these bean Weevils and they are supposed to be good for slings . I'm feeding small crickets to the slings but I'm interested in these weevils as crickets are supposed to be able to harm spiders esp slings and other animals . Does anyone have any personal experience with these ?


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## gizzard (May 5, 2008)

yep! i use them! they have tonnes of advantages over crickets! just warm em up slightly (heat lamp for a few hours) and the sext day they will be crawling all over the place. and all my slings love them! great little critters!


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## lycanlord20 (Jul 11, 2008)

Jordan if your gunna say they have tonnes of advantages yu should probaby list them lol
Personally I just head crush a cricket or tiny dubia roach


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## iiisecondcreep (Oct 29, 2007)

I've just ordered a tub of these from the spidershop after being recommended them by someone on AP.

They only get to 4mm so they are the perfect size for teeny slings. 
They won't harm the sling, they only eat beans.
They won't burrow.
They're very easy to keep and will continue to breed.

The main advantage for me is they won't harm the sling, I am a big wuss and just can't bring myself to kill things.
Depends on the size of your sling though, the person who recommended them did say that they'd be too small for larger slings.


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## Toeboe (Dec 28, 2006)

I have used them and found they were great. They dont run like f!$k all over the place when you try to catch them like micro's. I had the same culture on the go for about 3 months, they just kept recreating. I even started splitting them off into diffent tubs. In fact I was wondering how many I was going to end up with, as I only had one sling eating them. I was keeping them quite happily in the garage, but sadly the first heavy frost we had just before xmas killed off the lot,,,arrhhhgggg


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## Scaley (Sep 25, 2007)

right good enough for me, im off to order a culture!!! pain in the arse trying to feed 7slings on them poxy micro crix!!! :devil:


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

I use these extensively - I never have much success in keeping crickets alive and the fact that these breed so easily is a big plus.

Unlike crickets, they don't smell horrible either.


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

I either crush a cricks head or i cut meal worms in half and all my slings will eat this way.


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

Scaley said:


> right good enough for me, im off to order a culture!!! pain in the arse trying to feed 7slings on them poxy micro crix!!! :devil:


My bean weevils just came today. They are really weeny. They would only be suitable for very small slings. A bigger sling would need several to make a decent meal. I moved them into a slightly bigger tub and put a few fresh beans in but I can see the existing beans have been burrowed into, so should have some more weevils hatching soon.


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

selina20 said:


> I either crush a cricks head or i cut meal worms in half and all my slings will eat this way.


cos i've only got 3 T's at the moment my crickets are lasting ages and are now far too big for my sling. I headcrushed one and left it in there for him to investigate but he didn't touch it, I think he was scared lol
He takes half a mealie, but I'd like him to have some live prey now and then (plus there's always the option of getting more slings now lol)


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## Spider Call (Mar 23, 2007)

I just bought some <_<
I do not do the killing insects thing D:

So yeah... Most of my babies have been living on waxies, as they are nice and soft they die easily even if the baby is tiny <_<


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## iiisecondcreep (Oct 29, 2007)

Spider Call said:


> I do not do the killing insects thing D:


Me either 

My bean weevils are arriving today (along with some other things) so I am stuck in waiting for the post. Bah.


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

Spider Call said:


> I just bought some <_<
> I do not do the killing insects thing <_<


I hate doing it, thats why I've bought the weevils. I'm glad I won't have to do any more squishing or cutting in half.


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## iiisecondcreep (Oct 29, 2007)

Mine have just arrived.... they're kinda cute


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

they are quite cute! I put mine in a microcrix tub (one without air holes) with some new beans. I'm gonna have to make airholes with a pin I think, they look like little potential escapees to me.
Though I guess even if they did escape, they wouldn't live long seeing as the adult ones don't eat. Unless they got into my kitchen cupboard and found my bag of beans - eek!


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

I've seen the adults eat - they do eat grains and beans, so escape could be a problem if your house is warm.

i keep them in a cricket tub with about 1/2" of beans in, and they breed like crazy.


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## iiisecondcreep (Oct 29, 2007)

Transferred mine into a cricket tub, also fed my teeny tiny slings.
The 2 thrixo babies were not to be seen(as usual) one of the emilia ran away (as usual) but the other emilia grabbed it straight away (as usual!)

Yummy yummy bean weevil in my tummy!


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

The results so far

Spider 0
Bean weevils 2

I had a feeling it might happen. :lol2:I put 2 in the crik tub with my sling, and almost immediately they walked up the side of the box, along the underneath of the lid and out of the air holes I'd made in the lid. So they are captured and back in their bean box for now. I have no crix tub lids without drilled holes, but got some more mealworms coming tomorrow, so I can swap the lid for one without holes, or just make pin holes, then the weevils can meet their end mwahahaha


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## Scaley (Sep 25, 2007)

i ordered some today so i just gota wait for mine! might be here by saturday but im not holding my breath!


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

Scaley said:


> i ordered some today so i just gota wait for mine! might be here by saturday but im not holding my breath!


well they are little Houdinis Scaley, so make sure the lid is on tight. I'm thinking of seeing if they can walk on glass, if not then i will keep them in a glass jar


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

garlicpickle said:


> well they are little Houdinis Scaley, so make sure the lid is on tight. I'm thinking of seeing if they can walk on glass, if not then i will keep them in a glass jar


hmmm.......they can walk up glass. definitely a tight-fitting lid needed for whatever you put them in.


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## Scaley (Sep 25, 2007)

garlicpickle said:


> well they are little Houdinis Scaley, so make sure the lid is on tight. I'm thinking of seeing if they can walk on glass, if not then i will keep them in a glass jar





garlicpickle said:


> hmmm.......they can walk up glass. definitely a tight-fitting lid needed for whatever you put them in.


well il be keeping them in my newly built spider rack! thats on top of my vivs in my lounge, so unless the weevils can get to my kitchen for food from my lounge, escapes should be ok? shouldn't they? :blush:


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

They're harmless enough, I don't suppose they'd live long anyway. I think the adult weevils just live long enough to breed and that's it (a couple of weeks or so)


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## patsyking (Dec 28, 2007)

I was talking to people in a pet shop today and they said something about the beans in the shops have been heat treated,I think they said, to stop the weavils getting at them and would be no good for food for them. If this is right and the weavils multiply and the food supply they come with is finished how can the offspring feed?


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

patsyking said:


> I was talking to people in a pet shop today and they said something about the beans in the shops have been heat treated,I think they said, to stop the weavils getting at them and would be no good for food for them. If this is right and the weavils multiply and the food supply they come with is finished how can the offspring feed?


They might have meant that the beans you buy in the supermarket have been heat treated to kill off any weevil eggs which might have been on them? Nobody wants to buy a bag of blackeye beans from Asdas and find things hatching out of them:devil: I used to work as a cook in a hospital and we'd get 25kg sacks of flour delivered, and sometimes they had weevils in and the whole sack had to be dumped.


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

I use beans from tesco and they are fine, the beetles have established a breeding colony (i've had them approx. 2 months).


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## Scaley (Sep 25, 2007)

i got my bean weevils today! only ordered yesterday! happy days! there are bloody loads of them in there already, hope my slings are going to do some quick eating! lol but i think if you keep them cool they dont hatch as quick?


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