# How can you tell if your 1cm sling is actually eating?



## Eresin (Nov 18, 2013)

Hey all,

Back in mid-November I got a 1cm B. Smithi sling. It hasn't molted yet, though I expect it must surely be due one soon?

Anyway I pop in either a dead mealworm or a cricket leg and I always have to take it out a day or two later. 
I've seen my sling sitting on top of the food before but because it's so small I can't actually tell if it's eating anything.

I assume at that size they maybe just suck the juices out, or should I be expecting it to actually devour the food and leave nothing behind?

I'm not particularly worried as I know they are slow growers etc and they can fast for ages but was just curious.


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## PeterUK (Jun 21, 2008)

Ive never understood why people use cricket legs :gasp:
If the sling is fat then it is eating.
Try crushing the head of a #2 cricket and drop that in : victory:


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## Eresin (Nov 18, 2013)

PeterUK said:


> Ive never understood why people use cricket legs :gasp:
> If the sling is fat then it is eating.
> Try crushing the head of a #2 cricket and drop that in : victory:


Eh cos I have large crickets for my sub-adult G. Rosea so they are too big for my sling.

I wouldn't say my sling is fat, or thin for that matter.


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## PeterUK (Jun 21, 2008)

At the moment i have around 120-ish brachy slings plus 300 slings of other species. 
ALL get head crushed #2 or #3 brown crickets, all are growing and moulting regularly. The results speak for themselves : victory:


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## PeterUK (Jun 21, 2008)

Why are the crickets too large for your sling. ? 
Just try it :whistling2: or even cut the cricket in half and feed the abdomen end.


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## herper147 (Feb 7, 2009)

Thats what I always did, just tear a cricket in half and drop it in no matter what size it is its no harm to the tiny sling. Its just not very nice having to pull a cricket apart


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## David VB (Nov 3, 2013)

Get smaller crickets and feed them alive… If you want pets, you need to get proper feeding too.


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## Eresin (Nov 18, 2013)

David VB said:


> Get smaller crickets and feed them alive… If you want pets, you need to get proper feeding too.


I don't really like that you are implying I'm not looking after my Ts. I had large crickets for my G.Rosea and mealworms for my sling, it's just sometimes I give the sling a cricket leg.

I was simply asking in the case of the sling, because it doesn't devour the food completely, how do I know it's eaten anything at all.

I am disappointed to have come across this hostility and get the impression i'm being looked down upon. I came here for help, not for this.


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## philfish66 (Dec 2, 2013)

don't take it bad my friend some people on here are not to helpful. but I think your doing ok but if your worried about your little T then find a fisherman and ask him for some squots they are the little maggots they use if you go to a fishing shop you can get them there but you will not need so many. if you keep them in an outside shed they will last longer in the very cold. also when they change you can feed th flies to them as wel but see if you can just get a few as they only sell them in half pints and pints. feed one or 2 to the little T. hope this helps 

phil


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## herper147 (Feb 7, 2009)

philfish66 said:


> don't take it bad my friend some people on here are not to helpful. but I think your doing ok but if your worried about your little T then find a fisherman and ask him for some squots they are the little maggots they use if you go to a fishing shop you can get them there but you will not need so many. if you keep them in an outside shed they will last longer in the very cold. also when they change you can feed th flies to them as wel but see if you can just get a few as they only sell them in half pints and pints. feed one or 2 to the little T. hope this helps
> 
> phil


Just out of curiosity is your name Phil Fish or did you name it after the guy that made Fez?

Plus I didnt know you could feed those sorts of maggots, thought they were pumped with chemiclas


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## Poxicator (Nov 14, 2007)

the coloured maggots are dyed, so avoid those.

Ray Gabriel almost religiously uses maggots to feed his slings.


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## philfish66 (Dec 2, 2013)

squots have no chemicals in them as they are white. it the coloured ones you don't want to feed them. only feed them one or 2 a month to little slings its just for you to see if they are feeding and keeps them alive till they are eaing crushed heads lol ive never tried to feed them long term. and my name is Philip Fish yes
:2thumb:
phil


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## Adam B Jones (Jan 17, 2011)

I always used to feed cricket legs years back when I only had a couple of slings - B. smithi and B. emelia, and they grew on fine - Also I was lucky because the pet shop I went to/worked at sold individual crickets which I used for my larger LP sling. There's lots of more readily available options for tiny prey items nowadays, so I tend to mix it up a bit especially as I have more spiders to justify buying boxes of various prey. I used to have my first slings in film cases, so the only way to tell if they had been eating was that the abdomens increased in size. But whatever you feed them, if you have them in a clear container and look very closely you can see from a side view if the spider is making contact with the food item, plus they hold a certain "hunched"stance when feeding which you come to recognize over time, that's noticeable even with the tiny ones. Also I'd say if you see it standing over the prey for long periods of time, I'd consider it unlikely that it _isn't_ eating them so it's probably all good


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## PeterUK (Jun 21, 2008)

Poxicator said:


> the coloured maggots are dyed, so avoid those.
> 
> .





philfish66 said:


> squots have no chemicals in them as they are white.* it the coloured ones you don't want to feed them*.



There is nothing wrong with the coloured maggots these days unlike in the 80's and 90's when the dyes was linked to cancer. The colouring used today is human grade food dye.




philfish66 said:


> only feed them one or 2 a month to little slings its just for you to see if they are feeding and keeps them alive till they are eaing crushed heads lol ive never tried to feed them long term.


Feeding maggots as a long term food is perfectly OK and if you go fishing they can be a almost free source of food for your spiders of all ages and sizes.


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## NikDan (Aug 31, 2013)

No offence to phil but id stick to mealworms, small crickets or nymph roaches. Your sling wont be able to eat a mealworm if you take the mealworm out and its dead look for a small hole or 2 it should have went black around the outside. This means your sling has killed it and sucked some of the juices out enough to last it. If you find the mealworms are 2 big try mini mealworms and if there putting up a fight cut off the heads this sounds gruesome but its always done the trick for me or try small crickets just make sure to take them out after a day incase he is indeed just pre moult and not wanting to eat at the moment.


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## PeterUK (Jun 21, 2008)

Eresin said:


> I don't really like that you are implying I'm not looking after my Ts.





Eresin said:


> I am disappointed to have come across this hostility and get the impression i'm being looked down upon. I came here for help, not for this.



Congratulations !!! : victory:

You are the first newbie of the year to start with the aggressive whinging when answers to your questions dont agree with what you want. :no1:

This happens on a fairly frequent basis so dont worry too much, hopefully you will grow up and realise that people dont always know what you want to hear and will tell you what they think or what they know through experience. 

You might have noticed that David VB is from Belgium and so English probably isnt his first language, dont you think a little lee way should be given if this is true ?


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## dragon's den (Oct 6, 2010)

PeterUK said:


> Congratulations !!! : victory:
> 
> You are the first newbie of the year to start with the aggressive whinging when answers to your questions dont agree with what you want. :no1:
> 
> ...


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## Eresin (Nov 18, 2013)

Adam B Jones said:


> I always used to feed cricket legs years back when I only had a couple of slings - B. smithi and B. emelia, and they grew on fine - Also I was lucky because the pet shop I went to/worked at sold individual crickets which I used for my larger LP sling. There's lots of more readily available options for tiny prey items nowadays, so I tend to mix it up a bit especially as I have more spiders to justify buying boxes of various prey. I used to have my first slings in film cases, so the only way to tell if they had been eating was that the abdomens increased in size. But whatever you feed them, if you have them in a clear container and look very closely you can see from a side view if the spider is making contact with the food item, plus they hold a certain "hunched"stance when feeding which you come to recognize over time, that's noticeable even with the tiny ones. Also I'd say if you see it standing over the prey for long periods of time, I'd consider it unlikely that it _isn't_ eating them so it's probably all good


Thank you.


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## Eresin (Nov 18, 2013)

Adam has answered my question so no need to further this thread.


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

Cricket drumsticks hold near enough no nutritional value whatsoever. I would go with the maggot route or invest in smaller prey tbh


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## Mr Mister (Oct 12, 2011)

Eresin said:


> Hey all,
> 
> Back in mid-November I got a *1cm B. Smithi sling*. It hasn't molted yet, though I expect it must surely be due one soon?
> 
> ...


 

Same as the few I have.

What do they get? Size 2 cricket, usually alive. If they eat it they eat it, if they don't - tough.

In terms of "remains", yes there would be some, but small of course. Sometimes you may or may not see the remains.


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## David VB (Nov 3, 2013)

Eresin said:


> I don't really like that you are implying I'm not looking after my Ts. I had large crickets for my G.Rosea and mealworms for my sling, it's just sometimes I give the sling a cricket leg.
> 
> I was simply asking in the case of the sling, because it doesn't devour the food completely, how do I know it's eaten anything at all.
> 
> I am disappointed to have come across this hostility and get the impression i'm being looked down upon. I came here for help, not for this.


Hey mate,

I'm not implying anything, neither had any intention the be hostile or looking down on you. Just gave what was in my opinion the best solution. I apologize if it was harsh or anything.


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## Adam B Jones (Jan 17, 2011)

selina20 said:


> Cricket drumsticks hold near enough no nutritional value whatsoever. I would go with the maggot route or invest in smaller prey tbh


I wouldn't dispute this, although there must be enough nutrition for tiny slings or mine would never have grown and would have died. I'm not saying it's the best option available, but it did my two slings fine until they were big enough to handle the smallest crickets I could get at the time, by which point, I had more spiders to feed...

To the op, the simplest solution is to buy lots and lots of tarantulas, that way, the food won't outgrow/die/pupate before they can be fed :2thumb:


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