Day 4: Thoughts About Naming, Feeding and Sling Keeping

So I have officially named my slings:

B. smithi (Isis)

A. unnamed (Tank)

A. Chalcodes (Serj)

Still no name for the female Hisser,  Sorry little buddy!!

Now that the name game is over, I am still a little nervous about feeding.  I have been looking across the web for ideas, and the term “Maggot” has come up quite a bit.  Never thought I’d be googling maggots…but if they keep my little ones happy, so be it.

I just hope that they remain happy, healthy, and ALIVE.  I am still a little sad over the loss of my male hisser.

New Spiderlings! (and some other goodies too!!)

Today I brought home 3 new slings!  An Aphonopelma (unnamed) “Davis Mountain Rusty”~who sits at a stunning 1/2″, an Alphonopelma Chalcodes (Arizona Blonde) who measured in at a whopping 1/4″, and last but not least, a Brachypelma smithi that comes in first place at an extraordinary 3/4″!!!!!

Now, these may not seem like very big tarantulas, but rest assured, they are certainly larger than the 1/8” slings I saw huddled in a cup at The Invert Shop.

David, the owner/keeper/feeder/breeder/builder/handler/temperature moderator/roach shipper and egg sack baby sitter was kind enough to spend a couple of hours going over his various species, and many roles as an online invertebrate dealer.  I had the privilege to see his shed-errr…shop full of critters that make up his hobby.

Everywhere I looked there were boxes and keepers and tubs and tanks and cups full of invertebrates lazily awaiting their next meal of captive bred cockroaches and other crawling goodness.

Looking at his shop almost made me embarrassed as I nervously went over the various species I had at home.  “An avicularia-Pink Toe, and a G. Rosea.”  2 Tarantulas, 2 tanks.  No need to label, as they look nothing alike-and no need to devote a whole room to them as their 10 gallon tanks take up little more than 3/4 of my livingroom desk.

I felt more like a wishful-thinker, instead of a full blown hobbyist.

After about 2 hours with David, all that changed and I am now a bit richer in knowledge, and a whole lot more excited as there is an experienced keeper not far from my home.  I am sure there will be many trips to the Invert Shop in the near future, or at least a few emails with progressive Tarantula photos, and the occasional plea for help.

I am now up 3 tarantulas, 2 Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches, and a colony of feeders.

I am pretty confident in my ability to keep 3″ tarantulas alive….  so now what am I supposed to do with slings????

I guess that I will be figuring it out as I grow right along with them.

Tomorrow’s challenge:

FROM ONE CUP TO ANOTHER-WITHOUT LOSING A SLING

My new little one’s are in need of a bit more space, so we will see how it goes.