crickets + moulting spiders = very bad news

[garlicpickle]

Just a cautionary tale folks never to be complacent about leaving uneaten crickets in with slings.

I fed my 1" P. rufilata sling a cricket the other day which was slightly larger than normal. It didn't eat it, and a couple of times I tried to get it out of the spider's jar, but every time I tried, it hid behind the cork bark where I couldn't reach it. Last night I tried again (without success) and decided tonight I would remove the spider and the cork bark so I could get this cricket out in case the sling moulted.

Unfortunately I was a day too late and all that is left of my rufilata is its abdomen and a couple of legs. It was alive last night, so if only I hadn't left that cricket in there for one extra night, my rufie would still be alive now. I'm gutted - sometimes slings die, but this particular death is my fault.

Hopefully some of you will learn from my mistake.

[Freya Louise]

oh m8 thats horrible, these things happen tho, i had an experiance with a fox and a hutch door, and another time dropped a box on a rabbit and broke its spinal cord... v v bad but not much you can do in those situations.
am really sorry tho

[voyagerxp]

That is sad news indeed matey, i did not think crickets could do that much damage.

[Dan99]

Crickets are evil little buggers. Roaches dont munch on slings though because I have had many times when a sling had been molting with a little dubia in its pot.

[perthchickie]

So sorry to hear that, never realised a cricket would go for a sling

[Higgt4]

Sorry to hear that, I lost a B smithi sling the same way about 20 years ago, pissed me off a bit (didn't know much then).
Only got back into the hobby last year after seeing an OBT (that I bought) in my local pet shop, and then spending ANY spare time on furums learning as much as poo about the little buggers.
I now have over 80 spiders (mostly slings) covering 28 species.


edit - just read this back and realise I come across as showing off, what I meant was, don't let it affect you the way it did me, learn, and as you've done - pass this knowledge on to help us newbies.

[garlicpickle]

Originally Posted by perthchickie

So sorry to hear that, never realised a cricket would go for a sling

I guess it was hungry, and a moulting sling was just too tempting to resist

[Kyle T's]

i hope u stuck the cricket in the microwave

[garlicpickle]

Originally Posted by Kyle T's

i hope u stuck the cricket in the microwave

I fed it to my cambridgei - instant slaughter

[corpselight]

i made the same mistake once with a C crawshayi sling...found a few bits of it, that was it.
of course, i never caught the cricket in the act, and it's possible the sling died first, and then got eaten...but it's not worth the risk if it can be avoided!
sorry for the loss