Bean Weevil for slings

[Gizalba]

Hi,

Someone on here suggested that bean weevil is good for slings and another (I think) suggested cutting up meal-worms for them and that they keep quite a while in the fridge. Thanks very much for these suggestions - I am still trying to decide! As my micro crickets are causing issues (not being able to keep them in the enclosure long in case they disappear as they're so small, then attack the spiderling).

I am not keen on the meal-worm idea as worms creep me out, and I especially don't want live ones in my fridge

With bean weevils - is it ok to leave them in with the spiderling regardless of whether the beetle gets eaten? I.e. will they not bite a moulting sling? I can imagine them disappearing quick too and I don't want to prod around the enclosure trying to find the livefood to retrieve it the next day in case I hurt the sling or ruin its home set-up.

I also worry with leaving the bean weevil in, once it gets lost, whether uneaten ones would die and attract mould/decay like other dead insects left in?

 

[Oursapoil]

Just my two cents as they are much more knowledgeable people on this forum, for the smallest of my slings I was using wingless fruit flies (a culture last a little while and cost between $10-$15) or I would take the smallest of my dubias and after removing the head I would pull out the legs for the slings to scavenge. Often they wouldn't touch the dubia itself (I would remove it the next morning) but I would see all the legs gone after a few days.

 

[ilovebrachys]

Hi,

Someone on here suggested that bean weevil is good for slings and another (I think) suggested cutting up meal-worms for them and that they keep quite a while in the fridge. Thanks very much for these suggestions - I am still trying to decide! As my micro crickets are causing issues (not being able to keep them in the enclosure long in case they disappear as they're so small, then attack the spiderling).

I am not keen on the meal-worm idea as worms creep me out, and I especially don't want live ones in my fridge

With bean weevils - is it ok to leave them in with the spiderling regardless of whether the beetle gets eaten? I.e. will they not bite a moulting sling? I can imagine them disappearing quick too and I don't want to prod around the enclosure trying to find the livefood to retrieve it the next day in case I hurt the sling or ruin its home set-up.

I also worry with leaving the bean weevil in, once it gets lost, whether uneaten ones would die and attract mould/decay like other dead insects left in?

Bean weevils are a great feeders for slings.. I've recommended them before along with mealworms lol, we've never had any problems using bean weevils and they give the added advantage of being a food source that a tiny sling can hunt
I get what you mean about mealworms creeping you out when I first bought some I couldn't bear to touch them as they resembled maggots.. But over time you realise they are not so bad you don't have to keep them in the fridge though just somewhere cool and they still last for ages

 

[Gizalba]

Bean weevils are a great feeders for slings.. I've recommended them before along with mealworms lol, we've never had any problems using bean weevils and they give the added advantage of being a food source that a tiny sling can hunt
I get what you mean about mealworms creeping you out when I first bought some I couldn't bear to touch them as they resembled maggots.. But over time you realise they are not so bad you don't have to keep them in the fridge though just somewhere cool and they still last for ages

Thanks a lot for that info! Yeah I couldn't remember whether those ideas were both you or not Yes I think it is the 'maggot-ness' that creeps me out. Keeping them somewhere cool but away from my food is a good idea.

 

[ilovebrachys]

Thanks a lot for that info! Yeah I couldn't remember whether those ideas were both you or not Yes I think it is the 'maggot-ness' that creeps me out. Keeping them somewhere cool but away from my food is a good idea.

The bean weevils are so easy to keep to they don't need food or water just keep them in a container with black eye beans (a starter culture normally comes with some already) and they just keep themselves ticking over.. I've ordered them from The spider shop or Northern reptiles.. You'll get used to the mealworms eventually

 

[m0lsx]

I brought a small culture of bean weevils from ebay earlier this year, they took a while to get going. Certainly a lot longer than I had expected. But I now have three tubs of them & really need to move a couple of them on.

I mainly use bean weevils with small mantids, jumping spiders etc.

 

[m0lsx]

Just to add, if you are thinking of using bean weevils or fruit flies, could I suggest you invest in one of Bugzarre's insect pooters, they make feeding with both so much easier.

You suck into the shorter pipe which has a filter on it & draw the weevils etc into the jar, they only cost a couple of pounds & just make using weevils, which fly, or flightless fruit flies so much easier to use.

Bugzarre sells direct & via ebay.

https://bugzarre.co.uk/epages/950002515.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/950002515/Products/E1

 

[Phil]

Micro crickets is also a good source for the tiny slings as they are small enough to be hunted in the same way as bean weevils. Down side with all crickets is the shelf life so unless you have a large collection of slings, the longer living bean weevils or cut up prey, is best