Sling molting question

[Steph]

Hello, it's been a few weeks since I checked in. About a month ago I got a Brachypelma smithi sling (about 3/4" in size) and we've been getting along well. She (I know it's too early to tell, but I'm hoping its a female) molted about 3 days ago and all seems to have gone well during that transformation. My first question is: how many days should I wait before I offer her a fruit fly? I know freshly molted T's need time for their new outer skin to toughen up before it's safe to offer them a prey item, but I'm not sure how long the waiting period should be.
Another thing is, I've got the sling in a sling-sized enclosure from I got from Jaime's Tarantulas. It's about 2.75" square by 4 1/2" tall and the sling has dug her burrow into the coconut bark substrate in such a way that for me to get to her shed skin to remove it, I'd have to very carefully pour the substrate out onto a newspaper (or whatever) and the poor spiderling would come tumbling after. I just don't think, for her sake, that'd be a very safe thing to do. The sling has taken the shed skin and sort of tucked it into the substrate wall of her burrow, so it seems to be out of her way. I'd just as soon not traumatize her by doing this, so I'm inclined to leave things as they are. It's gonna be enough of an undertaking when it comes time to move her into the next-sized bigger enclosure. How do you guys feel about this?

 

[Sabeth]

Hello, Steph...(my name's Steph, too! )

About 5 days after the molt, try a fruit fly (or a pinhead cricket, you can kill it first if you think it's too big). Usually they don't take too long to accept food. If your sling doesn't eat it, take it out after a few hours and try again in a few days.

My A. geniculata sling also dug deep burrows and molted in them. Is the burrow up against the cage so you can see into it? If yes, you can go straight into the top of the burrow, over the molt, with a pair of tweezers, grasp the molt, and come back out. If you're careful and the substrate is well-tamped, you should be able to get in and out leaving just a little hole, which the T can patch up if he wants to. If you can't see to grab the molt, then yes, you could dig your way in, but then of course a good portion of the burrow would be demolished. Given that the disturbance only occurs as often as the molting does, this probably wouldn't be a big deal. As far as I know, though, leaving the molt there doesn't harm anything, either. Plus, tarantulas often take it out themselves and deposit it outside the burrow, as they do with debris.

I would love to see a pic of your little smithi! I've never seen a baby Redknee since I got my girl when she was already 3 inches. Good luck and enjoy *her*!!! Hoping you get a female.

 

[Steph]

Hi Steph, thanks so much for the suggestions you gave. Yesterday I noticed Sophie (that's her name) had, in the previous 24-hour period, done some interesting excavation in her burrow. (That'd be about 3 1/2 days post molt). She'd completely widened the entire entrance to the borrow, along with the tunnel leading down deeper into the borrow. I was impressed. It also occurred to me that if she felt good enough to move all that substrate around, she's probably about ready for her first post-molt snack. I have to be gone for about half the day, so I figure that sometime this evening or tomorrow morning, I'll give her a fruit fly.
As for reaching the skin she shed, I have an 8-inch pair of tongs, but because of the chunk of bark hot glued to the side of the enclosure I can't come down from the top to grab it. So I'll keep an eye on what she does with it, and go from there. Thanks again, good to meet another spider fanatic