Tapinauchenius violaceus sac...and maybe others

[DianeDFisher]

This will (hopefully) be my first successful sac. I would like to allow the sac to stay with mom until the spiderlings are partially grown. Am I correct to understand that when feeding mom (after the spiderlings reach 2nd instar) that she will kill the prey I offer and share it? I realize that there will be some cannibalism but this should cull out the weaker spiderlings? Both the male and female are mine so I don't have to "share" with anyone. How long can I leave all of the spiderlings in with mom? Is this something that can be done with all of my potential momma spiders? If breeding was successful, I have potential mom's of: (I also own/owned all of the males)
L. violaceops
S. calceatum
P. irminia
P. cambridgei
H. maculata (doubtful unless my male was much faster in the beginning than in the end)
These are all living in enclosures that will keep spiderlings from escaping. All potential mom's have been moved into a warmer (78F), dark, quiet room humidifed to 60%. Do you remove the sacs from mom because she may eat them and you are protecting ownership of the 50/50 male's share or are some species more prone to devouring their eggsacs than others. Sorry to ask so many questions. I am so excited about this and i want to do everything I can to end up with viable spiderlings. Anything you have to offer-suggestions or criticism will be gratefully accepted. Di

[mary walters]

This will (hopefully) be my first successful sac. I would like to allow the sac to stay with mom until the spiderlings are partially grown. Am I correct to understand that when feeding mom (after the spiderlings reach 2nd instar) that she will kill the prey I offer and share it? I realize that there will be some cannibalism but this should cull out the weaker spiderlings? Both the male and female are mine so I don't have to "share" with anyone. How long can I leave all of the spiderlings in with mom? Is this something that can be done with all of my potential momma spiders? If breeding was successful, I have potential mom's of: (I also own/owned all of the males)
L. violaceops
S. calceatum
P. irminia
P. cambridgei
H. maculata (doubtful unless my male was much faster in the beginning than in the end)
These are all living in enclosures that will keep spiderlings from escaping. All potential mom's have been moved into a warmer (78F), dark, quiet room humidifed to 60%. Do you remove the sacs from mom because she may eat them and you are protecting ownership of the 50/50 male's share or are some species more prone to devouring their eggsacs than others. Sorry to ask so many questions. I am so excited about this and i want to do everything I can to end up with viable spiderlings. Anything you have to offer-suggestions or criticism will be gratefully accepted. Di

Hi Di,
We always pull at the 6th week, sometimes we are too late and the nymph 2's emerge, at this stage they are taken away to be incubated, safest thing as my last irminia was seen hatching when I went out to work, by time I got back 5.1/2hrs the only ones left were the ones that got out of the sac before she ate them.
cambridgei are vitually bullet proof, had 1 sac eaten out of 7 in last year.
irminia as stated are a bit finnicky, unless it's just that one as I have a sac now with another I will soon know.
Sometimes a disturbance can trigger eating the sac, next door was drilling the wall and one of my darlingi ate hers next day.
Moms do not usually feed young, not that I have seen. But then mind are not left to that stage.
Hope this helps.

[DianeDFisher]

Thank you, Mary. I have read much of your great success over the past 12 months so your response is much appreciated. What do you do when you do not discover a sac at the time it is produced? Is there a method for determining how advanced a sac may be? Di

[mary walters]

Thanks Di. Just have to make an educated guess I'm afraid, like with 2 I have here, have to wait for them to hatch, can't see either of them can we Colin.......


There would be more but with pending house move we curtailed the breeding for a bit.

[Colin D Wilson]

I'm having a positive attitude Mary, they are there...just very well camoflaged by the spiders this time

With a few egg sacs i have had (that i have decided to pull) i've noticed a slight swelling or increase of size of the sac when they hatch into nymph 1.

[mary walters]

True Colin, the sacs do get bigger, bigger still if you leave them to nymph 2.

That was a text book mating of OBT's last night though wasn't it Colin????


That is the LAST mating now before we move..........

[Colin D Wilson]

That was a text book mating of OBT's last night though wasn't it Colin????

Certainly was...they had both seemed to have read the same book about it all there. Perfect !!!!

[DianeDFisher]

Heteroscodra maculata egg sac

Well, another sac to report and I defintely know the date it was made. Saturday my H. maculata female laid her first sac. I am so excited! It is so different from my other tarantula sacs that at first i wasn't sure what it was. I also have a question about my L. violaceopes (aka Cyriopagopus sp blue). She lives at the bottom of an inaccessible cork bark curl. She has lived with and eaten her mate (6 wks ago after 1 month of co-habitation). For the last week she has been removing the dirt form the bottom of her tube and dumping it in the outside of the cage and into the water bowl. I have moss on the outside dirt, so I can easily see what she is doing. Is it possible she is going to make a sac inside her cork tube after she cleans it out? I know there is an old exuvium still in there as well. Any idea of what's going on with her? Di