C. crawshayi update

[Austin S. Spears]

The C. crawshayi I mated back in November has blocked her burrow off with nothing but silk. She has been silking up the insides of her chamber since last night. Right now it seems as though she has started making a wall of silk, as well as a huge pad on the ground underneath her... Oh boy, please lay me a sac! Here is the thing, I'd be more than happy to pull it on day one, NOT cut it open though. I'd rotate the sac 4 times a day until it hits day 20, cut it open, pour the eggs into the incubator, etc. Or should I leave it with mom? I've lost two sacs so far, I cannot afford to lose another, especially one from this species.

[Toran Tanner]

I's a idiot. gooded luck matey

[mary walters]

I wish you all the luck in the world with it, keep us posted.

[Clinton Hogben]

Good luck with this egg sac Austin hope it goes well for you and the spidys

Just a quick question about egg sacs though
With a "T" the egg sac needs rotating on a regular basis I can understand the logic in this as its the same for most eggs of most species, but why when i see hundreds of egg sacs from most of our common garden type spiders webbed up against my window frames etc (if the missus doesn't spot them first when she cleans the windows) dont the same rules apply. These cant be rotated by the spider as they are stuck firmly in situ where laid and they seem to hatch ok without any motion at all for the duration.Whats the difference

just curious??

[wesley flower]

good luck hope all goes ok

[Guy Tansley]

Fingers crossed for a healthy egg-sac! IMO I wouldn't remove the eggsac too soon. There's a theory that the sperm needs time to fully fertilise the eggs and any movement may prevent this process. As C. crawshayi produce a fixed egg-sac, I wouldn't be too worried about rotation, just remember that the sac will be suspended in a hammock-style web and so not be in contact with the ground. If you decide to remove the sac, try and replicate this with your artificial set-up.

[Austin S. Spears]

Thanks Guy, and you are right! Here are the results!






I plan on taking the sac out on 4/4/08. That should be enough time. Heres the problem. She burrowed down 8" against the glass then cut it right for about 10-11", so this sac is going to be VERY hard to get. What are the chances of it surviving if I leave it with her the whole time?

[Colin D Wilson]

If you follow the climatic conditions of the natural habitat as close as you can, offer food the way that an opportunistic hunter thrives, then the chances of surviving will be as close to natural as possible (of course minus the threat of the sac being eaten or destroyed by other factors)
I'll go with 90% it goes full term, 10% she eats it herself (through no fault of your own)

the best of luck with this Austin

Colin

[Austin S. Spears]

I think I'm going to leave it with her until they hatch. Obviously I've done pretty good on humidity and temp, so I"ll throw some roaches in there every now and then, keep misting the tank daily, and keep the temp around 80-85.
Here are some pics I just took to help you better see thee sac. It just amazes me how she did it!

[Austin S. Spears]

Here is the link to the breeding report if anyone is interested:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=119879

[Austin S. Spears]

Fingers crossed for a healthy egg-sac! IMO I wouldn't remove the eggsac too soon. There's a theory that the sperm needs time to fully fertilise the eggs and any movement may prevent this process. As C. crawshayi produce a fixed egg-sac, I wouldn't be too worried about rotation, just remember that the sac will be suspended in a hammock-style web and so not be in contact with the ground. If you decide to remove the sac, try and replicate this with your artificial set-up.

Mr. Tansley, did you feed your female while she was tending to her sac?

[Guy Tansley]

Nice result, Austin! The key is environmental as always, try and keep the conditions the same as when they were laid - the spider wouldn't have laid a sac if the conditions were wrong. IME the female remained with the burrow entrance plugged with substrate so I took this as an indication she wasn't interested in feeding. See if yours appears above ground and then offer food but without disturbing the container too much.

[Mikhail F. Bagaturov]

Hi Austin!
This is really a great rezult. As Guy as a person who spend a lot of time analizing and trying to bred this species I believe You should follow his advice.
All You need is that the sac is viable, but in most cases I've heard there were no developing of the egs...
Anyway, accurate description of all details and Your suggestions might help in further breedings!
Good luck with it!!!!

[James Box]

good luck Austin! getting a sac from this species is fairly impressive to begin with, but i know you've had some frustrations with undeveloped eggs, etc, so i really hope it goes well this time!

[Austin S. Spears]

Thanks guys!


Another quick update! The sac is still hanging, but here is something I found rather interesting. she rotates the sac by hanging from the ceiling, grabbing it with her front legs, and literally bounces it up and down. Here are some recent pics from a minute ago while feeding:

Here she is cleaning up a bit


Now "rotaing"