Help, Unexpected Eggsac!

[Craig Mackay]

Hi everyone, good to see the forum's back up again
I was doing my spider rounds this evening and I checked on my A. versicolor and noticed it was clutching what looks to me like an egg sac. The only thing is though that I haven't mated her. I got her in November last year and she's made the sac either today or yesterday. Is it possible that she was mated before I bought her? I thought it seemed too long ago for that to happen but I'm not experienced with the ins and outs of egg sacs (this is my first one, eek!). Is it likely to be one of the phantom sacs I've read about. I had noticed that her abdomen has seemed rather plump recently though and she's been rather secretive. I'm just about to email the person I bought it from to see if they know if she has been mated but she never said anything when I bought her. Here's a link to a picture of it but it's quite poor quality but you can still make it out I hope:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/craigmackay/3442315317/

So now come the questions, lol. How long should I leave the sac with the mum? At want point do I remove it and incubate it if at all and when should I open it? Do I need to adjust the temp/humidity and feed her any more/less? For now I'm just leaving her as undisturbed as possible.

Thanks for your help
Craig

[Ian Hall]

Unfortunately I have no knowledge of this subject but it does sound very interesting I shall be following this thread.

[Andy Wood]

Congratulations Craig,
If the female seems happy with the conditions in her enclosure
there's no reason the eggsac wont be. If you decide to take it away you can
leave it in the enclosure safe in a container with mesh on the top. hopefully
she was mated prior to you getting her, fingers crossed for you...

AndyZoo

[Nicola Dolby]

Hi Craig, great news! Keep the conditions in her tank as normal and all should be ok. Are you going to leave the sac with mom or incubate it?

[Stanley A. Schultz]

... I checked on my A. versicolor and noticed it was clutching what looks to me like an egg sac. ...

Leave the eggsac with the mother. Avicularias are well known to be perfect mothers.

If she had been mated before you got her, and if she has not molted since she was mated, the chances are pretty good that the eggs will develop. She'll take care of the babies just fine for some time. If you're lucky you'll even be able to witness her regurgitating fluids to feed them!

The babies may be kept together almost indefinitely as long as they're fed well. Avicularias are also well known as semi-social tarantulas. If and when you notice that there has been a little cannibalism (e.g., you see it in action or the numbers of slings gets smaller) you should separate them to individual quarters.

If she had not been mated or if she has molted since then, the eggs won't develop. She's thrown you a dud. Let her keep it anyway. When the non-developing eggs begin to spoil she will either eat the eggsac or discard it.

Some people have all the luck!

[lynn mawdesley]

Congrats Craig what a pleasant surprise !
I got thrown in at the deep end too which my WC purchased Avic avic who actually laid 5 days after receiving her
In my case the sac got pulled as she was in a cereal container and i feared trying to fix some mesh around might of disturbed her too much as there was drilled holes in her container the slings would have escaped.
Im now just waiting for them to moult into slings as the nymphs have completely darkened all over.
Best of luck with it Craig you can never have enough versi's

Lynn

[Craig Mackay]

Thanks for the all the replies guys but it seems she has made a phantom egg sac. I got an email back from the seller and she said that she hasn't been anywhere near a male and she definately hasn't since she's been in my care. I'll leave the sac with her though anyway. As stanley says she'll eat it at somepoint. A bit gutted but it's just made me think about getting hold of a male now to do it for real.

Cheers
Craig

[Craig Mackay]

Congrats Craig what a pleasant surprise !
I got thrown in at the deep end too which my WC purchased Avic avic who actually laid 5 days after receiving her
In my case the sac got pulled as she was in a cereal container and i feared trying to fix some mesh around might of disturbed her too much as there was drilled holes in her container the slings would have escaped.
Im now just waiting for them to moult into slings as the nymphs have completely darkened all over.
Best of luck with it Craig you can never have enough versi's

Lynn

Lol, thats the deepest end of the deepest pool!
Sounds like the nypmh's are coming along nicely. Well done!

[lynn mawdesley]

Lol, thats the deepest end of the deepest pool!
Sounds like the nypmh's are coming along nicely. Well done!

Thankyou although some of the credit has got to go to Steve McIntyre he has helped also
I would certainley try getting hold of a male i managed to find one from Arachnophiles for my versi and now just waiting for her to produce a sac.

Lynn

[Rebecca Norris]

Did she moult with the person she came from before or is there a possibility she's wild caught and it could therefore be fertile?

Treat it as a fertile eggsac for now. I kept my female at about 75F and misted her tank weekly and the spiderlings emerged after 10 weeks with mum.

[Craig Mackay]

Thankyou although some of the credit has got to go to Steve McIntyre he has helped also
I would certainley try getting hold of a male i managed to find one from Arachnophiles for my versi and now just waiting for her to produce a sac.

Lynn

Great stuff Lynn! Fingers crossed for that to go well. I put up an ad on a a couple of sites but not had any luck yet. I keep my eyes peeled though and you never know, I may get lucky at the BTS expo.

Did she moult with the person she came from before or is there a possibility she's wild caught and it could therefore be fertile?

Treat it as a fertile eggsac for now. I kept my female at about 75F and misted her tank weekly and the spiderlings emerged after 10 weeks with mum.

Yeah, she moulted in October 08 with the previous owner and I bought her in November. The sellers as confused as me as she says she never got a sniff of a male in her care. I'm on the look out for a male now so hopefully I'll be able to get a fertile sac some time in the near future. Does any one know what would trigger a phantom sac?