Damon Diadema Female is not taking Males sacks

[Xenohunt]

Hey guys!

I got a pair of Damon Diademas and the Male has dropped 4 sacks so far and the female does not seem to be taking any of them. Is there a trick or something I am missing or does just kinda just happen sometimes?


Thanks!

 

[chanda]

There are a number of reasons why a female (you're sure she's female, right?) might not accept the male's spermatophore.

It could be that she is not yet sexually mature, or she might already be gravid (I've seen this with mine, where once the deed is done the male will sometimes continue to produce spermatophores - but after a while the female will stop accepting them), or she might be approaching a molt (if she molts after mating, she'll lose the whole clutch anyway). She could just be stressed - perhaps she does not feel secure. Does she have adequate dark hiding spots during the daytime? Is the cage humid enough but also well ventilated? Does she have a nice big slab of cork bark or some other vertical surface with secure footing to climb? How recently did you get them? Has she had time to settle in to her new enclosure?

Is the male completely intact? (Does he have both his pedipalps and both whips?) During the courtship/mating ritual, he touches and strokes the female quite a bit with his whips and pedipalps before depositing the spermatophore, then after it has been deposited, he uses them to guide her onto it so she will accept it. Here's a video of a pair of mine mating:

(This is just the tail end of it - there was a LOT of courtship beforehand - but this is the bit that shows the actual spermatophore being deposited and accepted. Sorry for the lousy quality - I didn't want to turn on the lights to disturb them, so this was filmed with a handheld point-and-shoot camera and a flashlight.)

And just to be sure - you do know that even after she accepts the spermatophore, there will be a "Y" shaped stalk left behind on the cork bark or other surface, right? You're not mistaking these empty stalks for rejected sperm packets?

And if all else fails, turn the lights down low and put on a little Barry White...

 

[Xenohunt]

And just to be sure - you do know that even after she accepts the spermatophore, there will be a "Y" shaped stalk left behind on the cork bark or other surface, right? You're not mistaking these empty stalks for rejected sperm packets?

I actually might be mistaking them for ones that have been taken. I can take a pic of them and post it here. How long does it take for the female to show eggs?

 

[chanda]

I actually might be mistaking them for ones that have been taken. I can take a pic of them and post it here. How long does it take for the female to show eggs?

No idea. I try not to disturb mine just so I can peek underneath and see if they have eggs or not. I know it takes months for the eggs to hatch. My current breeding pair mated around the end of October and again in mid-December (with additional matings possible in between or since - I don't really monitor them all that closely, but I remember seeing fresh spermatophore stalks on Halloween when I brought them to school to show the kids and again when I was getting ready to leave for the holidays). The other day she happened to be on the edge of a piece of cork where I was able to get a good look at her belly and see the eggs.

When you look at the spermatophore, if it is "Y" shaped at the top then it's been taken (sometimes it's more of a broken "Y"). If it looks more like a lollipop (with a sperm packet still intact at the end of the stalk) then it has not been taken.

Here are some examples of "empty" spermatophores: https://farm1.staticflickr.com/446/20118041381_0f8853b03c_c.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/686/22723743736_4f8be37b1e_c.jpg https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5738/22760918091_585850d878_c.jpg

and here is one that is "full": https://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagra...n.jpg?ig_cache_key=OTg4MTE1MzkwOTM0NzQ1NDg4.2

Here's a female with eggs: http://s26.photobucket.com/user/terrissy/media/Pidahs/Long Island Expo March 08/gravidDamon.jpg.html (though I would never pick up one of mine like that because I wouldn't want to risk hurting her or stressing her out.)

 

[Xenohunt]

No idea. I try not to disturb mine just so I can peek underneath and see if they have eggs or not. I know it takes months for the eggs to hatch. My current breeding pair mated around the end of October and again in mid-December (with additional matings possible in between or since - I don't really monitor them all that closely, but I remember seeing fresh spermatophore stalks on Halloween when I brought them to school to show the kids and again when I was getting ready to leave for the holidays). The other day she happened to be on the edge of a piece of cork where I was able to get a good look at her belly and see the eggs.

When you look at the spermatophore, if it is "Y" shaped at the top then it's been taken (sometimes it's more of a broken "Y"). If it looks more like a lollipop (with a sperm packet still intact at the end of the stalk) then it has not been taken.

Here are some examples of "empty" spermatophores: https://farm1.staticflickr.com/446/20118041381_0f8853b03c_c.jpg https://farm1.staticflickr.com/686/22723743736_4f8be37b1e_c.jpg https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5738/22760918091_585850d878_c.jpg

and here is one that is "full": https://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagra...n.jpg?ig_cache_key=OTg4MTE1MzkwOTM0NzQ1NDg4.2

Here's a female with eggs: http://s26.photobucket.com/user/terrissy/media/Pidahs/Long Island Expo March 08/gravidDamon.jpg.html (though I would never pick up one of mine like that because I wouldn't want to risk hurting her or stressing her out.)

Oh man I think they might be all empty. they are tiny mushrooms like shape. But they all look like that. I am assuming the female can pick up multiple sacks?

 

[Xenohunt]

Are there any good tutorials on how to take care of a female that is going to have babies and also how to take care of the babies when they get off the back that you recommend?

 

[chanda]

Oh man I think they might be all empty. they are tiny mushrooms like shape. But they all look like that. I am assuming the female can pick up multiple sacks?

Oh, yeah! I think one of mine picked up 6 or 7 before she started turning them down.

 

[chanda]

Are there any good tutorials on how to take care of a female that is going to have babies and also how to take care of the babies when they get off the back that you recommend?

Orin McMonigle's book, Breeding the World's Largest Living Arachnid: Amblypygid (Whipspider) Biology, Natural History, and Captive Husbandry, is a good source. But really, I take care of mine just the same when they are gravid as when they aren't - plenty of hiding spaces on cork bark and rounds, misting every couple of days, feeding about once a week, and otherwise basically leave 'em alone.

I do prefer to separate the mother from the babies after they've left her back, just because I've had issues with cannibalism when I left her in with them. What I do is I have a large cage set up for the babies with multiple cork slabs and rounds for hiding spots. Once the babies hatch (but are still on mom's back) I'll lift the entire cork slab she's on out of her cage and put it in the "nursery tank," then wait for the babies to clear out on their own. This usually takes about a week or just a bit less. Once the babies have moved on, I'll catch the mother and return her to her own tank. I will not put her back in with a male until after she has molted.

I leave the babies in the communal tank. Unfortunately there is a fair amount of cannibalism, but I try to minimize that by feeding them every couple of days (flightless fruit flies to start, then small crickets). I also keep the humidity a bit higher in the babies' tank because they'll be growing faster and molting more frequently.