do I have a bad egg sac?

[DaveEmory]

First time breeding attempted (Euathlus pulcherimaklassi)... not what I intended, but I wound up getting a gravid female without realizing it. She made her sac 30 days ago, and I just built up an incubator (ala Rob's designs) and pulled the sac. When I shone light through it and saw yellow, I got excited. But then I opened it, and I have a bad feeling about them. They sure look dry to me. Can anyone look at this photo and suggest whether or not the sac is viable? Even partially?

 

[tarantulagirl10]

Most look bad. I see one or two that don't look shriveled though. I would put the ones that aren't shriveled in the incubator and see what happens.

 

[DaveEmory]

Rather than put all of them in the incubator, you mean? Any harm in sticking them all in there?

 

[grayzone]

im not too sure on THAT, but any of the black ones discard. all the round GOOD eggs put in one incubator , while you put the rest in others accordingly. Ya never know. too many in one incubator isnt recommended anyways

---------- Post added 04-20-2012 at 05:41 PM ----------

i wish you the best of luck (even though the sack was unintentional) as those are really beautiful ts

 

[Prometheus]

Yeah they don't look any good, sorry... Pick out what you can and hope for the best. FYI the reason you don't keep the bad ones with the good is for mold/rot of the other viable eggs. What were the conditions you kept the mom at anyways?

 

[DaveEmory]

I think I screwed up. Humidity was LOW in her cage, because this is a scrubland species which never liked having moisture in there. Furthermore, I was counseled to not keep a water dish in there (which I had otherwise been doing) out of concern that she would roll the sac into the water.

They're in a presumably-humid incubator now, and I will pull out what seem to be better ones, but honestly, none of them look shiny and round enough to my eyes.

 

[grayzone]

cool.. keep us posted. worst comes to worse, ya end up gaining some experience should ya ever end up breeding INTENTIONALLY

 

[Prometheus]

cool.. keep us posted. worst comes to worse, ya end up gaining some experience should ya ever end up breeding INTENTIONALLY

I second that --^

 

[grayzone]

any news? are even the decent lookin eggs getting worse or??

 

[Skeri]

Sorry your egg sac didn't look so good :/ I know you didn't intentionally plan on breeding it but I bet you were still hoping to go through the experience. I just bought a GBB that i'm pretty positive is female and is either gravid or very very fat XD. I guess I will find out soon though. Luckily if she is I have seen enough videos and read enough threads and articles to know what to do throughout her being gravid and to care for the eggs.

My only issue is idk exactly what to do with the slings afterwards if she is. Idk the legalities of shipping T's and have no reviews for it either. I'm not going to really worry about it though until I see an egg sac. That gives me 20 days (underestimated of course I would like to know what I can do before I pull the sac) to find out about any and all regulations and then I have until their second or third mult to find them all homes.

Idk if I am excited to find out, because I would really love to go through the experience atleast once, or scared that I won't be able to find them all homes by the time they are old enough to sell and if need be give out.

 

[DaveEmory]

any news? are even the decent lookin eggs getting worse or??

I would say the five or six eggs I pulled are not looking too good. SLIGHTLY shriveled or simply not round. Sigh.

 

[DaveEmory]

The mystery deepens. Unfortunately, none of the eggs were viable. Experiment concluded. BUT: I observed over the past few weeks that my red phase G. rosea was completely re-tunneling out her enclosure and disappeared for a while. I thought a molt was coming... but she made a sac!! That makes two gravid females which came from the same seller, at the same time, two years ago.

But the sac she made looks small, shriveled up, and dry. Do gravid females actually deposit dead/dried up eggs sometimes, or did I once again allow a sac to dry out??

 

[hamhock 74]

Sometimes females will create phantom sacks, sacs with eggs that aren't fertilized, why they do it is unknown. Maybe the pulcherimaklassi sac was a dud and your RCF rosie could be as well, maybe not and I'm just being a downer. Do you know if the two were wild caught?

 

[joshb]

Pretty exciting to have two sacs though from two purchases and unknown breeding-status. I, too, wonder if they were supposed to be wild caught or captive bred. It sounds like you're on the right track with what you're doing, now it's just a matter of staying positive and being responsive to the animals. They'll lay viable eggs soon enough! Good luck!

 

[catfishrod69]

This really sucks. Sorry to hear. Firstly, i always flood have the enclosure when a female (desert species) has a sac. Second, those RobC incubators dont work well. You just need a sterilite tub with about 12 1/8" holes in the top, then lined with paper towel (like 1/2" thick), then keep the paper towel good and moist. Then have two 16 oz deli cups sitting on top of the paper towel, with coffee filters in each one. Then the eggs/slings go into the coffee filters. Im not saying that the RobC incubator will not work, just i dont really care for it, and doesnt seem to work as well.

 

[DaveEmory]

Do you know if the two were wild caught?

Yes, the two were supposedly wild-caught (and no, I no longer buy wild-caught tarantulas... I know better now).