how long are p metallica gravid

[bradpaden]

well the title basically says it. i have a 6 in female that was bred nearly a year and a half ago and still has neither molted nor dropper a sac. shes very fat and has been eating the whole time since breeding like crazy. except for the last month or so. after breeding she swole quite rapidly and has stayed huge this whole time she has been making more web but i did re-home her recently. i would normally just guess not gravid but my buddy's p met with the same male went just over a year. so please people lots of you how long can a female be prego and does this one apear to be? thx for your time. here is a pic
bradpaden

 

[catfishrod69]

She does look gravid to me. Im not sure how long they take to drop a sac though. My regalis took 5 months. Have you tried flooding her enclosure?

 

[Wlapkiewicz]

I have that same issue. Two of my female P. metallicas got fertilized by one of my males in October at least twice each and now its already May. I feed them like crazy since then, keep humidity around 70-80% and try not do disturb them. Their abdomens are not now swollen like balloons but I'n not sure if they are full of eggs or they get just more fat. Last year I breed P. regalis and female made an egg sac after 3 moths. But after 7 moths I wonder what is going on.

 

[grayzone]

i know poecis are illusive, but have you tried candling them when theyre out at nite? I have tried with 1 of my current projects, but my LED sucks.. also, if it doesnt glow dont worry (i hear from people that theyve had moms who didnt glow?) ... but itd be worth a shot. Other than that ive read that flooding (as john has advised) proves to work well with poecis

 

[bradpaden]

i mean we are at umm... 16 mnths. ill bump up the humiditly a little more its about 70% now. its hard to keep it that high withhout getting mold. so i wsa trying the low end. just changed to coconut fiber as the previous wasnt humid enough. like i said thoiu i worry about mold.

 

[catfishrod69]

You shouldnt worry about the mold. They live with it all the time in the wild. If it were me, i would flood her. Just mostly soak the substrate, then wait a week, or for it to dry up mostly, then resoak. Repeat this 3 or 4 times, and she should start webbing up a hide to drop a sac in. The soaking will make little white spots of mold, and any food remains moldy. I just remove the food remains, then dont worry about the little white spots. If she lays a sac, you can wait until the babies are far enough along, and away from the female, and then just redo her enclosure.

 

[bradpaden]

i have her in a 5 gallon on end atm. i have a piece of plasic contining about 2 inches of dirt.. well coco husk. any tips to keeping humidity up without sacrificing ventilation
so she does look pregnant to u guys?

 

[bradpaden]

here i candeled her the way i believe ur supposed to. is this correct? if so no yellow unlesss ur refering to the smalll ring around the light but i dont think so. im using a led htis one actually so whatya think

 

[jayefbe]

This youtube video shows what a gravid Poecilotheria will look like when candling, as taped by the person who first starting using the technique (Talkenlate04, at least I believe it was him, if someone else noticed it first, please let me know).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxyQg3S4ltg

 

[bradpaden]

ok well i got nothing. she need to go ahead and molt then

 

[zonbonzovi]

Monsoon season begins very soon. Maybe up the temps a couple of degrees from what she's usually at, keep the sub moist for a while and hope she picks up on the cues.