Massive T stirmi molting troubles

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Arachnopeon
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Oct 3, 2018
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Hey guys, so ive had my T. Stirmi for about 4 months. Shes absolutely massive 9-10 inches abdomen bigger than a ping pong ball. She’s had a ravenous appetite this whole time, she finally went off food and so i assumed premolt and didnt try to feed her for a week, she then took one roach and went right back off food. She seemed to be wandering around a lot so i took all but her hide and water bowl out. She then retreated into her hide and webbed it soooo much, absolutely layered it as thick as possible. I’ve never once seen her lay more than a tiny bit of web where i drop her prey so i was impressed and assumed she was for sure about to molt. Then almost a month later she just took it all down, rolled it into a ball and is just sitting on top of it, maybe eating it im not too sure. Ive heard about difficulty with T’s of her stature so im really really worried, shes my favorite of my whole collection and I just want to make sure shes ok so if ANYONE has ANY knowledge on this, it would be very helpful and appreciated. Thanks!
 

Teal

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Is her abdomen drastically smaller? Sounds like an egg sac to me?
 

Teal

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Chances are she is wild caught if you purchased her at that size. A sac *could* be viable, but could also be phantom.
 

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Arachnopeon
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Chances are she is wild caught if you purchased her at that size. A sac *could* be viable, but could also be phantom.
She’s the calmest Stirmi in the world so thatd be a surprise, what steps should i take now to ensure the health of her and her sack?

Chances are she is wild caught if you purchased her at that size. A sac *could* be viable, but could also be phantom.
So i havent opened her cage at all lately except for adding water cause i didnt want to stress her out. But i just got her to move and she gently picked up what most definately looks like an egg sac and took it with her to the other side of the hide and put it back under her like a mother bird on eggs. So i think you certainly are right but i dont have any breeding experience ); if you know any thread that would be species specific or cover what i need to know about this that would be great info for me
 
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Teal

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There is a section on the forums here called "Breeding Reports"... you could see if there are any for this species. I have never bred T. stirmi, so I am unsure if the care would be different. For the Ts I have bred, I leave the sac sith the female for 30 days. Then I open it and put the EWLs/1i (whichever stage they are at) in a deli cup with slightly moist paper toweling. Once they molt to 2i, they have to be put into their own little enclosures (people generally use 2oz plastic condiment cups). It is a huge undertaking!

If you don't want to deal with it, though, you can always take the sac right now and destroy it.

Granted, as I said, it could be a phantom sac... in which case, she will abandon or eat it in due time.

She’s the calmest Stirmi in the world so thatd be a surprise, what steps should i take now to ensure the health of her and her sack?
Tarantulas don't domesticate... her temerament has nothing to do with being wild caught or captive bred.
 

Greasylake

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We still haven't seen pictures of what's going on. Post pictures of the spider and her enclosure.
 

Liquifin

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T. stirmi sacs take much longer from eggs to EWL's. Instead of waiting for 30 days like most T.'s. It should be around 60 days for the T. stirmi.
 

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Arachnopeon
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Definately not going to destroy it, I’m very excited about this pleasant surprise, ive always wanted to try breeding so i guess this will be good practice. As far as questions my main 2 questions are Do i feed her? And do I continue to keep soil to stirmi level dampness? It’s kinda hard to feed because shes so webbed off (pictures below).
And as i stated, i took everything out when i saw her wandering around, i even took all the moss out after this photo was taken cause i saw a gnat like fly in there and i def dont want anymore. Here’s some photos, cant really get one of her because the back of her hide has so much web and the front she built a giant wall of dirt and left only about one inch from the roof of her hide. 38DF29BB-496D-4DD6-8A77-38560CC06FFF.jpeg EDBADF15-7331-4A0E-ABB1-99411E865B75.jpeg CE772FD2-3616-47B0-9205-438BA52A7147.jpeg

We still haven't seen pictures of what's going on. Post pictures of the spider and her enclosure.
Its impossible to get a photo of her rn with out destroying her web.
 

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Nightstalker47

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Its impossible to get a photo of her rn with out destroying her web.
Don't bother with pictures, she will need more privacy since shes sitting on a sac, they do typically seal off their hides during this process...if your start messing around with her now she is very likely to eat it.

These spiderlings are in high demand and fetch a good price....you should have no issues selling the offspring if all goes well.

Best of luck.
 

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Arachnopeon
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Don't bother with pictures, she will need more privacy since shes sitting on a sac, they do typically seal off their hides during this process...if your start messing around with her now she is very likely to eat it.

These spiderlings are in high demand and fetch a good price....you should have no issues selling the offspring if all goes well.

Best of luck.
So should I wait to feed till after I pull the egg sac?
 

Venom1080

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I'd also keep it warmer if possible. High 70s would be perfect. It will speed development.

I don't know how long you want to wait with this species before pulling. I think it's something like 40 days. But that's definitely something you'd want to talk to a breeder about.

Learning how to make a proper incubator is essential as well.

Where did you buy her? At what size? You must talk to the seller to see if she was wild caught. If so, then there's a chance. No way she was bred if she's captive bred. As there would be hefty price increase. Considering the possible impregnation.
 
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Arachnopeon
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I'd also keep it warmer if possible. High 70s would be perfect. It will speed development.

I don't know how long you want to wait with this species before pulling. I think it's something like 40 days. But that's definitely something you'd want to talk to a breeder about.

Learning how to make a proper incubator is essential as well.

Where did you buy her? At what size? You must talk to the seller to see if she was wild caught. If so, then there's a chance. No way she was bred if she's captive bred. As there would be hefty price increase. Considering the possible impregnation.
Her tank is a steady 74-78 already, I’ve done a good bit of reading on incubators in the past 24 hours so I’ll be making on ASAP. I Got her at zookeeper in Austin, I just so happened to walk in when they were opening a freshly delivered box of spiders and she was in there. I got her full grown she’s huge. She was 150. And she has grown a bit since I got her, this photo was taken days after I got her. 35C47783-3977-4783-8046-1F83B1F5B800.jpeg
 

Venom1080

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Her tank is a steady 74-78 already, I’ve done a good bit of reading on incubators in the past 24 hours so I’ll be making on ASAP. I Got her at zookeeper in Austin, I just so happened to walk in when they were opening a freshly delivered box of spiders and she was in there. I got her full grown she’s huge. She was 150. And she has grown a bit since I got her, this photo was taken days after I got her. View attachment 288687
She hasn't grown unless she molted. If she has indeed molted since you got her and you never paired her with a mature male. The sac is a phantom and it's a waste of time leaving it in there.

Post a photo of the incubator. They need less ventilation then you might think..
 

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Arachnopeon
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I'd also keep it warmer if possible. High 70s would be perfect. It will speed development.

I don't know how long you want to wait with this species before pulling. I think it's something like 40 days. But that's definitely something you'd want to talk to a breeder about.

Learning how to make a proper incubator is essential as well.

Where did you buy her? At what size? You must talk to the seller to see if she was wild caught. If so, then there's a chance. No way she was bred if she's captive bred. As there would be hefty price increase. Considering the possible impregnation.
Her tank is a steady 74-78 already, I’ve done a good bit of reading on incubators in the past 24 hours so I’ll be making on ASAP. I Got her at zookeeper in Austin, I just so happened to walk in when they were opening a freshly delivered box of spiders and she was in there. I got her full grown she’s huge. She was 150.

She hasn't grown unless she molted. If she has indeed molted since you got her and you never paired her with a mature male. The sac is a phantom and it's a waste of time leaving it in there.

Post a photo of the incubator. They need less ventilation then you might think..
I guess what I meant by grown was her abdomen thickens up a lot. She has not molted with me. I’m working on a incubator right now should be done in about an hour.
 
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Venom1080

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I guess what I meant by grown was her abdomen thickens up a lot. She has not molted with me. I’m working on a incubator right now should be done in about an hour.
Ah. So just fattened up then.

Sure, post a pic. They can be extremely simple.
 

Versijewels

Arachnopeon
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Ah. So just fattened up then.

Sure, post a pic. They can be extremely simple.
So I put it on top of my retics cage about a foot and a half away from her heat lamp and it registers at 80.2 when the ac has been off for a while and 76.2 with it on. Put some substrate on the sides because the Tupperware was unstable in the bigger tub. Using panty hose as my surface. E57E0758-5374-4D6C-9F62-85A17B215572.jpeg C48A6887-BBD2-444C-A01C-5AE05B4BF3D9.jpeg 6E048A9A-AA89-4D39-9629-89A0B2DA7852.jpeg
 
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