Nephila egg sac - any advice gratefully received

[Doc Ebola]

Sooo ... I think it might have been a successful mating ... the female swelled up enormously and then this morning I woke up to this:

Ok. So this is new territory for me and I'm looking for some advice on how to deal with the egg sac. Now before anyone yells "Google it," I have ... and there isn't much out there specifically for Nephila, but perhaps the 'same rules apply' for lots of true spiders(?). But I have formulated a plan. Remove the egg sac as there is a high chance of dessication in this large mesh cage. Not sure how to do this yet without damaging it - it is of course in the most inaccessible place and stuck to the mesh. Then I thought get a spider tub, put a couple of cm of vermiculite in the bottom, hook a paper clip through the mesh on the lid and suspend the egg sac from that using some silk. Mist the substrate daily. Wait 20-30 days until the cycle of life is complete. How does that sound?

 

[Doc Ebola]

Oh, I should perhaps mention it's a N. madagascariensis, although I'm sure you would all id it from the video

Incidentally, I caught what was some interesting behaviour (to me). I think she was camouflaging the egg sac with some old prey husks from the floor of her enclosure:

 

[Doc Ebola]

Ok, an update on the egg sac, for posterity in case anyone else finds their way here looking for advice on a similar situation.
The female doesn't defend her egg sac and is easily distracted with some food. The egg sac itself peeled away from the mesh of the net cage quite easily with a pair of tweezers. Be careful to only use the tweezers on the edges of the sac so as not to damage any eggs. The only problem was the numerous strands of silk in the vicinity of the egg sac - they were like a tangle trap. Remove those first with your tweezers so you can easily remove the sac from the enclosure once it is free. I then got a twisty kitchen 'food bag tie' and made a hook and carefully hooked it through the silk on the very edge of the sac, and hooked the other end through the mesh on the lid of a small spider tub. So it is now suspended. I put a few cm of moist vermiculite in the floor of the tub. I plan to mist the substrate once a day:


Hopefully this will work as YouTube is an absolute minefield, with most videos on egg sacs being about tarantulas, which appears to be a different ball game. Also, literally nothing of any help on Google. I did find one helpful article on Nephila husbandry from a Zoo that gave me the idea for the above, which I would be happy to share with any other budding Nephila keepers.

 

[mconnachan]

It seems to me you've got this sussed, more so than I could have advised, well played, I'm unsure how many eggs are produced by Nephila sp. but I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few hundred in there, good luck with the sac. Keep us posted on any developments, sorry you didn't get the response you expected, there are not many Nephila keepers here that I'm aware of.

 

[Doc Ebola]

Cheers. I've read anywhere from 20-30 days before hatching, and she might produce more egg sacs. I could be completely swamped with slings

 

[mconnachan]

Cheers. I've read anywhere from 20-30 days before hatching, and she might produce more egg sacs. I could be completely swamped with slings

Do you have a buyer, that's a lot of slings to be caring for, from what I've heard yeah they can double clutch quite regularly, I'm not trying to panic you, just trying to prepare you for what might be - good luck when the slings emerge, then separating them, then.....lol you know all the rest. Try to get one dealer to take the lot!

 

[Doc Ebola]

Yeah, I'm hoping I've got someone lined up to take the whole egg sac, although I may post an advert on here too. Do people post egg sacs - is that a done thing in this pastime/profession/hobby?

 

[Doc Ebola]

I've done it with Mantid ooths but they're very hardy in comparison.

 

[mconnachan]

Yeah, I'm hoping I've got someone lined up to take the whole egg sac, although I may post an advert on here too. Do people post egg sacs - is that a done thing in this pastime/profession/hobby?

You would need to raise them until they reach the instar that they begin to feed, then you can begin to offer them for sale. Good luck with the sac and hopefully you'll get them sold no problem.

 

[Doc Ebola]

You would need to raise them until they reach the instar that they begin to feed, then you can begin to offer them for sale. Good luck with the sac and hopefully you'll get them sold no problem.

I'm guessing that's because there's a chance the sac isn't fertile, so folks tend not to buy / sell them? Let's say hypothetically I just wanted to gift it to someone - is it quite a safe thing to do if packed correctly, and do people do that? Cheers.

 

[mconnachan]

I'm guessing that's because there's a chance the sac isn't fertile, so folks tend not to buy / sell them? Let's say hypothetically I just wanted to gift it to someone - is it quite a safe thing to do if packed correctly, and do people do that? Cheers.

No not that I'm aware of, it would be the first time I've ever heard of this particular way of selling or gifting any sp. to anyone. Your best bet is to allow them to emerge, then allow them to get to the stage where they can eat for themselves, then offer them here on AB. If they're going as freebies you'll get rid of them no problem, but only once they've reached that point. Good luck Doc.

 

[MossMan]

I've hatched a few Nephila egg sacs before, but those were Nephila edulis and they're a much lower humidity species. I just left the female to tend to the eggs and they did fine at room temp

 

[Doc Ebola]

I've hatched a few Nephila egg sacs before, but those were Nephila edulis and they're a much lower humidity species. I just left the female to tend to the eggs and they did fine at room temp

Hi MossMan - just out of curiosity ... weren't the slings a nightmare to get out of a bigger tank? I know they often huddle together at night ...

 

[MossMan]

Hi MossMan - just out of curiosity ... weren't the slings a nightmare to get out of a bigger tank? I know they often huddle together at night ...

Yup. I actually probably lost a few in the flexarium (it was big, maybe 4 ft by 4 ft, nephila edulis builds huge webs), didn't lose a massive number though.

 

[MossMan]

I plan on collecting lots of orb weaver species. There's some real stunners in northern australia, apparently there's a red and white tent-weaver orb weaver which I'm obsessed with. I've also tried keeping leaf curling spiders but I had problems with them.

 

[Doc Ebola]

I plan on collecting lots of orb weaver species. There's some real stunners in northern australia, apparently there's a red and white tent-weaver orb weaver which I'm obsessed with. I've also tried keeping leaf curling spiders but I had problems with them.

Is that Cyrtophora citricola? If so, what a COOL web. It's like a gridded trapeze artists net. Don't suppose I can tempt you with a few hundred N. madagascariensis can I?

 

[MossMan]

Is that Cyrtophora citricola? If so, what a COOL web. It's like a gridded trapeze artists net. Don't suppose I can tempt you with a few hundred N. madagascariensis can I?

Id take you up on that offer in a heartbeat but unfortunately I can't import anything because of fauna and flora restrictions

 

[Doc Ebola]

Sooo ... I think it might have been a successful mating ... the female swelled up enormously and then this morning I woke up to this:
Ok. So this is new territory for me and I'm looking for some advice on how to deal with the egg sac. Now before anyone yells "Google it," I have ... and there isn't much out there specifically for Nephila, but perhaps the 'same rules apply' for lots of true spiders(?). But I have formulated a plan. Remove the egg sac as there is a high chance of dessication in this large mesh cage. Not sure how to do this yet without damaging it - it is of course in the most inaccessible place and stuck to the mesh. Then I thought get a spider tub, put a couple of cm of vermiculite in the bottom, hook a paper clip through the mesh on the lid and suspend the egg sac from that using some silk. Mist the substrate daily. Wait 20-30 days until the cycle of life is complete. How does that sound?

Apologies - problems with my YouTube channel. Here is the video from the OP: