T. stirmi gravid female behavior.

[Austin S.]

Lol. It's still doing good. It was somewhat "loose" of a sac when she first wrapped it if that makes sense. Today i checked in and it seems like it has gotten bigger. I think the sperm she dropped could have fertilized the eggs now, thus the sac gaining in size? Eggs swelling?

 

[Wadew]

Austin,
The loose sack is nothing to worry about, this will give the eggs room to develop. As long as the humidity is proper there is also no need to be concerned about the water dish. From the photo's you have provided all looks good!

-Wade

 

[shawno821]

Good job,and good luck!

 

[Austin S.]

Thanks everyone for the nice responses. Shes still hanging on to it like a precious gem!

 

[Austin S.]

I'm pulling the sac tonight. Day 21. What do you all think? Pretty sure everything went well, but we have to see whats inside first. Pull tonight? Or July 6th, day 30?

I've pulled sacs on day 10 before and put them in our incubator at the house. Haven't lost a single embryo. Just unsure about this one, as this is the first time ive bred this species.

 

[Chicken Farmer]

Can't wait to see what happens!

 

[Poec54]

I'd wait until day 30 myself. Your call.

 

[TLover007]

Well what did you decide??

 

[Austin S.]

I pulled it. There are a lot of eggs thats for sure. However, some were molding together, so i am glad i did pull it. They look plump and nice. I hope to see more development later this week. Fingers crossed.

 

[Austin S.]

The eggs themselves arent that yellow, more cream. Dont you think there would be more development inside the egg on day 21 though?

 

[Austin S.]

What do you all think? :/

 

[Austin S.]

Well on the same note, different sentence, male just made a sperm web earlier today

It happened so fast, but she was drumming as soon as he got one foot down the burrow. She came out, they hooked up and the male did his job. She's good to go again!

 

[TLover007]

Wow man that is just the coolest thing ever!! Now how do you keep the humidity up? Do you have some sort of "incubator"? I have never mated amy of my Ts hopefully thats gona change soon

 

[Austin S.]

This is my set up, I've seen it used by many people, whether it be just like this, or their own variety, the design is pretty much identical.

 

[Austin S.]

Wow man that is just the coolest thing ever!! Now how do you keep the humidity up? Do you have some sort of "incubator"? I have never mated amy of my Ts hopefully thats gona change soon

In the above pictures, its pretty simple. Use a few coffee filters (depending on the amount of eggs, you don't want them to be too crowded), deli cups to put the filters in, and moist paper towels at the bottom of the container for moisture. I soak the heck out of the paper towels. Leave the sac with mom for 20-30 days. open it, and slowly pour the eggs inside the filters. Make sure the eggs never get wet. I take the lid off, and gently roll the eggs around the filter 5-8 times a day. You can shine a LED flashlight under the deli cup and you can see whats going on inside the eggs, pretty cool stuff.

Hope this helps.
I'd love Poec's opinion on this and what he does.

 

[Poec54]

I'd love Poec's opinion on this and what he does.

I do the same pretty much, although I use paper towels (and I work for a coffee company! I need to get some filters from the warehouse). You're right about them being wet, especially in a low, soggy spot. I put my pulled sacs in 16 oz deli cups with lids that have holes covered in cheesecloth (not sure where to buy them, I've gotten some that came with spiders). That gives some ventilation, and keeps flies out. Before I had those lids, I used to put tiny pin holes in the upper sides of the cups. Mold can get a foothold and spread in a moist, sealed container.

Let's hope you see some EWL's soon.

 

[TLover007]

In the above pictures, its pretty simple. Use a few coffee filters (depending on the amount of eggs, you don't want them to be too crowded), deli cups to put the filters in, and moist paper towels at the bottom of the container for moisture. I soak the heck out of the paper towels. Leave the sac with mom for 20-30 days. open it, and slowly pour the eggs inside the filters. Make sure the eggs never get wet. I take the lid off, and gently roll the eggs around the filter 5-8 times a day. You can shine a LED flashlight under the deli cup and you can see whats going on inside the eggs, pretty cool stuff.

Hope this helps.
I'd love Poec's opinion on this and what he does.

Wow thanx alot for those tips!! I think it will work perfectly... will remember this post when i start breeding... and I am interested in Poec's views as well... SO POST SOMETHING POEC!!!!

 

[Austin S.]

Update:
A lot of eggs have shriveled up into nothing really. Last night I covered all holes for ventilation and added more water and moist paper towels. There still seems to be around 80-100 good eggs still. I can see little legs through some, I'm just surprised they haven't popped yet.

I also attempted to breed them again last night. They have bred successfully twice since she laid the sac, but this time was weird. He found her burrow, went all the way in it, layed next to her and started tapping together inside the burrow. He then went out side of it, turned around and started tapping again. The whole time she was responding to his taps. It went on for about 15 minutes, He proceeded to lay a thick silk bed just right outside her entrance, did a few circles, and layed flat down on it completely stretched out.

It was almost like they talked and he said I'll wait till your ready, or I'll guard you. After about 20 minutes of not moving I decided to move him back into his tank. One poke and he was something out of hel*. Ive never seen a tarantula as mean as he was right then, like he actually was guarding her.

I don't know, just very interesting to me.

 

[TLover007]

Update:
A lot of eggs have shriveled up into nothing really. Last night I covered all holes for ventilation and added more water and moist paper towels. There still seems to be around 80-100 good eggs still. I can see little legs through some, I'm just surprised they haven't popped yet.

I also attempted to breed them again last night. They have bred successfully twice since she laid the sac, but this time was weird. He found her burrow, went all the way in it, layed next to her and started tapping together inside the burrow. He then went out side of it, turned around and started tapping again. The whole time she was responding to his taps. It went on for about 15 minutes, He proceeded to lay a thick silk bed just right outside her entrance, did a few circles, and layed flat down on it completely stretched out.

It was almost like they talked and he said I'll wait till your ready, or I'll guard you. After about 20 minutes of not moving I decided to move him back into his tank. One poke and he was something out of hel*. Ive never seen a tarantula as mean as he was right then, like he actually was guarding her.

I don't know, just very interesting to me.

Thats very interesting... when will you try to mate again?

 

[Austin S.]

Thats very interesting... when will you try to mate again?

They've mated twice.