A chalcodes unexpected egg sack- what to do?

[KyleB]

I tried searching the forums but I'm not super familiar with forum navigation so I'm sorry if this info is posted somewhere already. I noticed this morning (7th of May 2021) that my A chalcodes which I purchased in October 2020 has produced an egg sack. She was wild caught and has not molted so it seems possible it is fertile. I'm looking for any and all advice about how to make sure the sack is successful- what conditions will help ensure that? Are there specific temperature and humidity requirements I should be aiming for? How many days after the laying of the sac should I pull it? Should I try to move her enclosure to somewhere dark and undisturbed? She is currently in a 20 gallon tank on top of my dresser, in my bed room which is kept around 72-75 degrees F and ambient humidity around 50%, which I expect to raise as we get into warmer weather here in Georgia. Again any and all advice or resources will be greatly appreciated!

 

[Table]

Good luck

 

[KyleB]

That depends, are you up for the challenge of caring for that many slings? Can you feed that many mouths?
If it is fertal most people pull the sac after 30 days. by that point they should be eggs with legs of first instars. I haven't bread any Ts yet so I don't have any real expirence, so take everything I say with a grain of salt.

But if you are willing to take care of that many slings you might not even be able to give away. You'll need to make an incubater when you pull the sac. As for rn I'd keep it a little more damp then usual and make sure you leave her alone. She could always end up eating the sac, or it could be a phantom.

Alot more knoligable peps will be here soon, so just sit tight.

I've already got a lead on a couple of dealers to let them go to wholesale. I've gotten some more info since posting. Planning to pull around day 45. Mostly trying to determine if I should be heating the moms enclosure while she has the sack. One source I trust is telling me yes. If I do I plan to keep it on a thermostat and not let it get above 80F, with a small heat pad on the side of the tank just near the burrow entrance, to emulate their natural behavior of warming the sac in the sun at the entrance of their burrow

 

[ErinM31]

I wouldn’t recommend moving the terrarium after a sac has been dropped, but I am concerned about it’s location by a window, that it may quickly overheat if in sunlight (that concern is for the tarantula, not only the eggs). In the wild, they can retreat further underground to cooler temperatures, but they haven’t such option if the terrarium is too hot.

The above is all the more a concern as you will want to limit ventilation to prevent the eggsac from drying out, which seems a greater danger since it is not sealed inside the tarantulas burrow. If you can make the surrounded substrate just damp (NOT wet) without disturbing the mother, I would recommend doing that as well.

I have no great experience, but I have successfully bred A. chalcodes. I can tell you that you don’t need additional heat, although perhaps it could help; it could also harm the eggs if it gets too hot or dries things out.

Temperature will also determine when the babies reach EWL stage. I’m afraid I can’t tell you how long mine took as the mother webbed herself inside her burrow for eight months and so it was luck that I removed it (I feared some water had gotten into her burrow) right as they were transitioning to EWLs.

I arranged to trade most of mine when they were 2nd instar (two stages post EWL, when they have all their spidey powers, lol, including being able to climb all over the place). I was pleasantly surprised at the demand for CB offspring. I feared there might not be since they are slow-growing and WC adults cheaply available in the states.

They are slow growing, especially if you give a few months of cooler temperatures, which I do by virtue of a poorly insulated apartment, lol, but they are remarkably hardy slings.

 

[cold blood]

I wouldn’t recommend moving the terrarium after a sac has been dropped,

I would move it, moving the t isnt something I would do, but moving the whole terrarium shouldnt be an issue at all. I would definitely put it somewhere with less light.

Good info ErinM31, very helpful.

 

[KyleB]

I wouldn’t recommend moving the terrarium after a sac has been dropped, but I am concerned about it’s location by a window, that it may quickly overheat if in sunlight (that concern is for the tarantula, not only the eggs). In the wild, they can retreat further underground to cooler temperatures, but they haven’t such option if the terrarium is too hot.

The above is all the more a concern as you will want to limit ventilation to prevent the eggsac from drying out, which seems a greater danger since it is not sealed inside the tarantulas burrow. If you can make the surrounded substrate just damp (NOT wet) without disturbing the mother, I would recommend doing that as well.

I have no great experience, but I have successfully bred A. chalcodes. I can tell you that you don’t need additional heat, although perhaps it could help; it could also harm the eggs if it gets too hot or dries things out.

Temperature will also determine when the babies reach EWL stage. I’m afraid I can’t tell you how long mine took as the mother webbed herself inside her burrow for eight months and so it was luck that I removed it (I feared some water had gotten into her burrow) right as they were transitioning to EWLs.

I arranged to trade most of mine when they were 2nd instar (two stages post EWL, when they have all their spidey powers, lol, including being able to climb all over the place). I was pleasantly surprised at the demand for CB offspring. I feared there might not be since they are slow-growing and WC adults cheaply available in the states.

They are slow growing, especially if you give a few months of cooler temperatures, which I do by virtue of a poorly insulated apartment, lol, but they are remarkably hardy slings.

So its actually not right in front of that window anymore, it is near it but our light there is seriously so shady, theres a big oak tree right out front of the house that makes even my medium light plants struggle in that window. So its still getting light from that but I dont think it affects the temperature in the enclosure at all!

I'm not sure what oyu meant by "a greater danger since it is not sealed inside the tarantulas burrow," do you mean the humidity? The burrow is actually completely sealed now and I've just recently watered all the succulents in there as well. I'm seeing mixed advice from breeders about whether A chalcodes should be left on the dry side or given a little extra humidity to ensure the sack doesn't dry out so I'm still up in the air about that one. LIke mentioned above, I'm considering adding heat just around the entrance of the burrow so hopefully I might do that with a heat pad on low and not dry things out too much.

Overall thanks for your comment, I'm appreciating all info I'm getting right now

 

[ErinM31]

So its actually not right in front of that window anymore, it is near it but our light there is seriously so shady, theres a big oak tree right out front of the house that makes even my medium light plants struggle in that window. So its still getting light from that but I dont think it affects the temperature in the enclosure at all!

I'm not sure what oyu meant by "a greater danger since it is not sealed inside the tarantulas burrow," do you mean the humidity? The burrow is actually completely sealed now and I've just recently watered all the succulents in there as well. I'm seeing mixed advice from breeders about whether A chalcodes should be left on the dry side or given a little extra humidity to ensure the sack doesn't dry out so I'm still up in the air about that one. LIke mentioned above, I'm considering adding heat just around the entrance of the burrow so hopefully I might do that with a heat pad on low and not dry things out too much.

Overall thanks for your comment, I'm appreciating all info I'm getting right now

From your second photo, I had thought your tarantula had not sealed herself and the eggsac within the burrow — they do not always in captive conditions at least. Since she has sealed herself in and you are watering the substrate elsewhere, I think you will be fine as concerns humidity, especially if there is not too much airflow.

I would urge you against adding a heating pad, especially one close to the burrow. I fear there is greater likelihood of it doing harm than good. She probably dropped the sac once she interpreted conditions as favorable and I would not now add a heatsource near the burrow and thus unavoidable.

 

[Spoodfood]

My advice is to not purchase wild caught Ts. That’s pretty much it considering all the advice on the sac and mother have been given. Learn from this.

 

[ErinM31]

My advice is to not purchase wild caught Ts. That’s pretty much it considering all the advice on the sac and mother have been given. Learn from this.

There is some risk, yes, and certainly one does not want to endorse irresponsible collection practices or endanger native populations. Several of my Aphonopelma were wild-caught and have done quite well and I am endeavoring to breed them to make available more captive bred of the native species in the hobby.

 

[KyleB]

My advice is to not purchase wild caught Ts. That’s pretty much it considering all the advice on the sac and mother have been given. Learn from this.

Ok thanks that was really helpful

 

[Spoodfood]

Ok thanks that was really helpful

Seems like everyone else has already told you what to do. It is pretty helpful as it prevents things like this as well as a plethora of other issues surrounding wild caught Ts. Sorry that’s not what you wanted to hear.

There is some risk, yes, and certainly one does not want to endorse irresponsible collection practices or endanger native populations. Several of my Aphonopelma were wild-caught and have done quite well and I am endeavoring to breed them to make available more captive bred of the native species in the hobby.

The problem with it is things like this, as well as the possibility of parasites, health issues, and the whole morality debate of collecting in general. There’s plenty of these already in captivity, people just don’t feel like breeding them for some reason. I’m glad you’re taking that on. I will probably be on the lookout for those as I’ve been looking for captive bred chalcodes. I have a female but I have not been able to find captive bred to find her a male. I would definitely consider it breeding them in a few years, as there’s a huge scarcity of these as far as captive bred slings go.

 

[KyleB]

Seems like everyone else has already told you what to do. It is pretty helpful as it prevents things like this as well as a plethora of other issues surrounding wild caught Ts. Sorry that’s not what you wanted to hear.

Theres a difference between offering advice that hasn't been given yet and being unnecessarily condescending to internet strangers. It was my second ever T purchase and in the 7 months since then I've very much learned that wild caught isn't the way to go. "What I wanted to hear" was very specifically described in my post, which was care and information in properly raising the egg sac. Again, thanks

 

[Spoodfood]

Theres a difference between offering advice that hasn't been given yet and being unnecessarily condescending to internet strangers. It was my second ever T purchase and in the 7 months since then I've very much learned that wild caught isn't the way to go. "What I wanted to hear" was very specifically described in my post, which was care and information in properly raising the egg sac. Again, thanks

I wasn’t being rude. I was saying take this as a lesson, as you should. Glad you’ve already learned from it. Lots of people do not. People continuously come here with different problems with wc. That’s why it gets on some people’s nerves a bit. People don’t do enough research into things like this prior to acquiring one, which I was even guilty of myself. Not shaming you at all. I think it’s hard to get tone over text. Not everyone is out to get you. Most are here because they simply care about these animals.

 

[KyleB]

I wasn’t being rude. I was saying take this as a lesson, as you should. Glad you’ve already learned from it. Lots of people do not. People continuously come here with different problems with wc. That’s why it gets on some people’s nerves a bit. People don’t do enough research into things like this prior to acquiring one, which I was even guilty of myself. Not shaming you at all. I think it’s hard to get tone over text. Not everyone is out to get you. Most are here because they simply care about these animals.

Well I appreciate that response because your first comment did honestly come across as condescending. Not actually answering the post, but instead saying "don't do the thing you did, learn from this," frankly reads as rude to me. If you didn't intend it that way and/or I read it wrong then forget it, no biggie.

 

[Spoodfood]

Well I appreciate that response because your first comment did honestly come across as condescending. Not actually answering the post, but instead saying "don't do the thing you did, learn from this," frankly reads as rude to me. If you didn't intend it that way and/or I read it wrong then forget it, no biggie.

It was not intended that way. It was simply intended to promote better purchase decisions in the future. Although I haven’t seen captive bred slings very often of this species. People have them, and don’t breed them. Instead they go take them from the wild. It’s a sad thing.

 

[KyleB]

There’s plenty of these already in captivity, people just don’t feel like breeding them for some reason.

It was not intended that way. It was simply intended to promote better purchase decisions in the future. Although I haven’t seen captive bred slings very often of this species. People have them, and don’t breed them. Instead they go take them from the wild. It’s a sad thing.

From what I understand, told to me by experience hobbyists I trust, is that they're just straight up difficult to breed, because its hard to find the specimens. If you don't live local to their range and have a MF, and are able to find wild caught MM's, its unlikely you come across a pair ready to mate in the hobby. Trust me I'd love to see the whole hobby captive bred, but its a pretty unlikely scenario.

 

[Spoodfood]

From what I understand, told to me by experience hobbyists I trust, is that they're just straight up difficult to breed, because its hard to find the specimens. If you don't live local to their range and have a MF, and are able to find wild caught MM's, its unlikely you come across a pair ready to mate in the hobby. Trust me I'd love to see the whole hobby captive bred, but its a pretty unlikely scenario.

I’m no breeder, so I wouldn’t know anything about how easy they are to pair. There are species that are harder to breed, but vendors seem to have them and just sell them at higher prices. I believe the reason these are collected is simply because they’re native to the U.S. and don’t need to be imported, making it easier for them to do.

 

[ErinM31]

I’m no breeder, so I wouldn’t know anything about how easy they are to pair. There are species that are harder to breed, but vendors seem to have them and just sell them at higher prices. I believe the reason these are collected is simply because they’re native to the U.S. and don’t need to be imported, making it easier for them to do.

Exactly, they’re abundant, thankfully, and add to that the fact that Aphonopelma are notoriously slow growing, and so I think most find it expedient to collect and sell wild-caught adults rather than spending years raising them.

I don’t think the species is at all difficult to breed. Maybe in areas they are not native it is difficult to obtain mature males at the right time? They may require a yearly temperature cycle and all mine have that. When the females lay webbing down all around their hide/burrow, they’re on the lookout for a mate. From my experience, they pair quite readily and without any aggression.

Send me a PM if you would like some A. chalcodes slings (~1” DLS). I’ve seen CB slings of other Aphonopelma species available too in the classifieds and from some other dealers.

 

[Spoodfood]

Exactly, they’re abundant, thankfully, and add to that the fact that Aphonopelma are notoriously slow growing, and so I think most find it expedient to collect and sell wild-caught adults rather than spending years raising them.

I don’t think the species is at all difficult to breed. Maybe in areas they are not native it is difficult to obtain mature males at the right time? They may require a yearly temperature cycle and all mine have that, including the tropical species which probably derive no benefit from it. When the females lay webbing down all around their hide/burrow, they’re on the lookout for a mate. From my experience, they pair quite readily and without any aggression.

Send me a PM if you would like some A. chalcodes slings (~1” DLS). I’ve seen CB slings of other Aphonopelma species available too in the classifieds and from some dealers.

Absolutely agree. I don’t think they’re hard to breed as last night after commenting on this thread I searched for threads on people breeding them, and they seem to be successful. I definitely think it’s because they’re native here and people don’t feel like spending years raising up the slings.