A few questions on Egg sac care

[BobGrill]

Hey everyone. Well as a keeper who is still pretty new to breeding, I had a few questions I wanted to ask some of the more experienced members here. See the first successful sac was actually a rather unexpected success, as I really didn't have much of an idea of what I was doing when it came to care/incubation for the sac itself. It was from a P.cambridgei and I had pulled the sac after about 30 or so days and just hatched them that way. However I have had some problems in the past when it comes to mites, which I'm guessing was probably a result of keeping the sac in that case too moist perhaps and not providing adequate ventilation in the deli cup that I was using as an incubator? I know that some say it is often better to keep the terrarium a bit more moist for certain species while the sac is in there, that way it doesn't desiccate, however I was just curious as to what your thoughts/opinions on this matter were, if any of that is even as important as some make it out to be. I know more ventilation would help when it comes to deterring mold growth, but I'm not so sure about mites. The two species that apply to this particular instance are P.irminia and P.ornata. Another thing I wanted to ask is for those of you who prefer to keep the sac with the mother until they hatch (often times what I like to do), do you like to separate the slings while they are 1st instars? I ask mostly because I realize that the slings can easily slip through the ventilation holes in the enclosures, and I would really hate for that to happen, especially if I was at work or something when this occurred. Thanks for all your patience and assistance.

 

[louise f]

This is an succesful breeding of P.cambridgei.
This is how i incubate them. I rehouse the slings when they are 1 molt, not before.

 

[gottarantulas]

I always leave sacs with the mom and let nature take its course. I separate the slings at 2nd instar.

 

[BobGrill]

I always leave sacs with the mom and let nature take its course. I separate the slings at 2nd instar.

I agree that's definitely the best way to do it, my main concern is like I said having slings escape through the ventilation holes I have drilled into the sides.

 

[louise f]

Make some smaller holes, that helps

 

[Haksilence]

There is good reason for both side of that discussion, and both make sense. But IMO it just seems like pulling the sac is safer, you can more easily regulate the temperature and humidity, keep the mother from eating them, and keep better track of numbers and groth progress.

 

[BobGrill]

Make some smaller holes, that helps

Sadly that won't really help for this one, since I'm referring to the holes that are already drilled into the gravid females's enclosure.

 

[louise f]

I would have taken the eggsac then.

 

[ErinM31]

I agree that's definitely the best way to do it, my main concern is like I said having slings escape through the ventilation holes I have drilled into the sides.

Could you adhere pieces of mesh/fabric over the holes? I am a newb, but my plan, once I have a successful mating and eggsac, is to leave the eggs with the mom and separate the slings at first or second instar. I imagine they could easily slip through the ventilation of the Exo Terra enclosure I have her in, so I plan to secure cloth or screen (I need to look up just HOW small the slings are!) over the ventilation slots from the inside.

 

[8Legs8Eyes]

I would be interested in seeing some more replies on this. I like the idea of letting the mother care for her young, but most of the reading or videos I have seen have involved people taking the sacs out before the young were still eggs with legs or younger, with the exception of M. balfouri. I'm still early on in my first breeding attempt (no dropped sac yet) but I am very open to the various ways of handling the situation.

 

[Haksilence]

The thing with that is that there is no guarantee the mother will care for the young and its a gamble on wether she will eat the sac/eggs/spiderlings.
So it's a nice thought, and it makes us feel good letting mom be a mommy, but spiders don't work the same way as humans. It's just safer for the slings if it's pulled.

At least that's my understanding

 

[Sana]

I haven't worked with my first sac yet, though I'm hoping to complete my first pairing this month as long as my female is receptive. I originally thought that it would be more foolproof to leave the sac with mom the hatch. After some thought though, it seems like my worst nightmare to try to separate (hopefully) several hundred slings out of an enclosure that is set up to be a tarantula's favorite place to hide with a potentially crabby mom in the equation. Getting one egg sac away from her seems a lot simpler then hundreds of tiny spiders with minds of their own.

 

[Haksilence]

I haven't worked with my first sac yet, though I'm hoping to complete my first pairing this month as long as my female is receptive. I originally thought that it would be more foolproof to leave the sac with mom the hatch. After some thought though, it seems like my worst nightmare to try to separate (hopefully) several hundred slings out of an enclosure that is set up to be a tarantula's favorite place to hide with a potentially crabby mom in the equation. Getting one egg sac away from her seems a lot simpler then hundreds of tiny spiders with minds of their own.

Could you imagine leaving LP slings with the mom? There would be enough to cover every inch of the sub

 

[8Legs8Eyes]

Could you imagine leaving LP slings with the mom? There would be enough to cover every inch of the sub

Oh my god...
I don't even want to imagine the headache this would be.

 

[Haksilence]

Could you imagine leaving LP slings with the mom? There would be enough to cover every inch of the sub

Aparently clarification was needed?

Lasyodora parahybana have 2000+ eggs to a sac in some cases. Meaning there is a lot of slings

 

[shawno821]

I pull the sac on day 1,put it in a mechanical mom for xx days depending on species,and try to open them at 1st instar.I separate them at 2nd instar.This has worked for the last 3 sacs for me 100%.My 4 sacs before the mechanical mom,had 1 dessicate,2 got eaten,and 1 molded over.I'm never going back to leaving them with the mom.And I'm not talking about that dumb a$$ mecha mom in the TKG,either.I've improved upon that design greatly,and it now costs around $10-$20 to build my version.

 

[8Legs8Eyes]

Aparently clarification was needed?

Lasyodora parahybana have 2000+ eggs to a sac in some cases. Meaning there is a lot of slings

I don't think anyone needed clarification? I just said I wouldn't even want to think about how much work that would be. I think their egg sac sizes are pretty well known.

 

[Sana]

I'm not sure that I want to go as far as a mechanical mom. I'm intending to leave my first sac (assuming that I get one) with mom for 30 days and then pull it. I keep reading that most get EWLs around 30 days. Do slings hatch from the egg sac at first instar? I would think that pulling the sac as close to then as possible would be preferable.

 

[8Legs8Eyes]

I'm not sure that I want to go as far as a mechanical mom. I'm intending to leave my first sac (assuming that I get one) with mom for 30 days and then pull it. I keep reading that most get EWLs around 30 days. Do slings hatch from the egg sac at first instar? I would think that pulling the sac as close to then as possible would be preferable.

I believe they start as eggs with legs and then hatch into first instar.

Might have misread you, thinking you may have been asking at what stage they break out, not what they first molt as. As for that I am not sure if is at first instar or later.

 

[Sana]

Might have misread you, thinking you may have been asking at what stage they break out, not what they first molt as. As for that I am not sure if is at first instar or later.

Yeah I was looking for what stage they break out of the egg sac on their own.