Accidental Breeding? New owner of a Grammostola rosea...

[fezinafelina]

My 7 year old received a Chilean Rose Hair for his birthday back in Late April, it was an adult a little bigger than the palm of my husband's hand. Well about a week ago it started acting odd, started eatting a lot more than normal, abandoned it's burrow and dug another under the water dish, and now she has completely walled herself into the hole with webbing and wood chips. I assumed she was molting or that maybe the recent addition of a heat lamp had somehow triggered the change in behavior. Well we lifted up the glass terrarium to see if she was still down there and all we can see is a big white egg sac!
She is totally wrapped around it and has not come out since she walled herself in.
We have had her since late April, is it possible this is a viable egg sac? How big are these spiderlings going to be (we have a grated top not a solid one)? Can I take it away from her without hurting her? I do NOT want these baby spiders, could I safely ship the eggs to someone who does want them?
Any help, experience and info would be greatly appreciated right now.

 

[patrickbull]

Consider yourself lucky! Most who TRY to breed this species can't get them to produce a sack. You can pull the sack from her with no harm. There are several threads here on artificial incubation. It is probably fertile if she has not molted in your care. The slings will be very tiny. They will need to be placed in containers with very small air holes. Good luck!

As for shipping the sack I really don't know.....

 

[Comatose]

I do NOT want these baby spiders, could I safely ship the eggs to someone who does want them?

You sure can, but it would be safer to wait until they reach their second instar and have become spiderlings.

 

[Chris_Skeleton]

On another note, if you have wood chips and a heat lamp, you have it setup completely wrong. Post some pics.

 

[rooster & hen]

I'm sure someone close to you would LOVE to take the sac off your hands. Try posting it in the classified section of this site, someone is sure to take it off your hands.

 

[PrimalTaunt]

Most G. rosea sold in pet stores (I'm assuming that's where you got yours) are wild caught and every now and then one will be knocked up. As long as yours has not molted in your care it is possible and even likely that it is a viable sac. Depending on how far North you are I would not suggest shipping it in these temperatures but even if you are in an area where shipping really wouldn't be recommended you could probably post your location and find somebody local to either take the sac off of your hands or the slings off your hands once they hatch at a wholesale price.

Otherwise, like Chris said, if you're using wood chips and a heat lamp please post pics so that we can help you get her set up correctly.

 

[grayzone]

wow, most people look at this situation as a good thing lol.

 

[fezinafelina]

I'm in key west fl so the local market has a lack of demand for baby tarantulas, lol. The spider belongs to my seven year old son who was a bit disappointed to find out his pet victor was really a Victoria. We aren't collectors or even really hobbiest, this is and will continue to be our only spider. The wood chips I have in there came in a bag labled as "substrate" we are keeping it at about 55% humidity and 80 degrees. I'll post a pic as soon as I can.
thanks for the help so far, id be happy to send the eggs or slings to whoever wants them, I just need some guidance on how to handle hatching and caring for them.

 

[fezinafelina]

Ok, I have been trying to retrieve the egg sac for the last two days, she is super protective of it and it's buried so far down I can see it from the bottom of the enclosure when I hold it up over my head. I tried to wait for her to separate from it but I'm nervous that the slings will hatch before that happens. How small are they going to be BTW, will they fit through the holes in the screen top?
As I said before, I would be happy to send the babies to whoever wants them and will do what I need to do to get them to the point they can be shipped. I am trying really really hard to be a good mom (My son wants to keep them all, EEEK!) and do what I can to make sure his spider and her young are cared for but I am really at war with my urge to squeal and run every time I have to go into that terrarium, lol.
BTW- She is looking really skinny, should I try to feed her? She has been buried with her sack for almost a month now and only emerged when I started trying to get to her eggs.
TIA for the continued guidance, I am really loving the internet right now, lol.

 

[Earth Tiger]

I'm in key west fl so the local market has a lack of demand for baby tarantulas, lol. The spider belongs to my seven year old son who was a bit disappointed to find out his pet victor was really a Victoria. We aren't collectors or even really hobbiest, this is and will continue to be our only spider. The wood chips I have in there came in a bag labled as "substrate" we are keeping it at about 55% humidity and 80 degrees. I'll post a pic as soon as I can.
thanks for the help so far, id be happy to send the eggs or slings to whoever wants them, I just need some guidance on how to handle hatching and caring for them.

For pet tarantulas, females are the only sex hobbyists want in general. No one wants to keep a male T unless one wants to breed it. Male Ts only have one purpose in their minds which makes them very poor pets, and they have much shorter lifespans than females too. When we talk about pet tarantulas we always refer to female tarantulas.

I can tell that neither you nor your son are particularly well informed on tarantulas so I suggest you bring the whole setup along with the spider and the egg sac inside to the one whom your son received his birthday spider gift from, and ask him to take care the egg sac, setup the tank probably etc before returning Victoria to your son. If you have no experience on tarantula keeping and are not particularly fond of her egg sac, you will not be able to handle the spiderlings and end up hundreds of dead spiderlings. Certainly no one would want to see that, especially this isn't good for your son.

 

[Formerphobe]

I suggest you bring the whole setup along with the spider and the egg sac inside to the one whom your son received his birthday spider gift from, and ask him to take care the egg sac, setup the tank probably etc before returning Victoria to your son.

Which brings us to the question, Where did you acquire the G. rosea? If from a pet store or similar distributor, many/most have no earthly clue about proper, or even barely adequate, tarantula husbandry. The situation would be better served by finding someone in your area who is familiar with and interested in incubating an egg sac. (Perhaps someone reading this thread will pm you?.?.?.) With too much stress, Victoria will eat the sac and it will be a moot point.

If you have no experience on tarantula keeping and are not particularly fond of her egg sac, you will not be able to handle the spiderlings and end up hundreds of dead spiderlings. Certainly no one would want to see that, especially this isn't good for your son.

+1

 

[Wink]

to the OP, i would be glad to take the sac off your hands! contact me via PM and we can talk about details

 

[Earth Tiger]

to the OP, i would be glad to take the sac off your hands! contact me via PM and we can talk about details

It's better if you can actually visit her to help her remove the sac. The OP is not a hobbyist and she doesn't seem to be able to take out the egg sac without harming the T or the sac.

 

[lunashimmer]

There has GOT to be someone in Miami who can help fezinafelina with the egg sac, if Victoria hasn't already eaten it due to stress.

Here's how to keep Victoria happy and healthy, once the egg sac is no longer a problem: Buy some EcoEarth from the pet store. Eco Earth is the preferred substrate for Ts. It is made of coconut coir and completely safe. Since Victoria is an adult, she should be in a 5 to 10 gallon aquarium or the largest Kritter Keeper. The EcoEarth should be filled almost to the top of the enclosure. This is for the safety of the T--if they fall, they are very vulnerable to splitting open their squishy abdomens, which is a death sentence. She should be able to touch the substrate while touching the top of the enclosure. She should have a wide. shallow water dish, either one of the marbled plastic ones that are sold for reptiles or a glazed ceramic dish. Nothing rough, because once again, they have squishy abdomens and a cut or a scratch could be deadly. G. rosea like it dry, so no misting. You can put in a silk plant, like ivy, for decoration. Most likely, she'll just web it up. Also, she should have a lightweight hide, like a coconut shell, in case she doesn't burrow. A lot of captive G. rosea won't burrow.

There's a sticky at the top of this forum titled "Rose Hair Owners"--please read it.

Good luck, and keep us updated!

 

[Stan Schultz]

I'm in key west fl so the local market has a lack of demand for baby tarantulas, lol. The spider belongs to my seven year old son who was a bit disappointed to find out his pet victor was really a Victoria. We aren't collectors or even really hobbiest, this is and will continue to be our only spider. The wood chips I have in there came in a bag labled as "substrate" we are keeping it at about 55% humidity and 80 degrees. I'll post a pic as soon as I can.
thanks for the help so far, id be happy to send the eggs or slings to whoever wants them, I just need some guidance on how to handle hatching and caring for them.

Read The Care and Husbandry of the Chilean Rose Tarantula.

You live in Key West? Right up the street from you in Miami there are dozens of tropical fish/animal importers and dealers. Somebody up there surely would like a gift of baby tarantulas. Post announcements in the Classified sections.

In the meantime I would strongly urge you to make an honest effort to hatch the babies. Perform a search on this forum (<Search> link towards the top of this page) for rose eggsac or rose incubator to find out how it's done. (Hint: Use either the au naturel or Ryan "talkenlate04" Nefcy's setup. Perform searches for these as well.) It'll be a great learning experience for both you and your boy. And, since it takes 70 to 90 days for the babies to emerge from the eggsac you'll still have plenty of time to find someone who can take most of the babies from you. I would also urge you to save a half dozen of the babies to keep as pets for yourself. Watching them grow and develop is another great learning experience.

Is there any way for you to post a few photos of your setup and Momma with her eggsac? We all love to see photos like that!

And no, the breeding wasn't accidental. He did it to her with great intent and "malice aforethought!" And, she participated quite willingly.