Amblypygid Eggsack Issue

[The Mantis Menagerie]

I bought an adult female Damon medius back in November, and she had been carrying an eggsack. Today I opened her tank and found the eggsack half-eaten and laying on the substrate. I am assuming that she will ignore it and do nothing with it, but does anyone know if it is possible to remove the partially eaten eggs (to prevent mold) and hatch the rest of the eggsack in a separate container (I think if I leave it in the female's tank, then feeder insects will give it a taste-test)? I do not currently have a male for breeding, but is it possible for her to lay another fertile eggsack? I know mantids only need to successfully mate once, and then all of their eggs are fertilized.

 

[chanda]

I'm afraid the eggs in that pouch are goners. The young need to hatch out with the mother and ride around on her back until their first post-hatch molt. Young that fall off the mother die, so I assume any that hatch without the mother would do the same - *if* the eggs are even viable in the first place. If the temperature got too high, or the humidity too low, the developing whip spiders in the eggs may have already died, prompting her to discard the pouch.

As far as subsequent eggs and matings go, she is unlikely to produce a second brood pouch. As far as I know, amblybygids do not retain sperm for subsequent eggs, the way spiders do - but even if they did, you would not be likely to get a second batch of eggs from her because of the long gestation period and subsequent molts.

What you'll need to do is wait for her to molt before attempting to breed her again - which give you a little time to find a male. If you were to attempt breeding her before a molt (assuming she was even receptive) there's a very good chance that she would molt - shedding her brood pouch - before the eggs were ready to hatch.

I'm sorry you lost the eggs! I know how frustrating that is. My female vinegaroon ate her entire egg sac a few months ago - despite having plenty of food available - and then the male up and died on me before I could try mating her again. (I didn't want to just drop him in right away - I was giving her a little recovery time before attempting another mating.)

One of my Damon diadema females lost her egg pouch last month, too - but she just molted last week, so I'll wait a bit and then try pairing her again. It's possible she discarded the sac because she was getting close to molting - or maybe the eggs had died. While I think the temperature was ok, it's possible the humidity got a bit low while I was out of town and my husband was taking care of everything for me.

 

[The Mantis Menagerie]

Since the eggsack is doomed regardless, I might try saving it. I will post a picture of the setup if I end up trying to save it.

 

[The Mantis Menagerie]

Here is what I made in the hope that the eggs are still viable. I cut a piece of relatively stiff Styrofoam into the shape of an amblypygid's abdomen, so hopefully any hatchlings can molt properly.

 

[pannaking22]

That's an interesting idea, good luck!

 

[chanda]

Keep us posted! I hope you are successful!

 

[The Mantis Menagerie]

Since the female abandoned the eggsack she looks hungry to me, but she just keeps killing her food. Here are some pictures of her abdomen. The concave underside is what is primarily what is leading me to think she is hungry. Is she hungry, or am I trying to overfeed her?

 

[aphono]

Their bellies get that way to create space for the eggs. Takes a little while to get back to normal.

She will eat again when hungry. Would suggest single prey item at a time instead of multiples. Her killing them may be annoyance at being bothered and/or residual maternal protectiveness. Try again in about a week. It seems their appetites can be reduced while carrying eggs. The incubation stage is measured in months so don't be surprised if her appetite and abdomen looks funny for a while even though the sac is off. As long as the abdomen isn't getting dreadfully thin she's fine.

btw- wishing success with the eggsack!

 

[The Mantis Menagerie]

I have been feeding her one insect at a time.

 

[mantisfan101]

The egg incubation method might actually work, I’m eager to see how it works. Also, the female will eat when she wants to. However, of all else fails and she begins to starve, you could tru force feeding her as you’d do with injured or crippled mantids by holding the crushed food item up to her mouth(ensuring that the liquids and guts from the feeder insect are exposed) but since amblypygids are extremely jumpy I would avoid this unless it’s health and stamina and overal physique has significantly deteriorated. Good luck!

 

[orphique]

hi, was it succesfull?? have the same issue... dopped eggs, which seem to be otherwise alive...
any chance to save them?

 

[The Mantis Menagerie]

hi, was it succesfull?? have the same issue... dopped eggs, which seem to be otherwise alive...
any chance to save them?

It was not. Are the eggs just dropped. I would think dropped would be a sign of infertility.

 

[orphique]

well, i had the same situation... i bought Damon already with eggs (i guess she was cought somewhere in nature), she was carrying them for month (as i know), at my home she ate 2 crickets and so i thought all was ok, but yesterday i found the eggsack dropped... i havent been at home for few days, so there should not be any reason of disturbance or such... so i hoped i could do something to help, eventhough i read that it is actually hopeless... pity... have to find some male for her, but probably after molting...