Delena Cancerides Egg Sac

[Slavkleos]

I checked on my spider near the end of the year to water her and she laid an egg sac but I've had her for about 3 or 4 months and she hasn't had contact with any other spiders.

 

[DaveM]

Very nice! I've never kept this species, but I know that like most Sparassids they are long-lived for araneomorphs. These could live for a year or more after reaching sexual maturity. Mature males seeking to ensure that they have the opportunity to mate will often find an immature female and guard her until her ultimate molt, mating with her shortly thereafter. It's not surprising that your spider could have mated 3 or 4 months before you found an egg sac.

So I have read that you are not supposed to remove the sac from these, because the mother chews open the sac to help the spiderlings emerge when they're ready. Unfortunately, the mother fails to do this in a small fraction of captive hatchings, so you're supposed to watch and free the spiderlings if the mother fails to do so when the case puffs up and begins to stir from within. Sorry that I don't have any firsthand experience and can speak only from what I've read.

I'm also excited for you, that you might raise the spiderlings communally and observe sharing of prey, as this species is known to do, these being among the rare spider species that appear to thrive best when kept together in a colony.

I'm envious of what species are available to you mates from down under, from across the Wallace Line, so to speak.

 

[Slavkleos]

I had another egg sac hatch close to a year ago but I didn't know what to do and the babies died.

 

[DaveM]

HEY! Don't say that. Don't you know the rules? Every spiderling that is definitely and publicy acknowledged to have died in your care, for each one of them, one year of life gets removed from your lifespan.

Now, no use crying over spilled milk, can't change the past, don't want to make you feel bad about it. I'm just aiming at helping you with your future. To that end: You have some studying to do. Search this site for huntsman care. Get a big enclosure (and watch out; they are escape artists). Provide water. Keep them out of direct sunlight. What feeder insects do you use?

Here's something to read about general care:

http://titag.org/2018/2018papers/rayorhuntsman.pdf

Remember that for your particular species of huntsman, related spiderlings of similar size can be reared together.
Now, get to work! and enjoy!

 

[Slavkleos]

They usually get fed roaches or any bugs I find or mealworms if they'll take them, last time she ate was when I found a massive smokey brown. It tried to escape so I closed the container and it's head was sticking out so I shut the container properly and it popped out and started moving around. I then scissored the legs and left it because the spider went wtf is this. Next morning all that was left were bits of legs and wings. I know how to care for them now, I have 5. Whenever one escapes I usually find them a night or two later in the mealworm bin because it doesn't have a top. My isopeda villosa ran off somehow and hasn't returned. I have no idea where she went, she was in her massive 50L house and disappeared when I opened the top.

 

[DaveM]

They usually get fed roaches or any bugs I find or mealworms if they'll take them, last time she ate was when I found a massive smokey brown. It tried to escape so I closed the container and it's head was sticking out so I shut the container properly and it popped out and started moving around. I then scissored the legs and left it because the spider went wtf is this. Next morning all that was left were bits of legs and wings. I know how to care for them now, I have 5. Whenever one escapes I usually find them a night or two later in the mealworm bin because it doesn't have a top. My isopeda villosa ran off somehow and hasn't returned. I have no idea where she went, she was in her massive 50L house and disappeared when I opened the top.

This is a lot of information to process. I'm sleepy and my brain isn't working well right now (sneaky of me, though, to imply that my brain ever does work well, don't you think?).
All I can really speak is a general message of good will to all people that keep arachnids, and to you in particular. Today, there are 52,059 described species of spiders, classified into 4541 genera falling into 132 families. Our planet may harbor approximately 100,000 spider species, described and as yet unknown. The number of humans on earth is approximately 8.1 billion, and the number of spiders on earth is estimated to be approximately 25 quintillion (to modern Americans that means 25,000,000,000,000,000,000). So there are roughly 2.8 million spiders for each human. To all of us here that keep spiders, I salute you. The magnitude of the task we undertake in forming these interphyla liaisons simply boggles the mind. There will be missteps. We may falter, and yet we shall ever rise up to carry forth our banner. To you @Slavkleos, and to everyone else here committed as we, I send you my most fervent wishes for success with glory and honor.

 

[Slavkleos]

I recorded the roach encounter with it's decapitated head moving around along with it's body not knowing what to do except flee if touched. I can upload them to YouTube.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Was this spider wild caught?

 

[Slavkleos]

Yes, I found her hiding under bark around the area of the bush that was severely burned by the Abos that live around the area. She crawled into my shirt. When the egg sac hatches I plan on moving my mealbeetles into there because their current concentration camp is starting to get too small.

 

[Brewser]

This may be the Result of a 'Wild Encounter' before moving In ...

 

[Slavkleos]

Update: I found the spider that ran off and the egg sac detached from the wall this morning or last night so I gave it a little tear to help any babies inside.