Experienced Breeders: Acanthoscurria geniculata

[Mojo Jojo]

Ok, these questions go out to anyone who has successfully bred and reared the eggsac of A. geniculata.


Did you leave the eggsac with the mother, leave it with her for a while and then take it, or did you take it immediately from her and incubate it artificially?

If you incubated artificially and were successful, what did you do?

How long did it take to incubate the eggsac (natural and artificial)?


Thanks,

Jon

p.s. If you have any other notes that could help me out

 

[rknralf]

I'd email or call Matt over at e-spiderworld. He is very knowlegeable and has helped me with many of my breeding concerns.
Good luck with the breeding effort.
Ralph

 

[Buspirone]

LaRiz recently had an egg sac. You could try PM'ing him.

 

[Botar]

Big Dragonfly,

Once you get your info, post it here. This is something I'm interested in as well.

Botar

 

[TheWidowsPeak]

mee too I am going to buy three more two inchers for 90 bucks, that will give me four, and in a few years I will be breeding them like crazy... I still think it is one of the most beautifull of the tarantulas

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Here is the info that John (Lariz) sent me:

LaRiz wrote on 08-13-2003 10:21 PM:
Jon,
One of the worst things to do is to take the eggsac right away. By doing this, even with that mechanical mom thing, the odds of total fertilization decreases.
With all my eggsacs, I let mom have it for at least 30 days. There's no substitute for her.
When she lays down her mat and lays all those eggs, there is a a lot of fluid that comes out, that will nourish and fertilize as well. By her handling the eggsac 'til the eggs all dry/absorb the fluid, she ensures total fertilization.
As you know females sometimes eat their eggsacs. Out of all the eggsacs I've had only one ate it (Theraphosa blondi). I keep mine all free from disturbances. This includes audio disturbances as this will vibrate (stereos, etc.).
If she eats it, it just wasn't meant to be. That's how I look at it.
After the 30 day period, I take it. With my genic I took it at 26 days and found post embryos. 5 days later (!) they molting into their first true instar. So far, so good. It is now 30 days since they molted into their 1st instar. Something I'm not used to, but is typical of this species. Old worlders take only like two weeks. Once they reach their 2nd instar, they're ready to go out and tackle the world.
If you have an eggsac or expect one, I could help you out on making a rearing container. It's a lot easier to raise them than most think. Cake.
Later,
john
PS My method is not the only one out there. There are many that work just as well, but I've had far too many 100% hatches to look towards another. Why fix something that's not broken?

Jon