Failing Blondi mating, why?

[Fran]

Good luck man. The water pooring is a good idea, you dont want that enclosure to be dry...Yet you dont want to have poor ventilation.

I cant wait for you to pull the sack

 

[RottweilExpress]

Thanks, me too! I know, I drill holes in the sides of most of my hammarplast I use, to get some natural flow of air. This box is on the lesser side, which I've been concerned about. I think the "external" radiator gets some of the air moving in the box though, making a shift of air. The purpose of the setup was to make the whole box the actual chamber, making her comfortable enough to lay the sack. I've experimented with the concept succesfully before. You can also tell when you apply the concept on burrowers, they tend to stay on the "surface" webbing it up, even if they have the chance to dig further down, if the box is cramped enough.

Of course, I'm not advocating cramped housing generally.

 

[John Kanker]

maybe ask some people who have bred them for advise. You can find some people who have had success here-
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=50030

 

[Falk]

maybe ask some people who have bred them for advise. You can find some people who have had success here-
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=50030

Many of those are T. stirmi and not T. blondi.

 

[John Kanker]

Many of those are T. stirmi and not T. blondi.

I see 3 success on that page from Jmugleston, Drachenjager and Tescos. As
Jmugleston and Drachenjager don't show photo of the adults they mated I wouldn't even like to say if they are are T. stirmi or T. blondi but in the photos by Tescos you can see they are T.blondi.

 

[Fran]

I see 3 success on that page from Jmugleston, Drachenjager and Tescos. As
Jmugleston and Drachenjager don't show photo of the adults they mated I wouldn't even like to say if they are are T. stirmi or T. blondi but in the photos by Tescos you can see they are T.blondi.

I think he (RottweilExpress) has it pretty much right. He has half the battle done. Now is just to hope those eggs are fertile and they develope into healthy slings soon

 

[John Kanker]

sorry for wasting your time then.

 

[Fran]

Oh come on Im sure he appreciates any input

 

[RottweilExpress]

I appreciate all advice, although in this case the breeding reports were the first thing I read

 

[RottweilExpress]

A staggering -28 degrees Celcius (-18.4 fahrenheit) is making it difficult to maintain good temps in the hobbyroom. Taking the risk now to put the external radiator closer to the breeders. Even the spanish harvester ants have slowed down.

No luck in getting good insertions with the other fems. The one carrying sack now was the one that was almost overly receptive to the more unwilling males. The other two fems just gives them the hand almost immediatly. It's strange, and a bit frustrating. Both males have fresh spermnets in their containers and both fems are recently molted. I will continue making setups and changing the rules of engagement

 

[Crows Arachnids]

60 days is far too long.

 

[RottweilExpress]

We've drawn that conclusion as well. I've stopped at 40 days, which is just about a week and a half from now. Do you have another suggestion?

 

[RottweilExpress]

Failure.

The sac was discarded early this morning. It was approx 50-70 eggs, all black and hard. Grainmites were feeding happily. I don't know what went wrong, the air was not stale, the container was not overly moist, or at least not swampy. Drops were present to the side of the radiator, but that's all. The only thing I can come up with if I fault the setup, is the amount of ventilation. But again, the air was fine etc. I've taken pics, and I'll post them tonight. It's a bitter day.

 

[AmbushArachnids]

That really sucks. There is always another try.

 

[Crows Arachnids]

Eggs were likely infertile. This happens when you have two different Theraphosa, which you may or may not have had.

 

[RottweilExpress]

I'm kinda hoping you're wrong here, because the fems younger sister was just succesfully inserted with the same males juice.

I'll switch males too, but I guess whoever sperm gets there first, right? Might be looking at another infirtile sack then, if I get one at all.

I've found mold on a piece of wood in the fems container, proving the ventilation to be on the slight side. The balance is delicate.

 

[RottweilExpress]

I retract the mold statement, it was just bad lightning and dust. No obvious mold. Also, the approx temp in the container according to an almost horizontal mercury thermometer was 26 degrees C. I guess it fluxuates with the radiator which is not stabil in it's temp due to a thermostat.

Bad eggs and mites

The container

 

[RottweilExpress]

Time for another spin. It's the third sack from 2011 matings and it's cooking since 12-01-03 or thereabout. I was thinking about plucking this sack later this week, as it has passed 30 days by then. Difference between this sack and the last this fem had (the one described in this thread) is that this is HUGE and it has grown considerably the past week(s). Well, to make it sound less positive, it's not that much tension to it, when she puts it down it looks like a bag on the ground, "floats out" so to speak.

Temp is far lower, lesser moisture, same cage, same fem, I'm guessing another male, mostly dark around the clock, temp around 22-23 degress. It's january and deep winter outside.