Has anyone raised a Scytodes egg sac?

[Zoeyzen]

Tried searching, but couldn’t find a lot of info. I found this lovely spitting spider a few weeks ago, stuck in a cup in a bin of all my cork bark and other enclosure paraphernalia. Not sure if she was already in my house or hitchhiked in on cork I ordered. She was pretty dehydrated and lethargic, so I set her up in an enclosure, got her fed & watered, and like every mature female spider ever, she laid an egg sac. I’d like to try raising them, but I really can’t find much info on this species. I’ve raised some jumping spider, huntsman, and wolf spider sacs, so I’m hoping the care is similar? I normally leave slings with the mother initially, rehouse Mom when she seems over the whole kid thing, keep slings together for a few molts, then start separating. Is that okay for this species? Should they be separated from the mother immediately? Can they be communal for a molt or two? I have springtail cultures going, so I’m guessing that’s probably the only prey small enough for them. And finally, she has been hanging onto the sac for two weeks, when should I expect the slings to emerge? I haven’t been able to feed her—she will not let go of the sac—but I fed her really well up until she laid the sac, and her abdomen still looks decent. How soon can I feed her?
I’d love to hear any insight from anyone that’s raised this species!

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

No clue but cool looking spider we don’t have them here. I would try the search function.

 

[Zoeyzen]

I tried—I found a few threads mentioning someone having this species with an egg sac, but never any updates on how it went or much detail. I’m hoping that’s not a bad sign lol. She’s a really cool spider, I’d love to raise some from slings if I can!

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I tried—I found a few threads mentioning someone having this species with an egg sac, but never any updates on how it went or much detail. I’m hoping that’s not a bad sign lol. She’s a really cool spider, I’d love to raise some from slings if I can!

Took me a minute to find this , best of luck and update us on your care. Pics etc . I would just search the Internet if anything sounds ridiculous. Just repost the car sheet here.or move on to another one.

https://shop.minibeastwildlife.com.au/content/Minibeast%20Wildlife%20Care%20Guide%20-%20Dictis%20striatipes.pdf

 

[Brewser]

Cool Spider, actually expells/ spits a sticky gum like venom a distance up to ten times its own body length.

 

[Zoeyzen]

Took me a minute to find this , best of luck and update us on your care. Pics etc . I would just search the Internet if anything sounds ridiculous. Just repost the car sheet here.or move on to another one.

https://shop.minibeastwildlife.com.au/content/Minibeast%20Wildlife%20Care%20Guide%20-%20Dictis%20striatipes.pdf

Thank you! Will do!

 

[Zoeyzen]

Cool Spider, actually expells/ spits a sticky gum like venom a distance up to ten times its own body length.

I was able to feed her a few times before she laid the sac, it was fascinating to watch! I’m hoping she & her slings do well, I would love to continue raising this species.

 

[Zoeyzen]

Update! The sac (which was laid on 07/11) has hatched today (O7/29). So that was pretty quick! The slings are clustered together, near the sac, and Mom was wandering around on the substrate right below them. I have not offered food during the time she was holding onto the sac—I misted daily, but otherwise left her alone. Offered her a cricket just now—she immediately went after it. I could find very little information on raising Scytotes, but from what I did find, the mothers do seem to care for their slings for awhile, and they should stay with her until at least their first molt after hatching. So I’ll just go with that for now. Once they molt and start dispersing, I’ll probably just rehouse Mom & let the slings stay communal for a bit. If it looks like it’s not working out, I’ll separate them sooner. I’ll offer the slings springtails at first, see how it goes, and move onto FFF. Anyway, I’ll keep updating as time goes on, even if this ends badly—hopefully it will be helpful for anyone searching for info in the future, and if I do this wrong, then they can learn from any mistakes I made. Any info is better than none!

 

[CRX]

Update! The sac (which was laid on 07/11) has hatched today (O7/29). So that was pretty quick! The slings are clustered together, near the sac, and Mom was wandering around on the substrate right below them. I have not offered food during the time she was holding onto the sac—I misted daily, but otherwise left her alone. Offered her a cricket just now—she immediately went after it. I could find very little information on raising Scytotes, but from what I did find, the mothers do seem to care for their slings for awhile, and they should stay with her until at least their first molt after hatching. So I’ll just go with that for now. Once they molt and start dispersing, I’ll probably just rehouse Mom & let the slings stay communal for a bit. If it looks like it’s not working out, I’ll separate them sooner. I’ll offer the slings springtails at first, see how it goes, and move onto FFF. Anyway, I’ll keep updating as time goes on, even if this ends badly—hopefully it will be helpful for anyone searching for info in the future, and if I do this wrong, then they can learn from any mistakes I made. Any info is better than none!

Keep us updated, this is the kind of data we desperately need about little kept species. tysm

 

[Zoeyzen]

Update—6 days later, (8/04), it looks like the slings have molted into their 2nd instar. From Monday up to this Sunday morning, Mom had been hanging out on the cork, about an inch away from the sac pretty much at all times. Seemed like she wanted a bit of personal space, but was still guarding the slings. I fed her again on Wednesday. This morning, I noticed that she was hanging out by herself on the other side of the enclosure. The slings are all still webbed up together, so not quite dispersing yet, but they’re starting to get more mobile and are already getting their spotted pattern. I rehoused Mom, fed her again, even though she looks plump enough. I’m not sure if she’ll lay another sac, but most spiders do, so she may be gravid again. I did drop some springtails in with the slings in case they were ready to eat, and will try fruit flies soon. Below are pics I’ve taken throughout the week, starting with Monday up through Sunday.

 

[Zoeyzen]

Update (8/05)—the slings have started eating, thankfully! There seem to be a bunch of them hanging out near each other, but they’re obviously so microscopic that I don’t know if others are off in different parts of the enclosure. The fruit fly culture I picked up last week hasn’t started reproducing—I REALLY should have gotten one much earlier, that was my mistake—but I did throw a few precious flies in, along with a ton of springtails. I saw slings eating both. I’ll try to pick up more flies tomorrow to let my current culture grow a bit. If I could do this again, I definitely would have kept the mother and egg sac in a smaller enclosure, with paper towels, so i could keep track of them better. They blend in with all the cork, leaves, moss and substrate too well. Anyway, it is what it is, I’ll just hope for the best.

 

[Zoeyzen]

Update (8/12)—
The mother just made a second sac this morning. At least now I have a better idea of what to expect. Her slings are still doing well in her old enclosure—I can’t really keep track of them easily, but I do see quite a few out & about, especially during feedings. The naturalistic set up is probably what I’ll stick with, since springtails survive so well in there and I like knowing they constantly have prey available. I’ve seen a lot of them hunting springtails . I’ve been feeding FFF every other day as well. The slings seem fine communally for now, and share prey, so I’ll continue keeping them together for a bit. As for mom, I’ll just do what I did last time—continue to mist daily but otherwise leave her alone to do her thing. She ate 3 crickets before laying this second sac and still looks healthy, so I won’t offer food until the sac hatches.

 

[Zoeyzen]

Update—(9/06)
The second clutch has hatched! There looks to be about 20-25 or so. I’m just going to do what I did last time, and leave Mom in there until they disperse.
The first clutch is still communal, and I’ve seen a few molts, so I think I’m going to begin separating clutch #1 and see what I have at this point, get a better look at the sizes, see if cannibalism has been an issue. The slings are in a 5” by 6” enclosure with mosquito mesh ventilation panels on 2 sides, with soil, moss, cork & leaves. I dump in a bunch of FFF every couple of days and have springtails available at all times. I mist lightly each morning, the way I would with jumping spider slings. Hopefully that’s been appropriate, and I’ll have a better idea later on when I start going through the enclosure and pulling the slings out. If all goes well, I’ll be doing the same thing with clutch #2.

 

[Zoeyzen]

Update (9/10)
Clutch #2 have all molted and started dispersing. As she did with clutch #1, Mama guarded them up until then, staying about an inch from the sac. She did eat, but stayed close by. Went off by herself once they were mobile, so I managed to track her down and move her into a new enclosure. I offered springtails to the slings, and Mama got a cricket. I haven’t gotten around to separating the slings from clutch #1 yet, but I’ll get to that soon and see how many I have.

 

[Zoeyzen]

Update—
Mom has not had another sac, luckily. She’s been doing fine, not eating as voraciously as before, but still acting pretty normally. I’m misting daily and feeding a small cricket or a mealworm weekly—she doesn’t always take them. I’ve separated about 8 slings from sac #1 into individual cups. They’ve all gained a bit of size, but are still tiny enough that sorting through them is pretty tedious. I saw no evidence of cannibalism, so I’m leaving sac #2 communal for awhile. The communal slings are in a 5” by 6” enclosure, with mosquito mesh vent panels. The individual slings are in 2 oz deli cups with soil, leaves and moss, with springtails constantly available. I cut out little panels on 2 sides, using pipe screen as ventilation. I give everyone a light mist daily and feed fruit flies every third day. Basically treating them like jumping spider slings. Seems to be working well, no losses that I’ve noticed. In the next few weeks, I’ll continue to sort out slings from sac #1, and then deal with sac #2. So far, they’re pretty easy, very hardy spiders.