HELP!Unexpected Avic sac!!!!

neubii18

Arachnosquire
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Dec 14, 2009
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So I purchased an Avic Avic female that's pushing 6"(big girl,right?).I put her in an exo Terra,and have been feeding her heavily as she came in kinda slender.She fattened up real nice and was look great.Then she made a huge tube web.Bigger than I have ever seen an avic do before.I assumed she as just going to molt soon.This was about a month ago.

Now fast forward to today.I thought it seemed odd that I hadn't seen her out of her web yet.The last avic I had took about 3 weeks to molt after the web.So I slightly opened the Tube with tongs and peered in.I saw her laying in the bottom of the web.I assumed her dead,so I prodded her gently with the tongs.She turned around and I noticed her abdomen was extremely thin.I wad glad to see she was alive,and figured she must have molted.I began looking around through the little hole for the web,and did not see a shedskin.Then I noticed she was sitting on top of something white.Then it hit me!I realized she had layed a sac.I'm almost positive it's not a phantom sac,as it's pretty large.This is my first T sac ever!What do I do?Can I just leave it with het?I put her in my closet and put a blanket over her enlosure so it's nice and dark and quiet.Anything else I should do?How about feeding?My room gets about 75 degrees during the day,sometimes a little hotter.Any help is greatly appreciated.I'm assuming she must be a fresh import,and bred with a male before being captured.Thanks!I would really like to hatch out this sac.I will try and do whatever you guys think is best to make it happen!
 

Jacobchinarian

Arachnoknight
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I have never bread befor but my first suggestion would be buy the tarantula keepers guide and do NOT disturb the tarantula. If you do it is likely she will eat the sac.
 

AbraCadaver

Arachnoknight
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Feb 6, 2009
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Phantom sacks can be just as large, as they are sometimes filled with unfertile eggs.

Are you sure she was paired?
 

Rabid538

Arachnoknight
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Hopefully they turn out fertile. If they do you have great luck, that is awesome! Congrats.

You should check out the breeding reports for Avic avics: http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=13647

I would leave the sac with mom and pull it between 35-40 days. Watch for mold which could ruin the sac. Then incubate the "eggs with legs". Humidity of around 80% and temperature of 80-84 degrees. You start feeding at 2nd instar which is also when you should separate them.

Good luck! :)
 
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Rabid538

Arachnoknight
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After you pull them you want to open up the sac and carefully spread out the eggs with legs on the incubator. Take out any bad eggs; they will be darker in color. It should take less than a month for them to molt into 1st instar and about a month to 2nd. It can vary though.
 

neubii18

Arachnosquire
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It's been about 40 days,so I want to pull the sac.Can they be kept at room temp?And what is this coffer filte. Incubator Ive been hearing about?Thanks everybody!
 

neubii18

Arachnosquire
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is she WC?
Yea.I'm assuming that's where she mate if she really did.Time will tell.I'll pull it today if I can figure out if I can incubate at room temps,and the best way to incubate.

---------- Post added at 06:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:36 AM ----------

Can a reptile incubator be used to keep them at 80-84?Thanks!
 

venomous.com

Arachnoknight
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Yea.I'm assuming that's where she mate if she really did.Time will tell.I'll pull it today if I can figure out if I can incubate at room temps,and the best way to incubate.

---------- Post added at 06:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:36 AM ----------

Can a reptile incubator be used to keep them at 80-84?Thanks!
I keep my sacs at room temperature, I don't think 80+ degrees is required. Put a coffee filter into a cup, then that cup into a covered bowl with .5" of water in the bottom. That's it.
 

Falk

Arachnodemon
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Leave the sack with the female, she can take better care of the sack than you.
 
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dianedfisher

Arachnobaron
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Leave the sack with the female, she can take better care of the sack than you.
+1 if the sac is good, Avics are easy to separate and, as a beginner, you have a much better chance of success if you just leave them with her. I keep my breeder females at 80F with a 5 degree drop at night and every Avicularia sac that I've had has gone to 8+ weeks before the slings emerged as 2nd instar spiderlings OR I gave in to the temptation and opened it to find late 1st instar spiderlings that molted into 2nd Instar within days. I hope it's fertile! Good luck,
Diane
 

Falk

Arachnodemon
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+1 if the sac is good, Avics are easy to separate and, as a beginner, you have a much better chance of success if you just leave them with her. I keep my breeder females at 80F with a 5 degree drop at night and every Avicularia sac that I've had has gone to 8+ weeks before the slings emerged as 2nd instar spiderlings OR I gave in to the temptation and opened it to find late 1st instar spiderlings that molted into 2nd Instar within days. I hope it's fertile! Good luck,
Diane
I did nothing:) Just waited until all where 2:nd instar and then i took them all out.
 

neubii18

Arachnosquire
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The female is really skinny,so I want to pull it asap.I am gonna get everything ready and do it.I wasn't expecting the sac,so I didn't feed her super heavily.I really think it will be better if I pull it and then feed her.I will keep you guys updated on what happens.

---------- Post added at 07:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:38 PM ----------

So I pulled it...

And there are eggs with legs!!!They all look super healthy,an were moving around a lot!And I didn't see 1 casualty!1 of them looked really dark,like it was about to molt.I put them in the coffee filter incubator.Just to clarify,I put the filter in an uncovered up,then in a larger bowl(I'm using a tub),with .5" of water in the bottom.Do I spray the filter at all?Thanks for all your help!

Also,the female was even worse than I thought.I really don't know if she will bounce back.Time will tell.
 

Lolita

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congrats on the babies hopefully they'll all survive kinda unexpected awesomeness i wish that would happen to me
 

venomous.com

Arachnoknight
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And there are eggs with legs!!!They all look super healthy,an were moving around a lot!And I didn't see 1 casualty!1 of them looked really dark,like it was about to molt.I put them in the coffee filter incubator.Just to clarify,I put the filter in an uncovered up,then in a larger bowl(I'm using a tub),with .5" of water in the bottom.Do I spray the filter at all?Thanks for all your help!

Also,the female was even worse than I thought.I really don't know if she will bounce back.Time will tell.
Don't spray the filter, it will get damp on its own from condensation. Grats on the fertile sac, that's an awesome surprise!! Start tossing mom a few fat crickets and she should be ok. Good luck!
 
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