Incest Is Best!

[8+)]

...or at least sometimes it's the best you can do. ;P Sac mates were all I had to get my 2nd generation of S. paykulliana. Hopefully I'll get some slings.

These are the best picks I could manage in the cup:

Here's "Uncle Daddy".

There are now three sacs. Buthus said I should leave them in with Momma...

 

[8+)]

Well, I'm less hopeful now. She ate the 3rd egg sac. It wasn't as well formed as the others, so maybe that's the reason. She's fat as a pig, so I don't think she's hungry. Then again, she has been picking junk up off the bottom and munching on it. Guess I better keep her well fed right now.

Such a beautiful, and interesting spider! I've come to prefer these to just about any Latro I've kept. I really wanted to keep these going...

One really cool thing they did while mating was kiss! The male came down from above and made rapid kisses. When he paused I could see the females chelicerae open and her fangs extended!

 

[buthus]

Im to out of it to start with all the stuff I would like to start off with...but some random questions...

I cant remember what I threw out that way.. so forgive any stupid questions...
curious random questions..
What was you percentage of loss while raising them?
How many males? Any mature to red instead of white?
Any dwarf like (almost male like) 'seemingly' mature females?
False sacs? Sacs pre-maturity?
Any lingering (around...not molting) big white females?
Any good size comparison shots?

I hope one of those sacs produces viable young... otherwise (even still though...jeese... nature is so stinking complex ) ...well i dont know ...guess try again. :wall:

 

[What]

Buthus, I forgot to mention this to you, and didnt mention it on the boards at all but one of the paykus I got from you matured out male and died all while I was on the TITTIES trip... Totally normal white coloring, so nothing special. :wall:

 

[8+)]

I cant remember what I threw out that way...

You sent me six tiny sac mates.

What was you percentage of loss while raising them?

One was eaten before I separated them, and one vanished into thin air! The others made it to maturity. One of the females died when I moved her. I believe I've figured out that plastic fumes in the enclosures I was using, killed her, and many of my Latros.

How many males? Any mature to red instead of white?

Two males, both white.

Any dwarf like (almost male like) 'seemingly' mature females? Any lingering (around...not molting) big white females?

No, both females nice, big, beautiful, with orange markings. On my monitor at least, the coloring is quite accurate in the pics I posted.

False sacs? Sacs pre-maturity?

After maturity, but before breeding, the surviving female made several sacs; which she ate.

Any good size comparison shots?

I'll see what I can do.

She seems to be moving the sacs around the enclosure. Sure I shouldn't remove them?

 

[dtknow]

I heard somewhere these smell...is that true?

Also, how bad is their venom? Are their webs blackwidow strong?

 

[buthus]

She seems to be moving the sacs around the enclosure. Sure I shouldn't remove them?

That may be a good sign ...if shes caring for the sacs, they could/should be live. (jeeese...i can only guess that anyway)
I have one mated girl that finally made some sacs that look right. ...hope so.

as for removing the sacs ...if you do choose to go that route, just be careful, cause Steatoda sacs arnt like latro sacs ...they are soft and loose and eggs can get everywhere and then they dry up. Im sure thats obvious to you. I have another cool little specie that the sacs are more like egg clusters than sacs and lust removing the lid bumps them around enough to loosing and mess them up.

Shes not killing live sacs, so if they are indeed live, they'll hatch just fine with mom and the slings can stay with her for quite some time. Slings will feed on each other, but not at a rate like latros ...more like only a few here and there as long as they get fed. (thats what I had observed with the first gen anyway ...course everything seems to get weird after that. :? )

I gotta take some pics of mine ...so much weird stuff.



Melvins tonight... should be rockin and my ears will be a hurtin!

 

[buthus]

I heard somewhere these smell...is that true?

Also, how bad is their venom? Are their webs blackwidow strong?

Sorry dtknow.
Smell? Maybe because they dwell in tight spaces ..carcasses and whatnot can start to reek. But otherwise...probably not..at least I havnt noticed.

Venom? ...bad enough to have caused doctors to experiment with latrodectus venom. ...so someone or few have been hurtin'. But overall, Steatoda venom aint all that much to worry about.
You can get them to bite ...been pecked at pretty good myself... so I suppose one could try and get one to bite well enough to do a decent bite/venom test. Volunteers come on over.

Webs are not widow strong, but a decent comparison.