Is this supposed to happen? Incredibly fast egg development

DrAce

Arachnodemon
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They do look cute. And some of them really are big... swollen even. Could there be an infection there?

What cleaning chemicals do you have about the house?

I ask, because there is the slightest possibility that there is an estrogenoid in the mix there. Several common detergents and cleaners have chemicals which mimic steroid molecules (particularly estrogen) and this may affect growth rates.

Again, a weak possibility, but it's there.
 

Alice

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hehe, it's a possibility, but i don't think so. there are only a very few that look so swollen - those that have sucked out the eggs that didn't develop. all others look pretty normal. the one that shines out in the first pic is one of those.

also, i didn't use any chemical cleaner except one (biodegradable stuff, never had any problems with it) in the same room all the time since i pulled the sac.
 

Talkenlate04

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Well congrats again, it looks like you are days maybe even hours from 2nd instar slings. How many are there?
 

Alice

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the last count was 189 :eek: that's much for a versicolor sac, isn't it? just wonder how many will make it...
 

Arlius

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In the pic it some are on their back... are they not molting?
 

Taceas

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Aww, they're so cute! I can't wait to see them after they've molted and get some fuzz.

Thanks for the timeline of updates, its nice to live vicariously through someone else. ;)

Good luck with them and keep us updated with more pics. =B
 

Talkenlate04

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Aww, they're so cute! I can't wait to see them after they've molted and get some fuzz.

Thanks for the timeline of updates, its nice to live vicariously through someone else. ;)

Good luck with them and keep us updated with more pics. =B
I guess that means you are expecting sometime soon or already have sacs?
 

Taceas

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Oh heck no! All of my T's with exception to my adult female A. avicularia are sub-adults or juvies. :8o

I just think breeding of tarantulas is a neat process and hope one day to add to the mix, but until that day comes a few years from now, this is all I have to experience.
 

Alice

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nope, they are just aimlessly wiggling around - no molting yet. they turn over sporadiously. sigh, they've been dark for days now. i'm going to bed and hope some will have molted when i wake up... after all a watched pot never boils. ;)
 

Anastasia

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the last count was 189 :eek: that's much for a versicolor sac, isn't it? just wonder how many will make it...
yes, jes wuz wonderin the same, hope ther be no loss at all
good luck, they look awful cute {D
 

Alice

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another update:

they have not molted yet, but are about to - i suspect they will do so in the next 2 days.
they have taken their sweet time to darken up completely. now it's no longer the quickest developing sac i ever had, but more likely the slowest. that's what you get for fretting ;).

on the positive side, no loss of slings so far. i broke them up into smaller units so they have more space to molt. here is one of them:
 
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DrAce

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We notice a similar effect with our mammalian embryos. If they shoot of in the first few stages, they normally come crashing back to slow down in the latter stages.

I'm not sure why, but I suspect they're isolated systems at that stage, and they are heavily dependant on the metabolites they have inside them. Fast development = lots of waste, and little starting materials. You gotta stop and recycle them eventually. That's a 'best theory' I have at the moment.

Embryology is a very old, but still very sparsly understood field.
 

Alice

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whopee!!! they finally started molting! :clap:

pics tomorrow or the day after when they had a chance to harden up a bit.

i'm so exited, my first versi slings :eek:
 

Alice

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here come the promised pics!

i seperated the 2nd instars into groups of ten, and they are feasting on their first meal, consisting of fruitflies. sadly, on saturday all but 5 of them will be gone (sold).

oh well, so here is what i got out of the sac:

eggs: 189
eggs with legs: 185
1st instar: 185
2nd instar: 181

so i lost only 8 of the original eggs along the way - the waiting has paid off! :D
 
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Talkenlate04

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Wow all but 5? Thats good! Bitter sweet I know but wow that many pre sold. thats great.

Save those 5 and raise them up well. Maybe you will end up with 5 females!
 

P. Novak

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Damn, almost all already sold off? Wow! :clap:

Cute little slings though. :rolleyes:
 

Alice

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yes, only 8 lost out of 189 is great, especially with such a small female :D

well, most of them go to my breeder/seller, as my job just doesn't leave me the time to sell them off individually. some other people have bought groups of 10 slings. i guess they sold so well because i gave them away pretty cheap (around 5-6$/sling). that's a bit below the market price here, but i had to sell them quickly.

maybe i will have more time come winter and keep more of the slings in case i get more sacs... but at the moment, i'm hoping for a promotion, so i'm working pretty long hours.
shame really, they seem to be exellent genetic material. oh well, i still have the female and will try t breed her again as soon as she molts.
 

P. Novak

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yes, only 8 lost out of 189 is great, especially with such a small female :D

well, most of them go to my breeder/seller, as my job just doesn't leave me the time to sell them off individually. some other people have bought groups of 10 slings. i guess they sold so well because i gave them away pretty cheap (around 5-6$/sling). that's a bit below the market price here, but i had to sell them quickly.

maybe i will have more time come winter and keep more of the slings in case i get more sacs... but at the moment, i'm hoping for a promotion, so i'm working pretty long hours.
shame really, they seem to be exellent genetic material. oh well, i still have the female and will try t breed her again as soon as she molts.
Wow so cheap, I should of PMed you when I first saw this thread! I would of bought atleast 10. Congrats again though. Good luck on her future breeding. Let's hope she makes so many babies you can't handle them and have to send them off cheap again..{D
 

Alice

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hm, i suppose i cannot mail them to canada however big my sacs get - i'm from germany ;)
 

P. Novak

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hm, i suppose i cannot mail them to canada however big my sacs get - i'm from germany ;)
Aww, I didn't even realize that. :eek: Oh well I can still dream...
Oh and I ain't from Canada, I'm from California which is in the USA.
 
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