Mother tarantula duty’s

lindale450

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 18, 2022
Messages
47
What has everyone’s experience with leaving the sac with the mother to hatch out vs pulling it? I get that it’s easier then trying to remove tiny slings. I had a N incei lay a sac, and watching her come out and hunt down crickets and take them back to the little ones to feed on kinda boggled my mind a little, I mean that little lady is on a mission, she’s packed four crickets down there in one night and right back on the hunt for more. it makes sense I just wasn’t expecting a T to be that mothering.
 

HooahArmy

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jul 12, 2022
Messages
252
My mum has spent quite a bit of time breeding Ts since the 80s and I would say from personal experience that it's much easier to pull the sac while its intact versus trying to gather all the slings. Although it's quite interesting to see the mum feed her young, the slings will begin to crowd as they grow and be threats to one another. Catching them is also an enormous challenge since they will bolt everywhere, scattering and rendering it hard to cup single individuals without harming the others. The stress of being caught can also be difficult on the sling, or the mother if you are trying to move her.
My mum's LPs can have hundreds of slings per clutch. Watching a carpet of slings running around to her stress while she was trying to catch them was hilarious. She learned rather quickly it was best to pull the sac during future projects, since in her catching attempts, she injured some slings, lost others, and stressed both them and the mother. However, I have likewise heard other breeders argue against pulling the sac. I'll put both sides here...

Other PROs of pulling the sac before hatching:
- You can keep the sac in an incubator or other location with prime temperature to ensure hatching. A removed sac is easier to maintain for humidity as well.
- Sometimes, uneaten prey, feces, and boluses in the den from the mother can mildew and impact the sac.
- Not all Ts are the best parents. I've seen mothers tear and step on their sacs or dunk them in the water dish.
- You'd be stunned at how many slings get stepped on by mum once they've hatched.
- Having eggs hatch away from the mother can also ensure you can properly provide food for all the slings and remove spoiling food without feeding competition or interference from the mother.
- Some mums have messy webs and burrows. I've likewise seen tiny slings getting caught in knotted webbing or covered by the mum as she tries to enlarge her burrow.
- The mother's enclosure may be escape-proof for her, but not the slings. Large ventilation holes and gaps can increase sling escape risk.

PROs of Not Pulling the Sac
- Allows for natural selection and competition among slings.
- Allows for natural maternal T behavior.
- Allows slings to acclimate to climate and biome in mother's enclosure.
- Some folks state that catching maturing slings as they venture out of the den independently is easier than incubating a sac.
- Mum can pre-digest prey items with her bite, facilitating ease of feeding for her brood.
- Reduces the risk of damaging the sac during removal; removes need to stress the mother when taking the sac.
 

SpinnenPaul

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 21, 2023
Messages
2
If you are interested in normal or realistic behaviour of the T's than you can also get the sac out and leave the slings together for some time. Some breeders in Germany do it quit good. The leave them for 1-5 molts together and raise them together.
A friend of mine does the with his C. versicolor and his experience is that they are not so fragile as when you seperate them as early as possible.
 
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