Moved Jumping spider slings too soon??

[Audumach]

Hello!

My Phidippus johnsoni laid eggs last month, around Jan 20th is when I noticed them. They all hatched on Feb 20th, and after gaining pigment, and reading how to separate slings on jumping spider websites, I was paranoid they would canabalize so I thought I’d separate them. Obviously it was too soon. Each one I put in the separate cup just laid helplessly on its back.

I put them and the nest all back into one larger cup, and have been keeping an eye on them. They all seem to be alive still.

I feel horrible separating them from their mother, and I’m afraid I ruined their development. Should I put mother back with them? Or will they develop just fine on their own?

Please give me any insight!!!

 

[gorybmovie]

Had the slings started breaking out of the egg sac? Once they've broken out of the second to last or last layer of webbing, that is usually when you want to remove the slings to a separate enclosure away from the mother. Keep the slings together until they start exhibiting aggressive behavior towards each other. They should be fine all together for now. I would not put them back in with their mother. Keep in mind, I am not an expert. This is just what I've learned from watching videos and reading about sling care. Here are a couple of videos that might help you.

 

[Nicole C G]

Those slings do not look ready to be on their own. They look like infants. They don’t start eating eachother for a while. I don’t think they can hardy eat at that age. Just keep an eye on them and keep them safe. Once they molt and start to move around like normal jumping spiders, then you can separate them.

 

[ForTW]

There is no issue with seperating them at this stage, it's just not worth the effort. If you do good, you get 80-90% of them but imagine you seperate them all and loose 50%.

 

[egyptiancrow]

There is no issue with seperating them at this stage, it's just not worth the effort. If you do good, you get 80-90% of them but imagine you seperate them all and loose 50%.

thats not true. the die off for seperated slings at i1 is huge. they are far more likely to die until they reach i5/i6 in age.

They are much more likely to die, what you need to do is put some cotton on them crack youve made in the nest. mist the container. you dont need mom, but you didnt need to move them either. They cant even walk at this stage.

if you have a facebook i really reccomend joining salticidae breeder society and looking at the raising spiderlings guide there. unfortunately its private so i cant share it here :/ but its perfect for first timers and it should help at every stage of their development

 

[ForTW]

Isn't it? 90% of my L2 seperated survived. 87 at beginning, 76 Sold between 2FH and 5-6FH. 2 infront of me.

 

[egyptiancrow]

Isn't it? 90% of my L2 seperated survived. 87 at beginning, 76 Sold between 2FH and 5-6FH. 2 infront of me.

thats called luck, not fact. ive had dozens of batches. ive seen dozens of batches of newbies who do it die