New Black Widow with eggsack.

[demolitionlover]

Picked this female black widow up at a show in Lititz, PA. She had an eggsack. I still have to get another mason jar so I can seperate the eggsack. Never had a eggsack before. Pretty exciting though.

 

[Gsc]

Congrats! You'll be up to your ears in babies!

 

[surena]

Do you know if the eggsack is fertile ? I'll soon post a picture of my Black Widows a few weeks after emerging from the eggsack. That was my first eggsack too ! My second Black Widow had an eggsack about a week ago. I'm not sure if it is going to be fertile, sine that is her 3 eggsack, and she has not been introduced to a male since the first eggsack !

 

[demolitionlover]

No I have no idea if it is fertile. : ( Is there a way to tell??

 

[surena]

No I have no idea if it is fertile. : ( Is there a way to tell??

I don't think there is ! but I was able to tell with mine after about 15 days or so, you can see little dots in the eggsack, since the eggsack was almost clear and see-through and I knew that the little ones where on their way

 

[surena]

Here are some Pics.

The first,second and fourth pictures are from the first eggsack. and the third picture is from the second eggsack.

 

[demolitionlover]

Thanks for the pics. I held the eggsack up to the light... but didnt see any dots. I dont know how old the eggsack is though.. could be 3 days old for all I know.

 

[meatbeef]

what would they feed on that size?
How many little guys do they have???

As my mother would say, "cute as a friggin' button".

 

[swatc1h]

nice mactans but sure does resemble a variolus but mactans ones are quite faint on the red dots.

On hatchlings at least pinhead crickets/termites/fruitflies for them to fed on.
Eggsacs could range to 200-400 eggs containing inside them.

 

[PoseidonSai]

Congraz on your Black Widow egg sac. :clap: I have a red-back black widow & she's a very big eater. :worship:

 

[recluse]

L. hesperus have been known to have 20+ fertile eggsacs from one mating. I think this is probably true for most Latrodectus species. I usually do what others have said to do. I seperate this sac into a small vial and mist it once a week. When the slings hatch I let them cannibalize each other until theres about ten left. I then separate those ten into their own vials. Good luck with the slings.

 

[surena]

what would they feed on that size?
How many little guys do they have???

As my mother would say, "cute as a friggin' button".

I gave them pinhead crickets. You can also try fruitflies if the pinhead are too big. You have to mist their cage at least once a week also.

I think she had close to about 50 on her first eggsack and about 20 or so on the second one, and I'm still waiting on her third eggsack (not sure if it is fertile yet).

 

[surena]

Thanks for the pics. I held the eggsack up to the light... but didnt see any dots. I dont know how old the eggsack is though.. could be 3 days old for all I know.

I would wait another 10 -15 days and see if there is any activity in the eggsack. Also try to keep the humidity high by misting, but try to not mist the eggsack !

 

[demolitionlover]

I seperated the eggsack from the mother today. Hopefully I will see some slings in a couple weeks!! Im gonna try to keep 10 or so and sell as many others as I can.
Thanks everyone. : ) Ill keep you all updated if you'd like. : )

 

[demolitionlover]

Update of eggsack

Ok so I waited 3 weeks and it didnt seem like anything was happening so I cut open the sac carefully. It was pretty much empty except for a hard brown round thing in the middle.

Just last night she laid another eggsack. Is there anychance of it being fertile
??? She has not been intoduced to any males since I got her.