New keeper with a surprise egg sac!?

AcidbathTX

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 23, 2020
Messages
17
Okay, so things may have escalated quickly!

I began keeping Ts back in October, two slings (a GBB and a T. Albo). I have been so smitten with these guys (gals I hope!) and I happened across a great deal on a decent sized suspected female avicularia avicularia earlier this month that I couldn't pass up.


I just got home from a three day deer hunt, and this avic has completely sealed her funnel and is sitting inside with what appears to be an egg sac!

I don't know if it could be viable or not, I will be contacting the seller tomorrow to see if she may have been paired.

So, here's the problem. She built the funnel from the top of my exo terra nano tall to the bottom, against the front door. If I have to rip her web funnel to open the enclosure to fill the water dish will that be too much of a disturbance? There is no way into the enclosure without damaging the funnel somehow. If this is a viable sac, I definitely want to try and keep it!

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spideyspinneret78

Arachnoprince
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Jul 19, 2019
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1,253
Nice! Many large Avics are wild-caught, so it's certainly possible that she may have been paired before you got her. I've never bred Avics, but what I do know is that you should disturb her as little as possible in the meantime. I'm sure that someone with more breeding expertise will be able to offer you more detailed advice.
 

Chroma Trigger

Brachypelma Collector
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Jan 9, 2020
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115
Is the top still mesh? If so, you could easily "make it rain" and fill the water dish that way. Some drops on the web is actually pretty great, so they can "vacuum" it up. Just don't overdo it and avoid soaking the substrate too much.

While it's practical, I replaced the mesh tops with drilled acrylic sheets. I'm just scared to find my arboreals hanging by their claws...
 

AcidbathTX

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 23, 2020
Messages
17
I placed a sheet of perforated thin plastic on the mesh and hotglued it in place, as I had read about the mesh being hazardous to them as well.
 

Smotzer

ArachnoGod
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I wouldn’t worry about destroying any webbing it’s a webber it will rebuild, webbing in nature I’m sure gets more destroyed than what they get in captivity. Making sure it has water is the most important part, refill it’s dish!
 

Matt Man

Arachnoprince
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Jul 4, 2017
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1,685
it should have a front door. Buy a wall mounted water dish and mount to the glass on the opposite side and close-isn to the top and near-isn to the bark. You can fill it with water from the front door or dripping through the top. Yours may be wild caught and wild caught Ts sometimes show up preggers.
Jeez, just saw the photo again, she webbed the door as well. Next time, taller bark log and in the opposite corner. As others said, make it rain. Drip small bits onto the web
 

Table

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jun 3, 2020
Messages
141
Here is a thought, if the sac is fertal and is successfull are you ready to care for that many slings? It isn't an easy task. (so iv heard)
 

cold blood

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Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,223
better stock up on deli cups and fruit flies
ugh! not fruit flies.
. She built the funnel from the top of my exo terra nano tall to the bottom, against the front door. If I have to rip her web funnel to open the enclosure to fill the water dish will that be too much of a disturbance? There is no way into the enclosure without damaging the funnel somehow. If this is a viable sac, I definitely want to try and keep it!
She will NOT need to be fed, she wont leave to get a drink, you really only need to go in there in 30-45 days to take it. At that time she will be ready to roam and eat, so the destroyed web wont even be relevant.

good luck.
 

AcidbathTX

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 23, 2020
Messages
17
Thanks for the replies! Table, idk if I am ready, but I will sure give it my best effort! Cold Blood, what would you use instead of fruit flies?
Matt Man, yeah she picked the worst possible spot to web up haha. I gave her a nice cork tube and she just ignored it. I will definitely remember to place the log in the opposite corner next time if only to encourage anchoring in that corner instead!
 

cold blood

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13,223
, what would you use instead of fruit flies?
small crickets.....once they make webbing, you can put meal worm pieces (or pieces of any feeder) in the web if you want toi just feed it pre killed food. I find crickets and small roaches get the best feeding responses from avics.


 

AcidbathTX

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 23, 2020
Messages
17
Alright, I have a ton of preparation and research to do! I will report back when I have more news!
 

EnigmaNyx

Arachnoknight
Joined
Oct 21, 2020
Messages
273
Okay, so things may have escalated quickly!

I began keeping Ts back in October, two slings (a GBB and a T. Albo). I have been so smitten with these guys (gals I hope!) and I happened across a great deal on a decent sized suspected female avicularia avicularia earlier this month that I couldn't pass up.


I just got home from a three day deer hunt, and this avic has completely sealed her funnel and is sitting inside with what appears to be an egg sac!

I don't know if it could be viable or not, I will be contacting the seller tomorrow to see if she may have been paired.

So, here's the problem. She built the funnel from the top of my exo terra nano tall to the bottom, against the front door. If I have to rip her web funnel to open the enclosure to fill the water dish will that be too much of a disturbance? There is no way into the enclosure without damaging the funnel somehow. If this is a viable sac, I definitely want to try and keep it!
Congrats!

As they said, definitely plausible since most of them are wc. You’re in for a real lesson in keeping, with unexpected babies you become the unexpected breeder lol. It happened with our jumper.

One of our avics is exactly the same though, she won’t get off the dang door. She’s pretty chill though so destroy as little as necessary and just open the door slowly, do your maintenance quickly with a catch cup close by, and do your best not to disturb her.

She’ll rebuild if necessary and you’ll be able to get what you need done. Id also recommend you do the whole thing in a bigger container than her enclosure, and if you don’t have one the bathtub works. Just as an extra layer of security while diggin around in there.
 

CommanderBacon

Arachnobaron
Joined
May 21, 2018
Messages
498
I bred Avicularia avicularia not that long ago and documented it in detail in the breeding reports if you'd like to take a look at what you might have to look forward to: https://arachnoboards.com/reviews-reports/avicularia-avicularia.275/

This is a super easy species to do first time breeding with, so I think you're pretty lucky if you managed to snag a gravid female, although it might feel a bit intimidating. The egg sacs are usually pretty small, too.

You don't want to feed her at this time because she isn't going to eat. If I were you, I'd pour some water into the substrate through the lid at the opposite side of the enclosure so she gets a little ambient humidity, but she's not coming out of that chamber until the babies emerge or you pull the sac. I recommend pulling the sac at 30-35 days vs letting them emerge naturally because chasing after 100 babies in that enclosure is going to be a nightmare.

My original post about making an incubator for the eggs is here: https://arachnoboards.com/threads/incubator-questions.334352/

Hold onto your butt! It's gonna be fun!
 

AcidbathTX

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 23, 2020
Messages
17
She’ll rebuild if necessary and you’ll be able to get what you need done.
I was able to gently open the top lid without damaging the chamber, she didn't move at all and I was able to top off the water dish and moisten a corner real quick.

@CommanderBacon , I will give your report a read for sure! I was just shopping for enclosures and incubator materials so I appreciate the info.

I am really grateful for everyone's input and support. I admit I am excited but also a bit anxious about it 😂
 

AcidbathTX

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 23, 2020
Messages
17
Well, the day has come!

It was pretty nerve-wracking for me to get the sack out, she definitely fought hard for her babies. Unfortunately during the tussle several eggs got damaged, so we lost about six from the start.

My wife and I are counting out the eggs now, looks like about 94 total after pulling out the bad ones.

My girl is super malnourished, her abdomen was so shrivelled up. She didn't take a cricket but that may be just from being stressed out.

The photo of the incubator is the final count, if you want to help me verify the number then I appreciate it! I will update this thread as things progress. Thank you all for your responses and encouragement and here's to a successful clutch of slings!
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