New to Widow keeping and no breeding experience, now have an egg sack

[domlew47]

So basically 3 weeks ago I got a black widow for my roommate. I have 6 tarantulas in my care and I take care of his widow as well. After rehousing her, yesterday she made an egg sack, not sure if it’s fertile. Any idea what to do? I read some forums on here about it but it seemed everyone had more experience about egg sacks than I do, and I don’t feel right terminating them. Help please!

 

[kingshockey]

as a kid i just left the sacs with the mother and they hatched on their own then just placed the jar by a wall for them to take off on their own. keep in mind i was only a kid back then so my care most likely was pretty much substandard and i did nothing about humidity or anything

 

[domlew47]

as a kid i just left the sacs with the mother and they hatched on their own then just placed the jar by a wall for them to take off on their own. keep in mind i was only a kid back then so my care most likely was pretty much substandard and i did nothing about humidity or anything

Thanks for the quick response, I don’t think that’s gonna work considering I’m housing her inside my house, and it is below freezing in NY right now. But I appreciate your answer!

 

[WillowLovesSpoods]

Bump. I'm in the same situation.

OP, do you have any update on this? I'm thinking leaving them in with the mom may be the best idea too. They eat off of her kills, apparently. At some point they will have to be moved, but I think you can wait a bit until they are bigger.

Hopefully someone has a better answer.

 

[Itsmom0527]

You can take them and put them in a separate container. Dave’s little beasties has a great video on sling care and what he does with egg sacs, once they hatch you can leave them together until they get to a manageable amount. Then separate into 2 oz deli cups and feed fff.

 

[darkness975]

So basically 3 weeks ago I got a black widow for my roommate. I have 6 tarantulas in my care and I take care of his widow as well. After rehousing her, yesterday she made an egg sack, not sure if it’s fertile. Any idea what to do? I read some forums on here about it but it seemed everyone had more experience about egg sacks than I do, and I don’t feel right terminating them. Help please!

Unless the mother was raised in captivity it is most likely fertile. Get some of these deli containers with cloth lids. Separate the egg sacks into them. The slings will hatch on their own. Let them cannibalize until the number is reduced to a manageable amount. You can then separate the remaining ones into their own containers.

 

[WillowLovesSpoods]

You can take them and put them in a separate container. Dave’s little beasties has a great video on sling care and what he does with egg sacs, once they hatch you can leave them together until they get to a manageable amount. Then separate into 2 oz deli cups and feed fff.

Thank you for this!! That's what I ended up doing. She had a second viable sac that I'm currently feeding. They are actually really easy to wrangle even in excessive amounts. So I've not had to let them cannibalize too much before moving them into containers.

 

[WillowLovesSpoods]

Unless the mother was raised in captivity it is most likely fertile. Get some of these deli containers with cloth lids. Separate the egg sacks into them. The slings will hatch on their own. Let them cannibalize until the number is reduced to a manageable amount. You can then separate the remaining ones into their own containers.
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What a super great setup! Thank you so much for your advice. That's what I ended up doing. I actually got a second fertile egg sack that just hatched a few days ago. The original one I let cannibalize down to a more manageable amount, but I might not do that with this one as they're surprisingly easy to wrangle as long as I have them in a glass container, they can't climb it very well to run out. So it makes it easier.

 

[darkness975]

as long as I have them in a glass container, they can't climb it very well to run out.

Be careful with this. They can't climb glass but they can use webbing to scale to the top. It annoys me to no end how they manage to do that.

 

[WillowLovesSpoods]

Be careful with this. They can't climb glass but they can use webbing to scale to the top. It annoys me to no end how they manage to do that.

I actually just experienced that, two escapees later and I'm back to being overly cautious

 

[Owinlovesfalsewidows]

So basically 3 weeks ago I got a black widow for my roommate. I have 6 tarantulas in my care and I take care of his widow as well. After rehousing her, yesterday she made an egg sack, not sure if it’s fertile. Any idea what to do? I read some forums on here about it but it seemed everyone had more experience about egg sacks than I do, and I don’t feel right terminating them. Help please!

!PLEASE BE CAREFUL! female widows become somewhat aggressive when they have an eggsac. The only way you can tell if the eggsac is fertile is if you've had the widow since it was a juvenile and never bred it. If you would like to get rid of the eggsac,place the widow (if it can tolerate it,some species like L.bishopi can't handle it) in the fridge (NOT FREEZER) for 10-20 minutes (this makes the spider sluggish and slow,making the eggsac removal safer),then cut the webbing attached to the eggsac,remove the eggsac and (if u don't want to keep the eggsac) freeze the eggsac and throw it out. Also,don't worry,as all females will lay even if they haven't bred

 

[darkness975]

!PLEASE BE CAREFUL! female widows become somewhat aggressive when they have an eggsac. The only way you can tell if the eggsac is fertile is if you've had the widow since it was a juvenile and never bred it. If you would like to get rid of the eggsac,place the widow (if it can tolerate it,some species like L.bishopi can't handle it) in the fridge (NOT FREEZER) for 10-20 minutes (this makes the spider sluggish and slow,making the eggsac removal safer),then cut the webbing attached to the eggsac,remove the eggsac and (if u don't want to keep the eggsac) freeze the eggsac and throw it out. Also,don't worry,as all females will lay even if they haven't bred

I have never had to risk doing that. I just use tongs to move them out of the way and then pull the sack.

 

[programmatic]

I have never had to risk doing that. I just use tongs to move them out of the way and then pull the sack.

Same- entirely unnecessary to slow the mother down IMO. I have never seen a widow go toward a human when agitated to begin with. I have never seen aggression toward my tongs when separating eggsacs.

 

[darkness975]

Same- entirely unnecessary to slow the mother down IMO. I have never seen a widow go toward a human when agitated to begin with. I have never seen aggression toward my tongs when separating eggsacs.

I have separated countless egg sacs over the years and I have never once thought about a freezer. It is not worth the risk.

 

[The Snark]

I have separated countless egg sacs over the years

Me too. But the more brutal mercenary approach. Cleaning out restrooms and outbuildings for Parks and Rec. and the Forestry dept. With those super tough webs you have to search out every web, put a stick in and whirl it about until all webbing is destroyed then search out the mom which has always gone to ground in the darkest most inaccessible location. They never come out to do battle which would make that job so much easier.
Not even a quick attack high pressure hose will knock that webbing down. Rip some paint off the walls, yes, but not all the web, and you still have to search out the moms.

@darkness975 Ultimate survivalists. Refurbishing the campgrounds in Death Valley one summer, a balmy 115F in the shade. Up around Stovepipe Wells in crannies and crevices here and there I would come across those tell tale widow webs. And somehow, they would occasionally manage to populate the bathrooms around Furnace Creek 30 miles away. Hesperus are flat out amazing.
Stovepipe wells had an indigenous population of hardy insects which was a perpetual feast for the widows. Also had, has? a population of weird tiny fish that seemed to like near boiling caustic water.

 

[darkness975]

Also had, has? a population of weird tiny fish that seemed to like near boiling caustic water.

If you are referring to the Devil's Hole pupfish they are still alive.

 

[darkness975]

If you are referring to the Devil's Hole pupfish they are still alive.

Its funny you bring them up. They are one of my focuses because of how fascinating they are. Yet virtually no one knows about them. Except of course the idiots that broke into the facility and drank beer and fouled the water.

They have managed to keep another population going inside of an artificial recreation of the hole. After many failed attempts.

 

[The Snark]

Except of course the idiots that broke into the facility and drank beer and fouled the water.

And a big thank you to the national parks folks for coming down big time on the idiots. Firing shotguns and throwing firecrackers into the ponds the fish live in then people bitch snivel and gripe about fines of up to $50,000 and potential time outs in prisons. Too bad the national forests aren't under similar protection but rather, the reverse, selling off the forests to the environmental destroyers.

 

[WillowLovesSpoods]

Its funny you bring them up. They are one of my focuses because of how fascinating they are. Yet virtually no one knows about them. Except of course the idiots that broke into the facility and drank beer and fouled the water.

They have managed to keep another population going inside of an artificial recreation of the hole. After many failed attempts.

It's funny, I actually live near here. I may need to check the areas mentioned out

 

[WillowLovesSpoods]

Me too. But the more brutal mercenary approach. Cleaning out restrooms and outbuildings for Parks and Rec. and the Forestry dept. With those super tough webs you have to search out every web, put a stick in and whirl it about until all webbing is destroyed then search out the mom which has always gone to ground in the darkest most inaccessible location. They never come out to do battle which would make that job so much easier.
Not even a quick attack high pressure hose will knock that webbing down. Rip some paint off the walls, yes, but not all the web, and you still have to search out the moms.

@darkness975 Ultimate survivalists. Refurbishing the campgrounds in Death Valley one summer, a balmy 115F in the shade. Up around Stovepipe Wells in crannies and crevices here and there I would come across those tell tale widow webs. And somehow, they would occasionally manage to populate the bathrooms around Furnace Creek 30 miles away. Hesperus are flat out amazing.
Stovepipe wells had an indigenous population of hardy insects which was a perpetual feast for the widows. Also had, has? a population of weird tiny fish that seemed to like near boiling caustic water.

I heard about this place on YouTube from a travel channel, looked super cool! Definitely peeks a insect lover's interest.