Nicaraguan Curly Hair Egg Sac Progression

[ZenRooster]

So...My new adult female "Pure Blood" (WC?) Nicaraguan Curly Hair arrived and immediately started webbing her new home. I thought this was odd behavior, since Curly Hairs aren't known for being heavy webbers, so I snapped a few photos. Turns out, she was making an egg sack. Pretty cool, huh?

Now I have to research what to do next, in case it's fertile.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Andrew Clayton]

So...My new adult female "Pure Blood" (WC?) Nicaraguan Curly Hair arrived and immediately started webbing her new home. I thought this was odd behavior, since Curly Hairs aren't known for being heavy webbers, so I snapped a few photos. Turns out, she was making an egg sack. Pretty cool, huh?

Now I have to research what to do next, in case it's fertile. View attachment 490825 View attachment 490826 View attachment 490827 View attachment 490828

Regards,
Chris

Well congrats, it very well may be fertile if it's a WC specimen, should try and feed her up now that she's done.

 

[TheraMygale]

She gave you a gift by putting that sack in a reachable place.

please research even more beyond the answers you could get here.

what are your goals?

work to make the goals happen.

what an amazing experience!

youre very lucky. Many of us wish to witness this. I hope you can make the best of this.

if your tarantula came from the usa, your chances at fertile eggs are higher, and the clock is ticking.

her abdomen isnt full sky rocket gravid either. I dont know if pics were taken before or after laying of sac.

But what i see on ruler, is smaller then breeder abdo size when they have a mission.

how did this tarantula get to you? Shipping? The balding indicates a lot of hair kicking. This can be due to travel or other factors. Travel exacerbating the “stress” level.

 

[viper69]

Phantom sac ?

 

[ZenRooster]

The whole story on this girl...

I bought her from MW / Microwilderness as a "pure blood" Nicaraguan female, and she arrived a week ago on 01/29/2025. (I'm assuming that she's wild-caught, but I haven't asked.) I placed her in a temporary enclosure while waiting for a fresh shipment of BioDude Terra Aranea substrate. (The ruler photos were taken in the temporary enclosure while I was waiting on the fresh substrate to arrive. According to my calculations, she measures right at 5.5" DLS.)

She spent her first few days in the temporary enclosure hiding under the half-log hide where she had burrowed. She even sealed the opening with bulldozed substrate. She definitely wanted to be alone.

The fresh substrate arrived on 01/03/2025, so I rehoused her the next day on 01/04/2025.

Upon rehousing her to the permanent enclosure, I noticed a lot of heavy webbing under the half-log where she had been hiding. Also, the webbing had a very, very thick web "floor." (Like a clueless noob, I threw out this webbing.)

The rest of the photos are from yesterday (01/05/2025) and today (01/06/2025).

As of this moment, she's still sitting on the egg sac (which is still on top of her hide).

Regards,
Chris

I was able to crop the photos above for close-ups, and her "pre-lay" belly is definitely much fatter than her deflated "post-lay" belly. However, since this is my first tarantula egg sac, I don't know how fat is proper fat.

 

[fcat]

You could reach out to Nate at Microwilderness. He's a great dude. He stands out to me because he releases portions of his wilc caught aphonopelma sacs back into the wild. He may not be able to tell you with certainty when her last molt was due to his inventory size, but I would think he would know whether or not he gives all WC females a chance to drop. There could be species specific exceptions.

Curly hairs make a lot of babies. Due to so many wc specimens, they are common and have saturated the market. There's a good chance you or anyone on possession of a WC will make more babies. Most people give them away as freebies. Preparing 600 plus homes is labor intensive, the babies are lower maintenance but still take up space. For years potentially. It also takes time raising them to sizes most keepers would be comfortable taking care of. They have to be some of the easiest slings to take care of though.

I have had rogue sacs, I don't pull from them...they will eat to reclaim the nutrients and I'm always curious to see how long they take care of it first. Some people advise pulling because the sac will eventually rot. I'd be more worried if they abandon them, but they hold them the entire time. That means mom probably won't be eating and drinking, and she just accomplished one of nature's greatest feats.

If you think it's good or want it to be, ignore her except to quietly fill the water dish. If you had paired this T yourself I'd caution that the water dish could be a target for the sac. But you didn't so make sure she has water. She just transported and it's hard on them. Don't feed her, it will just stress her out. You'll get an answer in 30 days for sure.

 

[ZenRooster]

I received word from Nate @ MW.

"Hi Christopher! Congratulations!
Yes she was an import from Nicaragua and most likely that eggsac is good!"

Fingers crossed!

 

[Glorfindel]

Thats great news, the hobby can always use some fresh genetics in the mix.
Congratulations and good luck.

 

[Brewser]

A Very Fine Looking Specimen,
Keep Us Updated with more N.W.C. Curly News.
Thanks for sharing,
Great Pics!

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Sad.........probably smuggled from Costa Rica then sold as a Nicaraguan albo and worse of all wild caught.

The insane part is captive bred albo's are very abundant in the U.S.

My advice is start lining up as many people you can find for the slings. This species of Tliltocatl produces so many eggs you'll be buried in them.

Keep the amount you want and cull the rest.

 

[ZenRooster]

UPDATE: I believe we've reached the halfway mark. It's been exactly 14 days, and she's still sitting atop the egg sack and/or carrying it around wherever she might go. (Never far.) Only 14 more days to go. Super excited!

Oh! And I found a local breeder who says he'll be happy to take the babies off my hands, so that's sorted.

Thanks again for all your thoughts and support, everyone.

Regards,
Chris

 

[ZenRooster]

UPDATE: Tomorrow marks the 28th day since my Curly Haired girl dropped her egg sack. I've already got the makings of a nice incubator (plastic tub, hose, vermiculite), just in case the egg sack is viable. Any last minute advice? This is my first egg sack, so any words of wisdom will be much appreciated. Thanks again!

Regards,
Chris