P. regius egg sac photo story - they hatched!

SpiderInTheBath

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Jan 7, 2015
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^^ Mommy Dearest - P. regius female, dark form. She has blue fangs.



^^ Laying eggs on Easter Sunday (April 16th). Sorry for the grubby phone picture







^^ I took these three with a hobby-grade digital USB microscope and candled the back of the nest so the eggs would be visible. This is April 20th. She stayed like this for about 3-3.5 weeks.



^^ Boom! April 9th or 10th, they arrived!









^^ This is the front of the nest. I took all the furniture away so that dealing with the babies will be easier, but this silk flower is woven in!​
 

Ethel Webster

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Mar 6, 2017
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Now I know who you are, lol! I love the progression pics. I'm only a few days in with slings and it's absolutely manic at feeding and misting time!
 

HamZ

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May 8, 2017
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Now I know who you are, lol! I love the progression pics. I'm only a few days in with slings and it's absolutely manic at feeding and misting time!
Hi im here to ask you how to take care of my jumping spider who layed eggs and if i should feed it and when they will hatch
 

SpiderInTheBath

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You can offer food to the mother, but mine didn't take any until she was out of the nest and walking around so if she doesn't take it immediately I would just remove it. I gave mine water every few days but for two weeks she really didn't leave the nest, and often adding food only inspired her to reinforce the web.

You'll know if they're fertile fairly soon!

Here's an updated picture of mine, who are now venturing out of the nest and then returning immediately just in case anything scary is out there ;P

 

OliverWhatever

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Sep 14, 2015
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That is absolutely amazing. Now if only you were into macro photography ;)
What do you feed them? They are absolutely tiny!
 

SpiderInTheBath

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If I only had the funds!

So far I haven't offered food but I've got a culture of bean weevils raring to go :D
 

Amarok815

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May 4, 2017
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Congratulations on the babies! Looks like you'll have your hands full! If you don't mind me asking, how do you plan on separating the young?
 

SpiderInTheBath

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I'm going to wait two months and then try to separate them! I'll probably do it in the bath and with crossed fingers :p I'll post it when it happens!

 

SpiderInTheBath

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After giving it a great deal of thought, and observing a video of a more experienced keeper giving it a try, I made the decision to move the nest before the babies emerged so I could keep them in a more convenient container. It went off without a hitch! There were 5 escapees, all of whom were recovered safely (and who now live separately from the others because reintegrating them would have been difficult as you will see from the pictures below).

I used two cocktail sticks and two q-tips to gently remove the supporting strands of the nest and prise it free from the side of the original tank. It took around ten minutes. The babies were no help whatsoever, because -- having never seen a poking stick before -- they all immediately swarmed towards it to see what it was. In the end I had to run interference and distract them :happy:

I moved them around a week ago, and they would all come trooping out of the nest in a line to drink their water and then go back in. To date they still aren't very interested in food, though I would say about half of them have graduated to living at the top of the container while the rest are still at home.

One thing I've been struck by is how social they are at this size -- they huddle together to sleep, even when they're not in the nest. With the exception of one salty little dude who always has his own corner with his back turned, hahaha. I think he takes after me.

So far there has been no cannibalism. Several times I've flicked the side of the container to separate them only to find they are just sleeping in a pile. It's a shame they don't stay so placid forever because keeping them in a group is great fun.

Having discovered the bean weevils are a bit large at this stage, I've ordered some springtails to see how they do with them. I hate fruit flies and will only have them as a last resort :yuck:

Lastly, for the person wondering about how I would deal with them/move them: it's actually really easy. All you need to do is flick the container and they go ballooning on silk -- at that point you can scoop them into a catch cup and you're done. I've even recovered one from my hair that way (the five amigos were down to four, and I counted them about seven times before I glanced down and found one of them climbing a strand!).

Now, the pictures!





The 5 escapees were living in a 25ml spiderling pot, which ironically was the one their mother was delivered in - I don't know if you can see, but the writing on the top says "jumping spider, male". Yeah, no. Jumping spider, female, dark form ;)

a video I posted the day they were moved

I moved the mother into a new enclosure, and she immediately did this:



We're pregnant. Again.
 
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