Yes, I knew of the hammock sac, but I'm very interested in why you allow them to hatch with her. How soon does cannibalism set in? Do the slings disperse? Should I bother with having her enclosure inside a container as I described above?
I've never had baboon cannibalism, even when I've left the slings together for a few instars. I usually separate them when I ship them off, which has been as late as 3 or 4i. They disperse some, but I haven't had them go far in the early instars. Most seem to web up their own square inch or so and hunker down. I just cover my enclosures with a dishtowel, which is sling-proof. If you do a double enclosure, be sure you check regularly or else put a damp towel down so the slings don't desiccate if they escape. I had some OBT slings escape and they all dehydrated and died overnight in about a 3' radius around their enclosure. It was really sad. Fortunately there weren't too many lost, but I would expect an empty container to be similarly inhospitable.
Wow, impressive. I wouldn't think that they'd tolerate each other for that long. I think that I'd still dig them out after they hatch, simply because I don't see how they'd get any food unless Momma T would feed them.
I do leave mom in there until I'm ready to pull the babies. Then she's the first out so I don't have to work around her. I usually cut up crix or mealworms for the little ones that are living together and sprinkle chunks around. When I get all the kids out, I take the opportunity to spruce up mom's home before reintroducing her to the same enclosure with the same substrate. It seems to help her settle in even if the burrow is a bit messed up.
can you make a video of the pairing i love your youtube vids
Appreciate it
I very likely will film it, but it won't be for quite some time. I don't expect to see her for six months at best, more likely around 8 months. And then another couple of months for me to fatten her up and have her settle down... and then waiting for a male...yep thats trueAppreciate it
This hobby teaches you patience, that's for sure!
The type of egg sac most people picture is a big, poofy ball that mom carries around in her fangs. Most African tarantulas have a different design. Instead of a mobile sac, they have a fixed egg sac. The babies are suspended in a sort of hammock of silk that mom can't move.
Definitely not more fragile...in fact probably less fragile as they don't need to be rolled around and cared for. I recall @Poec54 saying that he almost never loses a hammock sac or has one go bad.
Since this thread has served its purpose, let's speculate
Mother sticks around because 1) its her burrow, where she will likely spend much, if not all of her life, and 2) simple protection....#1 rule of animal parenting, don't get between mom and baby...a moose will kill you as quick as a bear, and I doubt anything is touching a sac without a fang meeting them prior.
I recently started working on C lividum and I did close to whats been explained already, I rehoused here into an enclosure with around 7-8" of sub that was substantially longer/wider. form what i can tell she has enjoyed this MORE than her old, squarefeet<cubic feet enclosure. I find she has been eating far more readily and more actively remodles and burrows in the wider enclosure. It made maintainance, pairing, and feeding far easier.
S calc does this. they paste the sac to the side of the enclosure or at the bottom of their corkbark or tube and do not rotate them at all. This was actually worrisome for me but I pulled the sac today and sure enough 100% success with all eggs with legs, no clumping like you see with new world sacs that arent rolled properly. I suspect OB's an d other OW species that use hammock sacs have another coating on the embryo that prevents the cumpingSince this thread has served its purpose, let's speculate
First, do all baboons do this? Or only burrowers? The method is clearly adapted for life underground, but there's no reason it couldn't be done in an arboreal setting as well.
Second, if the eggs don't need to be cared for, then why would the tarantula mother stick around? Why not lay eggs and leave to live her life like so many animals do?
Finally, how on earth can it avoid molding? I thought that the whole purpose of the mother rotating the egg sac was to prevent mold and to never have some eggs perminantly on top of others.
Not all Africans do. My Heterothele gabonensis, for example, had a ball. I found it after the fact, though
I mostly agree with what CB said, except the "ultra dry" part. Not all baboons live in dry areas, and most breed during the wet season. The airflow around the eggs plus mom's innate ability to pick the best depth/humidity in her burrow to lay should be enough to keep mold away.
Poec speculated once that the hammock was beneficial because the eggs would still develop and hatch if mom were killed. Sounds good to me.
Grats on the baby hellspawn, @Haksilence!