Phantom egg sac - pull it or leave it?

[Alvara1996]

My C. versi laid a phantom egg sac a few days ago. I was hoping she'd get bored of it quickly but she's taking care of it. I've been reading up on what to do and it seems a lot of people pull them, but I'm not too keen to have a tug of war with her too quickly!

Should I pull it, and if so, when?
Should I try to feed her first to see if that distracts her from the sac?

I won't leave it with her if it will be an issue, I'm just trying to work out the best way to proceed. Any tips will be very welcome

 

[Table]

Are you sure its a phantom sac? how long have you had her?
You can leave it, it won't hurt anything. Althow if it is a phantom sac, it could get a little smelly if it turns.

 

[viper69]

My C. versi laid a phantom egg sac a few days ago. I was hoping she'd get bored of it quickly but she's taking care of it. I've been reading up on what to do and it seems a lot of people pull them, but I'm not too keen to have a tug of war with her too quickly!

Should I pull it, and if so, when?
Should I try to feed her first to see if that distracts her from the sac?

I won't leave it with her if it will be an issue, I'm just trying to work out the best way to proceed. Any tips will be very welcome

Pull it- that what I did with my versi

Though sometimes they will eat it, and that’s a nutritious meal! Might take a couple of weeks for that to happen.

 

[Smotzer]

You can pull it at anytime if its a phantom sac.

 

[Alvara1996]

Are you sure its a phantom sac? how long have you had her?
You can leave it, it won't hurt anything. Althow if it is a phantom sac, it could get a little smelly if it turns.

I've had her since she was a sling and she's my only versi, so definitely a phantom. She's still quite small so I was surprised to see she'd made one! I'm interested to see if there's eggs in there but also nervous about pulling it

 

[Blueandbluer]

I've had her since she was a sling and she's my only versi, so definitely a phantom. She's still quite small so I was surprised to see she'd made one! I'm interested to see if there's eggs in there but also nervous about pulling it

My versi did that when she was young too! I was really surprised as she definitely was not yet a mature female. She's grown a good inch since then. I called it her "dolly", like she was a little kid playing at having babies.

I let mine keep hers until she dropped it, which took 2 or 3 weeks, and pulled it then.

 

[Table]

If your 100% that its a phantom sac, I'd remove it.

 

[Blueandbluer]

If your 100% that its a phantom sac, I'd remove it.

Out of curiousity, for those advocating pulling it immediately, why? Not trying to argue, just want to know if there was a danger I was missing when I left mine in. Obviously if it had gotten rank I would have pulled it, but as long as all seemed ok, I'm not sure what the reasoning would be for fighting with the spider to release it.

 

[LucN]

While I have not experienced this, I would personally leave it. It doesn't do any harm and the spider may actually eat it in the end, allowing it to recuperate much needed hydration that it lost during the construction of the sac.

 

[Table]

Out of curiousity, for those advocating pulling it immediately, why? Not trying to argue, just want to know if there was a danger I was missing when I left mine in. Obviously if it had gotten rank I would have pulled it, but as long as all seemed ok, I'm not sure what the reasoning would be for fighting with the spider to release it.

As for as I know there is no reason you have to pull it. Iv heard that some sacs can start to rot depending on how moist it is. I would just be concerned with the risk of a smelly tank. I'm sure nothing bad would happen from leaving it with her, it would certainly be less stressful.

 

[Alvara1996]

I'm leaning towards leaving it (unless it starts to smell), although I'd still be interested to see the eggs if she abandons it. I'm just not sure I'm confident in grappling with her for it, so if it can safely stay then that's easier for her and me.

My main concern with leaving her with the sac was whether she would refuse to eat while it is there and therefore lose condition. But I haven't tried feeding her yet - maybe she'd eat despite guarding it? She doesn't look too thin from laying (if there are actual eggs inside the sac) so perhaps it isn't too urgent, I just want her to regain whatever energy she put into the sac as soon as she can. If they normally abandon them after a couple of weeks and then eat after then I expect she'll be fine

 

[Blueandbluer]

I'm leaning towards leaving it (unless it starts to smell), although I'd still be interested to see the eggs if she abandons it. I'm just not sure I'm confident in grappling with her for it, so if it can safely stay then that's easier for her and me.

My main concern with leaving her with the sac was whether she would refuse to eat while it is there and therefore lose condition. But I haven't tried feeding her yet - maybe she'd eat despite guarding it? She doesn't look too thin from laying (if there are actual eggs inside the sac) so perhaps it isn't too urgent, I just want her to regain whatever energy she put into the sac as soon as she can. If they normally abandon them after a couple of weeks and then eat after then I expect she'll be fine

If she was well-fed before this, she will be fine. Ts can go a lot longer than you think without food.

 

[cold blood]

there is no wrong answer. If you take it, you can feed her, but she may go through a period of wandering looking for her brood....leave it and you do t need to feed her as she will be doing a job....eventually she will eat the sac, which is a big nutritious meal.


I usually just leave em.

 

[Alvara1996]

If she was well-fed before this, she will be fine. Ts can go a lot longer than you think without food.

I've had some of mine go for 4+ months without eating - just never had one lay any eggs before, so was concerned about how much energy she might have put into them if the sac is more than just web. She was well-fed before though (when she webbed herself up I assumed premoult)

Thanks everyone, I feel reassured that I can safely leave her be and just keep an eye out in case the sac starts going off

 

[MattjediEdmonds]

One of my females laid what I was sure was a phantom egg sac but I left it just in case. The babies hatched and I just pulled them and separated them. I'd let her care for the sac just in case.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I just pull the sac and feed them, there will be eggs inside but they won't be fertilised.

 

[floraborabora]

My C. versicolor also laid a phantom egg sac a few days ago! She's been pretty protective of it so far so I'm leaving it in there for the time being. Poor gal is looking pretty thin though so I'll probably pull it in a week or so so we can get her eating again.