Pink Toed Hatchlings! Help!

[toxicmessiah]

Okay, so I bought a pink toed tarantula, we named it Ninja. Well, we were told by the people that Ninja was a boy. Well, it turns out, that Ninja is a Ninjette. And we have hatchlings! We didnt know (obviously) that she was pregnant, or this wouldnt have came to such a shock to me. The babies have Hatched and they are these little yellow transparent things. When should I separate them from their mom? Do I need to leave them until they've reached their Second molt? Or take them out now? What else should I do, in taking care of these hatchlings? How old until I can get rid of them? Ect. I'm completely lost about all of this, I never expected to have babies! Thanks!

 

[ShadowBlade]

Allright, what kind of holes are there in the cage, small enough for the slings to escape?

And second, are they actually wandering yet? While they have no patterning, and still yellow, sounds like first instars, and shouldn't be wandering. In fact, I'm surprised they're out of the sac that you can see, perhaps the mom tore it open.

As long as they remain in her nest, you can leave them with her till they molt into second instars, they will be faster, and harder to seperate, but probably lower mortality rate.

As for they're care, each needs its own vial, Avicularia don't have particularly large broods, so thats not too hard to take care of. You'll have to raise cultures of fruitflies to feed them, or pinhead crickets, (much more expensive if you're not raising your own).

Or, a dealer may be interested in buying the whole batch of you, if you're not comfortable raising them.

-Sean

 

[toxicmessiah]

She's keeping the sack down at the bottom of the cage, and the holes are big enough (i believe) for them to escape if they could get to it. They havent wandered far from the sack (that I've seen, she keeps them pretty well hidden, obviously if i noticed after they were hatched). I believe she tore the sack open. When I found the sack, I noticed that there were little yellow things in them, and quiet honestly, i wasnt sure (or just to shocked to admit to myself that they were spiderlings) if they were mites, but i realized they werent mites, you can't really see mites.

Do you have any suggestions about the lid of the cage, for covering it, ect, until they're big enough to separate. That way their is no chance of them escaping, the last thing I need is 100 or so Tarantulas loose in my house, that i can't see to find.

I'm more nervous on raising them myself, i'd rather sell them to a petstore or something, but i'd like to keep a couple (because this is my first batch ever of spiderlings)

 

[WARPIG]

To keep them in the cage, you could use pantyhose or mosquito netting to cover the cage without suffocating the critters.

GL-

 

[_bob_]

or you could get some ribbon like this over the holes

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/4910and11/spiders/Lp02.jpg

 

[matthias]

First thing is keep the viv moist but remove the water dish if she has one.
If they get out they are not going to grow up and run around your house, they will die from starvation, and dehydration.

If you don't want to keep them, i'm sure some one here that is close to you will take them off your hands. Most pet stores are not going to want them "until they look like spiders".
So where in the world are you? I don't think you should ship 1st instars, but they won't need to be feed till they are 3rd instars anyway. So if you post where you are in the world (country atleast, region would be helpful to) some one local could meet up with you and help you out.

 

[Stan Schultz]

... The babies have Hatched and they are these little yellow transparent things. When should I separate them from their mom? Do I need to leave them until they've reached their Second molt? Or take them out now? ...

You can leave the babies in with Momma for quite some time. Avicularia are semi-social and will tolerate high population densities with little cannibalism. Momma will actually regurgitate stomach contents to help feed the babies while they're quite small.

Separate them when you notice that they are eating each other. That could be anywhere from a month to a year!

... What else should I do, in taking care of these hatchlings? ...

For the time being, nothing. Momma has all the instincts for caring for them. Don't move the cage to a new area. Don't change anything in the way you're caring for them.

Feed Momma the way you always do. As soon as the babies develop their baby colors you can try feeding them pinhead crickets, maybe crickets that are a little larger. Baby avics are usually a little larger than most baby tarantulas and will take slightly larger prey, so sometimes you need only sort through a batch of crickets, picking out the smaller ones. You can get these crickets through a local pet store or bait shop. If necessary, you can even set up a small cage for breeding crickets, although that's usually a pain in the fundament!

Someone else on this list suggested covering the cage with panty hose or a nylon stocking to prevent them from escaping. This is a good idea but doesn't need to be done until the babies begin to become mobile. That may not be anywhere from a week to a month. When they start to wander around the cage, it's time. Plan ahead and have the appropriate materials ready, however.

When they get large enough that it's obvious they need to be separated you can move them into just about any container that will hold them. I preferred the tall baby food jars used for food for older babies, others prefer tall pill bottles. Baby food bottles are free from families in your neighborhood, pill bottles cost money unless you have some sort of inside track with a local pharmacist.

Use a small amount of potting soil, vermiculite or shredded coconut fiber as substrate and keep it damp until the babies begin to adopt their adult colors. Once the substrate is moistened and tamped as well as possible it should fill the bottle only about 1/3 full. You can find volumes written (and argued!) on the subject of substrates on these lists. Just do a search.

In case your babies develop mite infestations you should keep a few extra bottles set up and ready to accommodate a baby tarantula in case you need to make a quick switch to a clean bottle.

Once they change to their adult colors you care for them the same as the mother.

... How old until I can get rid of them? ...

As soon as you can verify that any given baby is eating you can get rid of it. Other hobbyists are always happy to take them, even pay money for them! While many pet shops don't want them until they look like real tarantulas, there are quite a few who'll take them even as babies, partly because they can get them cheaper, partly because they appreciate the wisdom of marketing cage raised rather than wild caught animals.

If all else fails, look in the "dealers," "sellers," or "buy/sell/trade" sections of these various forums for mail order arachnid dealers. One or more of them are sure to take your babies. Hints:
1. Be sure to discuss how to ship them.

2. Be sure to discuss who is going to pay for the shipping/mailing charges. (If you are only going to get $25 for the babies, but it's going to cost you $25 to ship them, why bother?)

3. How are you going to get paid? With a check or merely in trade for other tarantulas? If trade only, who pays for the shipping on these? (The shipping can potentially cost more than the value of the baby tarantulas!)

4. WHEN will you get paid? ASAP? Or only after the buyer sells them? Or gets around to eventually sending you a check?

Congratulations! A lot of other enthusiasts wish they were so lucky!

 

[toxicmessiah]

Well, I'm in Maryland. I've decided that if I keep them, I'll only ship to the surrounding states. She decided to come out today. Which is a nice sight to see. She doesnt seem as skittish today as she usually does. About how long is it actually going to take for me to be able to separate them from her? Everyone is saying there 2nd instar or their 3rd. About how long should it be before the second instar?

 

[toxicmessiah]

Nevermind, disreguard that question. Baby food jars, pill bottles, vermeculite, take away the water dish, keep the viv humid, when they start eating each other separate them, dont change the feeding habits, mom will take care of them. Okay. I think i got it... If anyone remembers anything, that was forgotten, let me know. I'm always good for more information.

 

[kitty_b]

Nevermind, disreguard that question. Baby food jars, pill bottles, vermeculite, take away the water dish, keep the viv humid, when they start eating each other separate them, dont change the feeding habits, mom will take care of them. Okay. I think i got it... If anyone remembers anything, that was forgotten, let me know. I'm always good for more information.

you forgot to BREATHE

good luck, adoptive parent. they're just so darn cute, you'll love 'em.

make sure that when you do end up separating them, put plenty of tiny ventilation holes in their containers. they love their ventilation.

 

[worm's girl]

YAY MARYLAND!!! Theres a bunch of us t keepers in MD i'm sure someone around here is willing to take them off your hands. ( i dont want them, i just had to represent)

 

[toxicmessiah]

I was startin to think no one else lived in this state Do you know of anyone in particular who would want some?

She's been out all day yesterday and so far all day today. I think maybe she's takin a break from being a mom. Because she never comes out to say hi. That's why her name's Ninja! It's so nice for her to grace us with her presence.

 

[worm's girl]

no i dont, but etown might. hes also in md, and so is staley and a couple other people on this forum....and i'll ask my local dealer next time i see him (maybe today or tomorrow) too

 

[Moltar]

Toxic, i'm in MD on the eastern shore to be precise. I'd take a few (maybe 10) slings off your hands as soon as they're ready. If you're close enough i'd prefer to drive what with this insane heat we're having. In the meantime you can buy a culture of fruitflies pretty cheaply. I got a vial for about $20 once and it produced waaayyyy more than i could have ever used. genocide eventually ensued. (poor flies) I'll post a link as soon as i can remember where i got them. A fly culture works well because they continue to breed and produce more as you feed them off.

What part of the state are you in?

P.S. Cmooooonnn worms, take a couple. It's not really any harder to keep 5 or 10 slings than it is to keep one. Plus, avics are so CUTE!!

 

[Moltar]

A couple of fruitfly links. I got mine from New York Worms but they're out of them right now. These are untested vendors that i got from a quick google. There may be people on here that could either sell you some flies or reccomend a better place:

http://joshsfrogs.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=21_52

http://www.fruitflystore.com/

http://www.flyculture.com/

 

[Skulnik]

Hey Toxie! I wrote you an instant message yesterday afternoon. I am certainly interested in taking a few off your hands. Let me know how much you're charging.

Awesome!

 

[worm's girl]

P.S. Cmooooonnn worms, take a couple. It's not really any harder to keep 5 or 10 slings than it is to keep one. Plus, avics are so CUTE!!

I totally would, but we just got a couple new pets that eat 5 crix or so a day each plus mealworms and so we're trying to start breeding food for the animals we already have, and living in the apartment its hard to keep so many animals even if they are tiny because we know theyll get big eventually. right now we have pretty much the whole dining room dedicated spider, lizard, fish, and lobster tanks, then the cat takes up the rest! i'm waiting for my daughter to get old enough to take care of some of these pets so i can move them into her room!