Questions on steatoda mum.

[Charliemum]

I caught a random old steatoda female on our kitchen wall a few months ago the cats were tormenting her she was skinny and missing a leg with fuzz on her abdomen showing she was an older lady so I housed her fed her up n gave her a place to live out her time. To my surprise I came down today and she has made an egg sack I am super stoked and can't wait till it hatches but I have never helped a steatoda mum before so I am unsure what to do, will she still eat? Will the baby's hatch and stay with mum for a bit or will they disperse straight away? And will they need any special conditions to help them grow ? Or should i just leave her alone n let her get on with it? I am hopeful someone on here will know what to do .


Proud mum guarding her eggs
The eggs , I find it strange how she hardly wrapped them up but cool to be able to see them all.

 

[NMTs]

Hopefully the eggs will hatch. I haven't kept any of these that have reproduced in my care before, but if it was me I would still offer her a small prey item every once in a while to see if she's hungry. My assumption is that she'll eat since she's not actively holding a sac. No idea how the slings will behave when they hatch - you'll have to fill us in on that!

 

[Charliemum]

Hopefully the eggs will hatch. I haven't kept any of these that have reproduced in my care before, but if it was me I would still offer her a small prey item every once in a while to see if she's hungry. My assumption is that she'll eat since she's not actively holding a sac. No idea how the slings will behave when they hatch - you'll have to fill us in on that!

I shall
I offered food yesterday n mum took it with gusto she seems to be doing well with her sac so far she spends most of her day hanging next to them but tbh she hasn't sealed them well they are just kinda piled in a hammock not like normal steatoda eggs that are kept in a little round fluffy eggsack so I don't even know if they will hatch but giving them the best chances I possibly can

 

[darkness975]

I shall
I offered food yesterday n mum took it with gusto she seems to be doing well with her sac so far she spends most of her day hanging next to them but tbh she hasn't sealed them well they are just kinda piled in a hammock not like normal steatoda eggs that are kept in a little round fluffy eggsack so I don't even know if they will hatch but giving them the best chances I possibly can

She may be too weak to produce enough silk.

If they are fertile they should hatch on their own and start dispersing within a few hours.

 

[Charliemum]

She may be too weak to produce enough silk.

If they are fertile they should hatch on their own and start dispersing within a few hours.

Thank you so much , I thought that might be the case tbh I was surprised she laid she has full fuzz on her abdomen so I thought she would be too old but even though she hasn't wrapped them well she seems to be protecting them she goes next to them if I touch her viv, hopefully she will see them hatch, she took food so it helps her, she did look very deflated after she laid them. I shall watch for them going dark and change the lid to an unvented one so if they do hatch out over night I can release them somewhere safe, definitely dont want them in with my t's which is where mums viv/pot thing is. Thank you again for your help I shall update if they hatch out.

 

[Charliemum]

@darkness975 I have noticed a white blob stuck to mums abdomen where her spinnerets ar, could she be compacted or mybe egg bound and thats why she hasn't sealed the eggs properly? Noticed today she is moving very slowly too. I have included pics they aren't the best of her but you can clearly see the white blob in them.

This was this morning when I noticed it.

So i went through my pics and these are from the same day I made this post she doesn't have it before that. She had laid her eggs the night before.


I fear it may be impaction as it looks round in these pics but flat on the one from today. Is there anything I can do if it is?

 

[darkness975]

I fear it may be impaction as it looks round in these pics but flat on the one from today. Is there anything I can do if it is?

Not really. It is sad but their life spans are abysmal compared to other critters. Though not as bad as moths or flies.

 

[Charliemum]

OK thank you anyways.

 

[Charliemum]

Quick update mum has managed to remove most of the white stuff on her abdomen and seems to be back in her web happy hunting and her baby's hatched I officially have steatoda ewl proud spider granny right here
You can't see them well in this pic but you can see little egg casings hanging from the web so happy them and mum are OK well done Pitcher (all my steatoda are named after carnivorous plants)