Avenagaliene
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2022
- Messages
- 1
About the Spider
In early September, I found our little blackwalli hanging out over our newborn's (3 months at the time) crib. She was hunting down essentially any bug that came near the baby's crib, so we agreed to move her to a glass enclosure with the full intent of releasing her next Spring. However, we have grown attached to her and have dubbed her "Minnie", although there are days my daughter calls her "Bun Bun". For some reason she was always over a bunny sticker on my desk when she was hungry, hence "Bun Bun". Anyways, Minnie has been amazing and has essentially been fed any spider/bug we found in the house since then. Since its been cold she has had a steady diet of crickets (beginning of December). Thursday, I noticed she had encased herself, and of course, automatically assumed she was stressed out from being in a home with a four-year-old and is trying to protect herself. I do try my best to make sure the kiddo doesn't tap the glass or shake the jar, but I'm not always in the room with her so what she does when I cannot see is out of my control. She does know better but she has been extremely naughty this last month. Instead, it turns out, she has laid a small clutch of eggs.
Now comes the question...
From what I have read (and there is really not a lot of information about them), blackwalli spiders need between two to three weeks under optimal conditions to hatch -- this puts the hatching between January 1st to January January 8th. I know that with most spiders, the sac should be removed after "x" amount of time. The brood should be between 50 to 100 spiderlings (not a big deal I can get a larger container for them). So is anyone aware of whether or not I should be doing that for her, given that she is actually a wild caught spider who wouldn't have her sac removed and blackwalli's from what I gather do actually stay with their young.
I'll include a photo of her and her sac later, my phone is currently charging.
Also in the mean time, she is learning about how to breed and maintain crickets to feed Minnie and her spiderlings after this is all said and done (dead crickets will be fed to spiderlings).
In early September, I found our little blackwalli hanging out over our newborn's (3 months at the time) crib. She was hunting down essentially any bug that came near the baby's crib, so we agreed to move her to a glass enclosure with the full intent of releasing her next Spring. However, we have grown attached to her and have dubbed her "Minnie", although there are days my daughter calls her "Bun Bun". For some reason she was always over a bunny sticker on my desk when she was hungry, hence "Bun Bun". Anyways, Minnie has been amazing and has essentially been fed any spider/bug we found in the house since then. Since its been cold she has had a steady diet of crickets (beginning of December). Thursday, I noticed she had encased herself, and of course, automatically assumed she was stressed out from being in a home with a four-year-old and is trying to protect herself. I do try my best to make sure the kiddo doesn't tap the glass or shake the jar, but I'm not always in the room with her so what she does when I cannot see is out of my control. She does know better but she has been extremely naughty this last month. Instead, it turns out, she has laid a small clutch of eggs.
Now comes the question...
From what I have read (and there is really not a lot of information about them), blackwalli spiders need between two to three weeks under optimal conditions to hatch -- this puts the hatching between January 1st to January January 8th. I know that with most spiders, the sac should be removed after "x" amount of time. The brood should be between 50 to 100 spiderlings (not a big deal I can get a larger container for them). So is anyone aware of whether or not I should be doing that for her, given that she is actually a wild caught spider who wouldn't have her sac removed and blackwalli's from what I gather do actually stay with their young.
I'll include a photo of her and her sac later, my phone is currently charging.
Also in the mean time, she is learning about how to breed and maintain crickets to feed Minnie and her spiderlings after this is all said and done (dead crickets will be fed to spiderlings).