Triggering egg sacs, what do YOU do?

Haksilence

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So some of you may know but I've had a number of breeding projects progressing throughout the later months of this year.

I currently have an almost certainly gravid B albopilosum and S calceatum with the potential of C lividus, B boehmei, P striata, and G sp. "Northern Gold" on the way. (All have been paired but too soon to tell)

And in the reading I've done I've seen some methods (mostly in older threads since most of the breeding reports are at least 5 years old with a large number over 10 years old) specifically that of trying to "trigger" females into dropping sacs.
I've heard of flooding, cool down periods, rehousing ECT in efforts to trigger sacs but haven't really seen any data to support the consistency of these methods.
I know for a lot of grammostola a cooldown is a bit more common, but what about other species? Is there any validity to these methods or are they just coincidence?
What are your experiences/methods?
Does anyone have any specific experience with any of these species? I've yet to produce a sac from any of these species so I have no experience with them.

As of right now I'm just staying the course and giving none of them any specific treatment. All are kept in the common T room where temperatures are kept at 78-80 during the day and tapered to roughly 70-72 at night.


Thanks for your time, wish me luck
 

BobBarley

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Following in case there is indeed a way to trigger a sac. My house naturally drops down to around 67 at night and only climbs up to 72 in the winter (now).
 

Angel Minkov

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If she wants, she'll lay a sac. If not, there is nothing you can do about it. Simple as that. I rarely see someone trying to "trigger" sacs nowadays ^^
 

Rhyce

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I just wrote my breeding report on Brachypelma boehmei a few weeks ago. I posted it in the tarantula question section "Which we are in". It is very detailed about raising the humidity at a certain point of the females gestation. It helped a ton, gestation was not as long as projected, and I had a 100% success rate. So not one bad egg was found. It's pretty cool to watch their behaviors change after the initial jump in humidity. Anyways, if you'd like to read it. It's somewhere on this section of the forum.
 

Haksilence

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If she wants, she'll lay a sac. If not, there is nothing you can do about it. Simple as that. I rarely see someone trying to "trigger" sacs nowadays ^^
Thats what i thought. I figured it was an outdated concept
 

Thistles

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Um, it depends on the species. Sometimes you get lucky and don't have to "trigger" a sac, but it will greatly increase your success rate if you mimic their natural seasonal cycles. For example, here is Jacobi's protocol for increasing Poecilotheria sac rates: http://kissmybighairyspider.blogspot.com/2015/07/38-breeding-tarantulas-1-poecilotheria.html

I've successfully gotten Poeci sacs without doing the above, but I definitely have a higher drop rate (lower molt out rate!) when I properly cycle my females. For other hard-to-breed species (some of the NW giants come to mind) breeders have to very carefully control temperatures to get sacs.

Sure, for many baboons you pretty much don't have to do anything special (but flooding can really help, and I can think of one species for which an increased temperature appears to be a necessity) but for many species the only successful sacs have been a result of careful seasonal mimicry.

Maybe you don't see people talking about triggering sacs because the only people replying to breeding threads are folks who've bred a Psalmopoeus or OBT and think that what applies there applies universally. I don't see too many of our old-timers or big breeders talking about how they get things done lately.
 

Angel Minkov

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Mimicking their natural conditions and drastically changing conditions e.g "triggering" a sac are two separate things.
 

cold blood

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Mimicking their natural conditions and drastically changing conditions e.g "triggering" a sac are two separate things.
Not if the drastically changing conditions mimic natural conditions....like what was layed out by jacobi.
 

Thistles

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Where was "drastic" specified or defined for these purposes? He just asked for a trigger. Seasonal triggers would be included, no? I've also heard of rehousing helping. I'd call that drastic, and include it under triggers just like seasonal.
 

Haksilence

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Yes, this threads main discussion point was seasonal triggers.
 

Angel Minkov

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Seasonal triggers - yes. Its important to mimic their natural weather patterns and apply changes wherever needed, but stuff like soaking the tank, rehousing et cetera don't really earn my trust ^^
 

Haksilence

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What season is typically targeted? What time of year do you try to replicate.

I anually simulate seasonal changes for my specimens just throughout the year, but curious what time of year is typical for dropped sacs. Typically post wet season for applicable species? After winter/early spring for others?
 

Thistles

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What season is typically targeted? What time of year do you try to replicate.

I anually simulate seasonal changes for my specimens just throughout the year, but curious what time of year is typical for dropped sacs. Typically post wet season for applicable species? After winter/early spring for others?
Usually spring or wet season, yeah. A lot of times wild caught Chilean spiders lay sacs in our Autumn because that is spring for them. For poecs, increasing moisture stimulates them to lay by mimicking their monsoon season when prey is most abundant for the spiderlings.
 

Angel Minkov

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That depends on species heavily. Are we talking about Grammostola? Xenesthis? Poecilotheria?
 

Haksilence

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That depends on species heavily. Are we talking about Grammostola? Xenesthis? Poecilotheria?
I'm just saying in general, or more so asking where the info as to species specifics can be found.

Specifically I'm working on:
B albopilosum "Nicaragua"
B boehmei
C lividus
C minax
S calceatum

With very near future:
P striata
 

Angel Minkov

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None of those are really difficult or require something special. Your best bet would be to message someone like Tom Patterson and listen to his advice :)
 
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