WC Kukulcania hibernalis laid egg sac

[CommanderBacon]

Uh sooo...

I bought a few wc Kukulcania at a show for ten bucks (TEN BUCKS!) a few weeks back aaand.. well, one was a rather BIG lady, which I was excited about (sold to me as Kukulcania hibernalis), but today I saw that she has produced an egg sac.

exhibit A:


This is cool! But uhhhh... Not sure how to proceed. Anyone have experience with kukulcania sacs? I’m rather jazzed and would like to see it through to babyville, but would very much appreciate some guidance.

Thanks!

 

[MintyWood826]

That's awesome, congrats!

I think @Ungoliant has a lot of experience with Kuks

 

[CommanderBacon]

@MintyWood826 Thank you! I noticed that @Ungoliant had some a while back, but I was uncertain if they would stop by. I hope they do

Full disclosure: I had a small juvenile Kukulcania arizonica I purchased in January and followed husbandry guidelines I had seen here on the forums, but she died a month back due to what I strongly suspect was impaction. I could not figure out any other cause of death, and she was so small I did not notice any issues until she died and I was able to see evidence of feces around her butt. Her abdomen was hard and paler than I think is normal.

I was really busted up about it, but I want to try again, so when I found this girl and a Kukulcania arizonica available for $10 each at a table, both wild caught by the vendor, I went ahead and got them. I'm attaching their setups (each 4"x4"x5" amac) in case anyone would like to give me some feedback on my husbandry.

I had been offering food 1x per week and misting once every 2 weeks.

The K arizonica is in the container with the cholla, and has set up web under the back where it leans against the wall. I was expecting it to web up inside, but hey, my spider ESP is weak.

The K hibernalis immediately webbed up the middle of the cork tube, which I expected, but I have been sick and was not expecting a sac. She was out and hugging it the other day when I was reorganizing my spider shelves.

Any guidance is much appreciated!

 

[Ungoliant]

Not sure how to proceed. Anyone have experience with kukulcania sacs? I’m rather jazzed and would like to see it through to babyville, but would very much appreciate some guidance.

Congratulations! The good news is that Kuks are very good mothers, and there is little you need to do. While she is on the sac, she probably won't have much of an appetite, but you can drip water onto her webbing to give her a drink.

The slings will emerge about 4-6 weeks after the sac is created. I've never counted them, but I would estimate that there are at least 50 per sac, possibly 100. For the first several weeks after emerging, slings live with their siblings in their mother's web. Feeding them is easy. Instead of trying to find tiny prey they can take down themselves (during the first instars, slings lack the anatomy needed to make cribellate silk anyway), let mom kill the prey. She will often share the prey with her slings, especially if you provide one prey item for mom and one for the slings. It's not uncommon to find scores of slings glomming onto a large prey item once their mother has dispatched it.

After a few weeks, the mother will become less tolerant of her slings, like she's trying to avoid them. Then it's time to separate the slings, which should be kept singly for the rest of their lives. The easiest way to do this is to rehouse mom into a fresh enclosure. Then you don't have to worry about wrecking the old enclosure to extract the slings.

 

[CommanderBacon]

Congratulations! The good news is that Kuks are very good mothers, and there is little you need to do. While she is on the sac, she probably won't have much of an appetite, but you can drip water onto her webbing to give her a drink.

The slings will emerge about 4-6 weeks after the sac is created. I've never counted them, but I would estimate that there are at least 50 per sac, possibly 100. For the first several weeks after emerging, slings live with their siblings in their mother's web. Feeding them is easy. Instead of trying to find tiny prey they can take down themselves (during the first instars, slings lack the anatomy needed to make cribellate silk anyway), let mom kill the prey. She will often share the prey with her slings, especially if you provide one prey item for mom and one for the slings. It's not uncommon to find scores of slings glomming onto a large prey item once their mother has dispatched it.

After a few weeks, the mother will become less tolerant of her slings, like she's trying to avoid them. Then it's time to separate the slings, which should be kept singly for the rest of their lives. The easiest way to do this is to rehouse mom into a fresh enclosure. Then you don't have to worry about wrecking the old enclosure to extract the slings.

That’s so wonderful! Thank you! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help!

Since she’s a bigger girl, I was considering moving her to a larger enclosure anyway, and one just recently became available since sadly, my wolf spider died He was an old, old man, though (2.5 years!). I can move her into it after she’s done with her babies.

Do you recommend that I tape some pantyhose over the vent holes to keep the babies from getting out, or do you think it’s okay as is?

Thanks again!

 

[Ungoliant]

Do you recommend that I tape some pantyhose over the vent holes to keep the babies from getting out, or do you think it’s okay as is?

IME, if the holes are small, they probably won't try to get out, but it doesn't hurt to cover them.

 

[CommanderBacon]

Guarding her sac today <3

 

[CommanderBacon]

Mama is still guarding her sac. It has changed shape over the past two weeks, but I haven't seen spiderlings yet. I would think if it wasn't fertile she would have abandoned it at this point but I'm not sure if that's a thing-? Anyway, she's still very protective of it. It seems to have grown thin in some places. Will we see slings soon?

 

[Ungoliant]

Mama is still guarding her sac. It has changed shape over the past two weeks, but I haven't seen spiderlings yet. I would think if it wasn't fertile she would have abandoned it at this point but I'm not sure if that's a thing-? Anyway, she's still very protective of it. It seems to have grown thin in some places. Will we see slings soon?

I wouldn't give up hope yet. In the winter, it may take the spiderlings longer to develop and emerge.

I've only ever seen one egg sac that appeared to be a dud, and the mother abandoned it.

 

[CommanderBacon]

Just when I started to think the sac was infertile, there is a baby explosion!

Now I have to stuff 75 +-15 tiny dollar bills into teeny weeny little Xmas cards this holiday season.

I laughed when I saw that these babies are about the same size as my K brunnipes slings though.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

Just when I started to think the sac was infertile, there is a baby explosion!

Now I have to stuff 75 +-15 tiny dollar bills into teeny weeny little Xmas cards this holiday season.

I laughed when I saw that these babies are about the same size as my K brunnipes slings though.

Aww congratulations! They're so cute!

 

[CommanderBacon]

@Albireo Wulfbooper Thank you! I’m so in love with them! They’re adorable and leggy and so baby

I put five prekilled pinhead crickets into the webs last night before bed and this morning they were all gone. Not sure if mom nuked them all herself, but I’m pretty sure I saw some babies converging on one just before I turned out my light.

 

[Ungoliant]

I put five prekilled pinhead crickets into the webs last night before bed and this morning they were all gone. Not sure if mom nuked them all herself, but I’m pretty sure I saw some babies converging on one just before I turned out my light.

In my experience, unless the mother takes all the food (which sometimes happens), the slings will share meals.

They should be able so share the enclosure for a few more weeks.

 

[MintyWood826]

@Albireo Wulfbooper Thank you! I’m so in love with them! They’re adorable and leggy and so baby

I put five prekilled pinhead crickets into the webs last night before bed and this morning they were all gone. Not sure if mom nuked them all herself, but I’m pretty sure I saw some babies converging on one just before I turned out my light.

I wish I had the love rating right now!

 

[Anonymity82]

That's pretty awesome! Congrats! I've only had two experiences with this species and both weren't adults and both times they "mysteriously" died. Likely from something I had done wrong. Very disappointing as this species is one of my favorites.

 

[CommanderBacon]

I’ve had babies repelling down my bookcase for the last two days so we had to take measures.

Future tips: please put a fine denier pantyhose or some sort of mesh over your ventilation holes or you’re gonna lose some of these baby adventurers XD

 

[CommanderBacon]

Scene: I open up the enclosure full of Kukulcania hibernalis babies to apply food and water. They are small adorable idiots, and immediately try to escape the moment I open the lid. Oh no. No. Please stop. Go back inside. Please. You are all so small, and I am so clumsy. Please. Please turn around. Please stop walking on my finger with your adorable silly legs. I am so dreadfully afraid of squishing you.
*puts one baby back inside as seven more escape*

 

[CommanderBacon]

The pantyhose barrier has prevented escapes and all of the babies seem to be doing well.

If you want to see an amazing freakout, mist an enclosure full of Kukulcania babies. These guys go full mosh pit mode on some water droplets!

I feel like they’re bigger but I’m not sure that I’m seeing a real gain in size. I think I’m just seeing them get older, but who knows?