Yeah, gonna need some help with this...

Tim Benzedrine

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When i decide to go Old world, i think big. Sure, most people get a OBT, or something. But I prefer quantity, so I got this.

m_IMG_5840.jpg

Okay, here's the real story. I was at the Pet shop i regularly frequent. one of the managers hollered at me "Hey Tim Benzedrine come here a minute. "I ambled over.
Do you know what that is? I looked where he was pointing. Into the H. lividium enclosure.
I did a double take. "You've got a sac there."
Another employee was nearby. He said "You could take it home and try to hatch them..."
I turned to the manager and raised my eyebrows. "He just said "Yeah, go ahead.

So here i am now with a sac of one of the nastier species out there.
It is probably infertile. Apparently it was created fairly recently. I asked how long they had had the spider, and i believe they said about six months. i asked if anybody knew if it had moulted since they received it. not to their knowledge. I asked if they knew if it was WC CB. They had no idea.

I still figure it's viability is about zero percent, but I shrugged and said "Yeah, I'll give it a shot." On the minute chance i have success, I have idea what I'll do with a bunch of aggressive, toxic speed-demons, but I'll cross that bridge when i come to it. It might be a good learning experience. Such as learning not to bring home OW tarantula egg sacs, for example.

Anyway, I just got home with it and while I will do my own research any pointers would be more than welcome. Or should I just splat it with a shoe and be done with it? ;)

Yes, those chips were what it was on in its enclosure. Which means there may just be a bunch of desiccated eggs inside the sac due to lack of proper humidity. And/or infertile of course.

Question one to be dealt with. regarding potential viability. If the spider had in fact mated as a WC, do females retain the sperm for as long as they have had the spider? (Around six months) Is the species ever wild-caught to begin with? The answer to this could halt this before it even starts.
 

REEFSPIDER

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You may have a viable sac there. Assuming the spider had been wild caught. My LPS had a wild caught female for a while and it dropped a fertile sac. I think they had it 4 months prior to it dropping. Maybe someone with a little more experience breeding this sp. can chime in. As far as I know it can still be viable if she mated in the wild because some specimens are known to even produce sacs one after the other without pairing again.
 

Tim Benzedrine

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Thanks for the reply. I frankly am a bit skeptical that it was wild caught, as I'm getting the impression to believe that they are regularly bred for the hobby. but one never knows, I suppose.
I VERY lightly spritzed a little water on the side of the container as a temporary measure, which may have been totally the wrong thing to do, but I am guessing that being bone dry is not conducive to incubation. this is likely to be a big fail, but I'm not out a dime if it is a dud. if nothing else, I've never even seen a tarantula sac in the flesh...er, silk...before, only photos, so I guess it isn't a complete loss.

Yeah, Venom, I trust info received here much more than a lot of conflicting stuff that I will inevitably dig up on the internet.
 

cold blood

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Was the sac just sitting there or did you have to take it from her?
 

cold blood

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Ok, if it were viable, it would almost certainly been a battle to separate her from the sac. Also, a sac needs to be constantly rotated, which is why the mother is so diligent about holding onto it. Being that it was just sitting there for a while, even if there were good, that probably would have clumped a bunch if not all of them.

I would open the sac, as that's going to tell you really quickly if there's any hope. If there are eggs that look good, put them in an incubator.

Wouldn't it be funny if you opened it, dug to the middle only to find a really moldy cricket.:rofl:
 

Tim Benzedrine

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ha! It would probably be for the best. I'm gonna spin it now, how often do they need to be turned? they did not mention a fight to retrieve it, but they didn't mention not having to either. Tomorrow, maybe I'll slice it open, but I'm gonna have to look up the incubator thing.

Keep in mind folks, that this wasn't a rash beginner thinking he knows enough to attempt something that he has no knowledge of, it was just sort of something (I have no knowledge of) that was dropped into my lap. Failure at the store was a certainty anyway, so I figured why not play around?

Edit: it may have not sat too long, they discovered it shortly before i came onto the scene. However, it had to sit in the container until i got home, which was probably at least six hours. So they prolly are a congealed clump...
 

Redneck

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Have you held the sac in your hand yet? If so, how does it feel? Can you feel little eggs in it? Never know how long she actually had the sac in the first place. So it might be time to take it, open it and incubate.
 

Tim Benzedrine

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That's a good point. I really needed to ask them more questions in regard to a time frame, I just didn't know what questions to ask.
I'll pock it up and see how it feels, though i may not have the experience to gather any useful info.

Can anybody direct me to a good place (or describe here in this one) describing the easiest method to incubate? The simpler the better. Until after tomorrow, my free time is a little limited. I'll have a couple relatively free days after that.
By the way, currently i have the container sitting on top of my PC for some hopefully gentle warmth. Didn't know what else to do. may have eggs over easy at this point. I know that crickets hatched well there, but we're REALLY talking apples and oranges here.

When I say i am ignorant of this particular branch of keeping, I mean WOEFULLY ignorant. I've never researched, because I never was interested in breeding tarantulas. I even skipped that section of the tarantula keeper's guide, which I will now have to look around for...
 

REEFSPIDER

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Basically if it's good it will feel like a bag full of BBs (soft but full) and you should feel the eggs moving inside. and if it's bad it will feel like a rock, solid and in one piece inside the sac.
 

sdsnybny

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At this point Id cut it open and see if its viable, from what I have researched the egg sac gets turned every 4-6hrs 24/7 so the eggs develop properly. If they look good (post pics) you can then decide how/weather to continue to care for them. I believe outside of the sac and separated they might not need to be rotated. They need 80% humidity and 80 degrees or so WITHOUT getting them wet. they will mold pretty easy.
 

Tim Benzedrine

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It feels soft, but I don't feel anything spherical. Doesn't feel loke a solid mass, though.

If lousie checks in and directs me to it, I'll look at that video. the eggs, if they are in there, are gonna have to sit. I'll turn it a couple times in the morning, but i'm afraid it will just have to sit until i get home in the evening. i don't have high hopes for this, but i didn't from the very out-start, either. like I said, it's sort of an interesting exercise, so I won't be crushed at a negative outcome.

Around what temperature should it be at? I think I'm gonna spritz just a tiny bit more water in in it, unless advised otherwise. i imagine i risk mould or something if I over do it. but that substrate was very dry. The eggs could already be desiccated, as i mentioned earlier. On the other hand, it could be a bunch of eggs with legs for all I know!
I need to start thinking about hitting the sack now so I think I will wait until tomorrow evening, or the day after tomorrow when I have the entire day, and then open it up.
 

Tim Benzedrine

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Ah, I was posting while sdsnybny was so missed that reply. I'll take that under advisement too. Guess O'll rotate them one last time for the night and go to bed and hope for the best. i'll keep y'all updated.
 

louise f

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@Tim Benzedrine. Ok do you know when she made the sac ?
I can tell this much i had before get to take an egg sac 10 days after making of the sac, because mom left it. i got it open and the eggs looked good, i put them in an incubator and wouldn`t you know, they all turned out as little spiders, so there`s a hope for yours too. :) I would get it open and have a look, and please post pics :)
From what I`ve heard the eggs are develop at 8 days after making of the sac.
Keep us updated this is really exiting. ;)

Here`s some of my vids too


 

Tim Benzedrine

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Thank-you @louise f ! That looks pretty easy. I have to go to work, but when I get home tonight I will watch a second time, open the sac and if it looks hopeful I'll devise something as you have shown. I really have no idea when the sac was created, the folks at the shop just noticed it was in there yesterday, but as red-neck pointed out, it may have been in there for a while unnoticed.

Whats the best way to open it? A small pair of scissors?
 

louise f

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Thank-you @louise f ! That looks pretty easy. I have to go to work, but when I get home tonight I will watch a second time, open the sac and if it looks hopeful I'll devise something as you have shown. I really have no idea when the sac was created, the folks at the shop just noticed it was in there yesterday, but as red-neck pointed out, it may have been in there for a while unnoticed.

Whats the best way to open it? A small pair of scissors?

You`re welcome. It is easy friend;) the best way to open is a small pair of scissors, but be very careful. Just ask again if you got further questions :)
Can`t wait till you get it open, i hope they are good to go. ;)
 
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