My miracle babies

[kormath]

The ones I kept are doing great! I gave half to the person who gave me their daddy as a freebie when he was just a little sling and kept the rest. They're still little but they eat well and are healthy, normal kids. Thanks for checking in on them.

That's awesome! And yes, like @Enn49 asked pics please! when you can anyway.

 

[Thistles]

Here's one of the little guys today.

 

[Enn49]

@Thistles It's so amazing to see them doing so well after that dreadful start, most people would have given up on them so you deserve a huge WELL DONE .

 

[Thistles]

@Thistles It's so amazing to see them doing so well after that dreadful start, most people would have given up on them so you deserve a huge WELL DONE .

Aww, thanks! Just doing what needed to be done to give them the best chance possible. I have another sticky egg sac story I might tell, depending on how it all turns out. The first 1i appeared today, so it's looking pretty good.

 

[Enn49]

Aww, thanks! Just doing what needed to be done to give them the best chance possible. I have another sticky egg sac story I might tell, depending on how it all turns out. The first 1i appeared today, so it's looking pretty good.

You must tell now that you've mentioned it.

 

[Thistles]

You must tell now that you've mentioned it.

After the happy ending

 

[MassExodus]

Never saw this thread, excellent job Thistles.

 

[Arachnes' Acolyte]

Okay, so I know not to count my tarantulas before they're second instar, but I have some pretty special 1i spiders right now. I am thrilled that they made it this far, and this is a big milestone for them. Why? Because they came from this:
View attachment 18012
Yeah, that disgusting mess is an egg sac. My female Chilobrachys dyscolus molted in November, I fed her well and when my male matured I was optimistic about the pairing. I paired in February, and the female almost immediately burrowed and stopped eating. What's up with that, lady?

I left her alone for months, but in June my curiosity got the best of me. I carefully pulled away the silk plug and peeked into her burrow. There she was with an egg sac! It looked pretty small, only maybe 1" diameter, and mom is over 5". I was still happy to see it, after months of mom refusing food!

I didn't know when she had made the sac, so I planned to leave it with her for close to a month before pulling it. If the babies hatch out with her, well, it wouldn't be the first time I've had to round up slings in mom's tank.

So my planned pulling day was this weekend. I go to get the eggsac and what do I see but a little wadded up sac in the water dish! Nooooo! Why did I wait?! How could I have let this happen?!

It felt awful. The sac was solid and gummy and damp. I cut it open anyway, and found the mess I was expecting. In the muck, there were also a few EWLs that looked alive. I dug them out of the gunk as carefully as I could, and ended up with 25 that looked like this: View attachment 18013
Maybe you can see that these poor babies still are covered in the slime that was their siblings. Gross, and suffocating! So here I got a little creative.

I washed my EWLs.

I put them in a soft fish net, and gently rinsed them with room temperature dechlorinated water until I got all the muck off them. They dried quickly on paper towel and I put them into a tiny incubator. On Monday I pulled out 8 moldy ones, and another on Tuesday. But! The others had started to darken up! I still saw no movement from them. No wiggling of tiny legs or any sign of life except their slight darkening and continued lack of mold.

Imagine my delight when I found a first instar this morning! When I got home from class, several more had popped! They're still too young to be out of the woods, but the fact that they've come out of such a gross mess, been WASHED, and now they've successfully molted after all that makes me feel like they've got a shot! There are only 16 of them, but that's more than 0!View attachment 18015 View attachment 18014
Have any of you heard of washing EWLs before?

Okay, so I know not to count my tarantulas before they're second instar, but I have some pretty special 1i spiders right now. I am thrilled that they made it this far, and this is a big milestone for them. Why? Because they came from this:
View attachment 18012
Yeah, that disgusting mess is an egg sac. My female Chilobrachys dyscolus molted in November, I fed her well and when my male matured I was optimistic about the pairing. I paired in February, and the female almost immediately burrowed and stopped eating. What's up with that, lady?

I left her alone for months, but in June my curiosity got the best of me. I carefully pulled away the silk plug and peeked into her burrow. There she was with an egg sac! It looked pretty small, only maybe 1" diameter, and mom is over 5". I was still happy to see it, after months of mom refusing food!

I didn't know when she had made the sac, so I planned to leave it with her for close to a month before pulling it. If the babies hatch out with her, well, it wouldn't be the first time I've had to round up slings in mom's tank.

So my planned pulling day was this weekend. I go to get the eggsac and what do I see but a little wadded up sac in the water dish! Nooooo! Why did I wait?! How could I have let this happen?!

It felt awful. The sac was solid and gummy and damp. I cut it open anyway, and found the mess I was expecting. In the muck, there were also a few EWLs that looked alive. I dug them out of the gunk as carefully as I could, and ended up with 25 that looked like this: View attachment 18013
Maybe you can see that these poor babies still are covered in the slime that was their siblings. Gross, and suffocating! So here I got a little creative.

I washed my EWLs.

I put them in a soft fish net, and gently rinsed them with room temperature dechlorinated water until I got all the muck off them. They dried quickly on paper towel and I put them into a tiny incubator. On Monday I pulled out 8 moldy ones, and another on Tuesday. But! The others had started to darken up! I still saw no movement from them. No wiggling of tiny legs or any sign of life except their slight darkening and continued lack of mold.

Imagine my delight when I found a first instar this morning! When I got home from class, several more had popped! They're still too young to be out of the woods, but the fact that they've come out of such a gross mess, been WASHED, and now they've successfully molted after all that makes me feel like they've got a shot! There are only 16 of them, but that's more than 0!View attachment 18015 View attachment 18014
Have any of you heard of washing EWLs before?

YOU ARE A HERO SIR! Lesser would have given up.

 

[Phil]

Aww, thanks! Just doing what needed to be done to give them the best chance possible. I have another sticky egg sac story I might tell, depending on how it all turns out. The first 1i appeared today, so it's looking pretty good.

I would say above and beyond. You never gave up and for the 2 that remain I hope they live a long and happy life. Deffo KEEPERS.

 

[Thistles]

Thanks guys. You're making me blush. I have... 4? 5? something like that of the dyscolus left and they're all doing really well.

The other sticky egg sac story is going well. I have about 30 1i from that group now, and am hoping for another 30 or so. It's a Poecilotheria ornata sac, and when I went to pull it I found their mother eating the egg sac. Bad girl! I pulled it and it looked sticky but viable. I tried to wash it off, but with no luck. It wasn't guts on them like the first. I guess it was mom's digestive enzymes or something. I carefully separated the eggs (and a few EWLs) and spread them out on a damp paper towel, but they didn't seem to be able to hatch with the sticky glue-like stuff on them.

I actually hatched each of them by hand. I pulled off the paper-thin shells. It was SO nerve-wracking, and I did pop a few (like 5 or something) but in general I think it went pretty well. The 1i are starting to show up, but I've also had some turn black, so it wasn't a perfect success.

Can I get some easy sacs now, please? I'm getting tired of having to fight for each baby.

Except OBTs. Enough of those. 4 OBT sacs this season is more than I needed!

 

[Enn49]

Thanks guys. You're making me blush. I have... 4? 5? something like that of the dyscolus left and they're all doing really well.

The other sticky egg sac story is going well. I have about 30 1i from that group now, and am hoping for another 30 or so. It's a Poecilotheria ornata sac, and when I went to pull it I found their mother eating the egg sac. Bad girl! I pulled it and it looked sticky but viable. I tried to wash it off, but with no luck. It wasn't guts on them like the first. I guess it was mom's digestive enzymes or something. I carefully separated the eggs (and a few EWLs) and spread them out on a damp paper towel, but they didn't seem to be able to hatch with the sticky glue-like stuff on them.

I actually hatched each of them by hand. I pulled off the paper-thin shells. It was SO nerve-wracking, and I did pop a few (like 5 or something) but in general I think it went pretty well. The 1i are starting to show up, but I've also had some turn black, so it wasn't a perfect success.

Can I get some easy sacs now, please? I'm getting tired of having to fight for each baby.

Except OBTs. Enough of those. 4 OBT sacs this season is more than I needed!

You must have the patience of a saint to hatch them by hand, I wouldn't know where to start. Fingers crossed they do well for you now. You certainly deserve some easy ones now.

Don't knock the OBTs, I'd take a few off your hands if you could get them over to me

 

[Thistles]

Holy crap, be careful what you wish for. I will update in a few. Right now I have to search the basement for babies. AAAAH!

 

[Arachnes' Acolyte]

I would say above and beyond. You never gave up and for the 2 that remain I hope they live a long and happy life. Deffo KEEPERS.

That is the passion people lack today! It makes me happy to see that people still have the drive and dedication and love to not give up on the little things! To us hey aren't hideous or moneybags, they are helpless babies that you cared for against their odds. Nothing but respect from me. I've ben in similar situations and got the stink eye from folks lol. Congrats on the survivors, can't wait to watch them grow up!

 

[Thistles]

Okay, so I got my easy sac.

I went to water some of my spiders, so I grabbed my trusty turkey baster. When I sucked water into the bulb, I saw a tiny spider swirl around in the clear body of the baster. Poor guy! I grab a deli and carefully pour him into it, and try to figure out what he is. "Hmm," I think, "that looks a lot like a Heterothele. Weird."

The wheels turn a little, but my hamster is geriatric and creaky, so it takes a minute for me to realize that I have a female Heterothele gabonensis. "Be quiet, hamster," I think, "I bought her as a juvenile in May and she molted about a month ago. It can't be her!" Just to satisfy myself, I go look at her enclosure. No sign of babies. No little webs or molts or anything that indicates babies, but she has a very large, nice enclosure with lots of leaf litter. Hmm. So I grab my jeweler's loupe and examine the tiny foundling up close and personal. It has parallel fangs and the hint of the Heterothele opisthosoma pattern. No way.

Talking aloud to myself ("no way. No possible way. It can't be...") the whole time, I proceed to dismantle my female's beautiful enclosure and dig down to her lair. Guess what I found?

The tiniest, most perfect egg sac ever. No way.

So, several hours and one pissed off momma spider later, I have a bunch of delis of Heterothele gabonensis slings. Guess she was old enough, after all.

The whole reason I bought her was because I had a few others I was raising. One of my males matured this past week, and given how recently she molted I might have the opportunity to do this all over again very soon.

The cause of the trouble, christened "Mary"

 

[Arachnes' Acolyte]

Okay, so I got my easy sac.

I went to water some of my spiders, so I grabbed my trusty turkey baster. When I sucked water into the bulb, I saw a tiny spider swirl around in the clear body of the baster. Poor guy! I grab a deli and carefully pour him into it, and try to figure out what he is. "Hmm," I think, "that looks a lot like a Heterothele. Weird."

The wheels turn a little, but my hamster is geriatric and creaky, so it takes a minute for me to realize that I have a female Heterothele gabonensis. "Be quiet, hamster," I think, "I bought her as a juvenile in May and she molted about a month ago. It can't be her!" Just to satisfy myself, I go look at her enclosure. No sign of babies. No little webs or molts or anything that indicates babies, but she has a very large, nice enclosure with lots of leaf litter. Hmm. So I grab my jeweler's loupe and examine the tiny foundling up close and personal. It has parallel fangs and the hint of the Heterothele opisthosoma pattern. No way.

Talking aloud to myself ("no way. No possible way. It can't be...") the whole time, I proceed to dismantle my female's beautiful enclosure and dig down to her lair. Guess what I found?

The tiniest, most perfect egg sac ever. No way.
View attachment 21685

So, several hours and one pissed off momma spider later, I have a bunch of delis of Heterothele gabonensis slings. Guess she was old enough, after all.

The whole reason I bought her was because I had a few others I was raising. One of my males matured this past week, and given how recently she molted I might have the opportunity to do this all over again very soon.

What a cute little sac lol....awwww

The cause of the trouble, christened "Mary"
View attachment 21686

 

[Enn49]

Congrats although it doesn't sound so easy having to destroy mum's home.

 

[Thistles]

Congrats although it doesn't sound so easy having to destroy mum's home.

Yeah it still took me several hours of work, lol. I left a few in with mom.

 

[kormath]

That's just awesome!

@Thistles is our resident T whisperer

 

[Thistles]

That's just awesome!

@Thistles is our resident T whisperer

But I had no idea she was gravid! I just need them to whisper back

 

[Arachnes' Acolyte]

They start talking back...I'll take a gram of whatever you have lmfao!