Darmachus workmani Lazarus babies??

[DeeCeeJay]

Hi guys... I need help!

I have one of these:
View attachment 76271

Damarchus workmani, which I received in April

This is the last time I saw him feed, but I had been dropping crickets in and they had been disappearing, until a few months ago.

I had a lot of mould growing in there, and the crickets weren't disappearing, so I thought the worst, didn't go digging, and left the enclosure to be handled later.

Fast forward to today, I receive delivery of a different trapdoor spider, it's bigger than I thought so I decide to reuse the enclosure

No idea what I'm gonna unearth, so I go slow and gentle with a cup, sifting the substrate and checking any lumps for spider bodies

I come across what I think is a lump of clay - it turned out to be a kind of cocoon, inside of which is my d workmani, alive, and dozens of little spiderlings crawling out of the cocoon.

Idk if it was a chamber she'd closed off, or an actual cocoon-cocoon, but it was the last thing I expected.

I didn't even know that could happen.

So now I've got a load of slings I don't know how to raise and I'm reeling from the surprise

Has anyone got any advice? How do I look after these things?

I'm far from an advanced keeper, especially with spiders, and I'm worried my care might kill them

For now I've left some in the original enclosure with mum (I gently covered them over and refilled the rest of the enclosure, added some springtails) and some of the leftover soil went into a lidded cup, just in case there were babies in there.

Will leaving pre-killed crickets and keeping an area of sub moist do until they gr a little bigger?

I'm guessing their mum can take care of them better than I could for now, but I honestly have no idea


Appreciate any and all help, this is terrifying.

 

[DeeCeeJay]

Uhm, here's the pic that should be up there, I can't edit this thing

 

[Ratmosphere]

Do you know what instar they are?

 

[DeeCeeJay]

Do you know what instar they are?

No idea whatsoever, not a clue. Literally just discovered them when I opened what I thought was a clay ball, but it wasn't.

They're maybe 1.5mm across? They're tiny, but you can see them with the naked eye and you can see that they're tiny spiders, not mysterious specks. No idea if that's big for a new hatched damarchus or normal

 

[Ratmosphere]

Are they pale/light and color and slow, or dark in color and fast?

 

[Tarantula Trooper]

Wow! What a predicament! I do believe the springtails being added is a good thing as they could serve as a prey item for the tiny ones. That and keep a bit of fresh pre kill as you stated. Hopefully, someone with experience raising these guys can help with some advice. Are the little guys able to escape through ventilation holes??

 

[DeeCeeJay]

Are they pale/light and color and slow, or dark in color and fast?

They're pale but not white, kind of white-greyish. Not dark, I don't know if I'd be able to recognise what they were if they were dark, but they aren't little white specks either

They're not teleport fast, but they do scuttle around fluidly? kind of like springtails?

They're trying to climb the enclosure sides but they're not very good at it., they keep falling off.

I'm sorry I can't explain clearer - id get vid or a pic but I don't think my phone's up to it, or that you'd be able to see much.

Thank you for your help so far

 

[DeeCeeJay]

Wow! What a predicament! I do believe the springtails being added is a good thing as they could serve as a prey item for the tiny ones. That and keep a bit of fresh pre kill as you stated. Hopefully, someone with experience raising these guys can help with some advice. Are the little guys able to escape through ventilation holes??

I know! I'm sure some people would be thrilled, but I kinda feel like someone dumped a human child on my door and ran away

I hoped so, and hopefully they'll keep the mold away too.

I made them with one of those corkboard pins, and I don't think so, but it's close. They can't get that high up though, they're not very good at climbing plastic, lol

 

[Ratmosphere]

Sounds like they may be 2i but it’s hard to tell without pics.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Depending on the instar, you may want to separate them into deli cups within the next few weeks.

Any way you could get pics?

 

[DeeCeeJay]

Depending on the instar, you may want to separate them into deli cups within the next few weeks.

Any way you could get pics?

I'm so sorry for the late reply, I've been unpleasantly busy

I've ordered some vials and will pop them in there, or try to, and will try to get pics that don't look like grainy fuzz while I do it.

Should care be like a T sling? Pre killed prey, moisture, etc?

Thank you still for your time.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Similar care, let us know how it goes!