Widow sac hatched . . .

[Pacmaster]

After spending the day on the side of the road waiting for my buddy in his tow truck yesterday while on my way to the SFBATS meeting(didnt make it :( _
I came home to find my hesperus egg sac "floating" off the bottom of the cube it was in.
upon closer inspection, I saw about 100 tiny slings, all hanging out in the invisible webs they had made in the cube.
They are sooo tiny, thank god I put the sac in an airtight container.

Heres one for the record books(for me) its my 1st egg-sac hatched out!

I really dont think my camera has the ability to capture the tiny slings, but Ill go try.

:D

[xhexdx]

Nice, I have a couple sacs hatched out myself. Mine are geometricus, though.

[Pacmaster]

http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo209/Pacmaster/widowslings005.jpg
http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo209/Pacmaster/widowslings003.jpg
http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo209/Pacmaster/widowslings002.jpg
http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo209/Pacmaster/widowslings004.jpg
http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo209/Pacmaster/widowslings001.jpg

[Pacmaster]

This girl dont mess around, cause this new sac wasnt here yesterday when I left . . .
http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo209/Pacmaster/widowslings006.jpg
http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo209/Pacmaster/widowslings007.jpg

[bluefrogtat2]

i had the same thing happen last week(closer to 250 slings)
in a container i thought was airtight,needless to say i found a few just outside container.
ugh!
lesson learned
andy

[burmish101]

Raising widows is loads of fun congrats!

[spydrhunter1]

Congratulations..I just had 2 geo and 1 mactan sac to hatch.

[Widowman10]

haha, i like the 'DO NOT OPEN' sign in big red letters {D

and yay for widow sac season, it's only just begun and i already have 6 within a week or two :rolleyes: lots of work... but SOOOO worth it :D

[Pacmaster]

The red-ink sign is for my roomy, so it at least looks like I care about her concerns and safety . . . ;)

There is probably more than 100 in there, I really dont have the patience to try and count them all.

Im about 99.9% sure they cant get out of the container!

[Terribilis87]

wow that is pretty cool :) with my luck with insects they wouldve all gottten out already lol. How do u feed em when they are that small?

[Widowman10]

wow that is pretty cool :) with my luck with insects they wouldve all gottten out already lol. How do u feed em when they are that small?

you let them cannibalize or feed them fruit flies (flightless or not, doesn't matter). i prefer cannibalism with most of mine (barring, of course, they are bishopi :eek: ;))

[Pacmaster]

So when would be a good day to try feeding them, do they gotta turn dark or is now as good a time as any?

[Widowman10]

So when would be a good day to try feeding them, do they gotta turn dark or is now as good a time as any?

you can feed them whenever really. like i said though, i usually let the stronger ones eat the weaker ones for awhile.

[Pacmaster]

you can feed them whenever really. like i said though, i usually let the stronger ones eat the weaker ones for awhile.

Yes, thats what Ill do also.
Theres just too many . . .


Havent seen any signs of it yet . . .
I know, I know- its only been 2 days . . . ;)

Theyre really cool to watch so many run around the near-invisible strands.
Very interesting undertaking this was!
Glad Im doing it.

[kalvaer]

Im about 99.9% sure they cant get out of the container!One might of.. I see one in a red and blue spider suit in the last pic hiding at the back outside of a enclosure {D

[buthus]

Fruitflies ...I use them sometimes during the first few feedings to stimulate hunting instincts, but add pre-disabled/killed chunks of roach/crix/bugs to get healthy slings. After a molt or few, I try and feed as many as I can ants/termites ...a meal or two.. I have a gut feeling that the healthiest of widows were ones that got some ants early on. Same goes for isopods ...I try and feed all my widows isopod snacks throughout their lives.

[Pacmaster]

So here its like what, a week or so later?

The slings are doing good.
Thers a few really bigger ones, and lotsa little ones still.
Ive thrown about 4 crix in there, and always see some feeding on them.
I also have seen them eating each other.

They are still white/clear, and all very tiny . . .
Even the "big" ones are itty-bitty.


What amazes me is that even tho they are so small, the web is extrememly strong.
The 1st food I gave them was a large dubia nymph that I cut in 1/2 to expose the soft insides.
I put them in the cube, expecting the heavy pieces to fall to the bottom, but they got stuck right in the perfcet spot high up in the webbing!
They didnt eat the whole thing tho, so I removed it.

Also, I can pretty much open the cube with no worries of escape, cause they are pretty slow/lazy and seem content to run into the corners of the cube, away from the opening.