D. tenebrosus with eggsac, decisions, decisions...

[Moltar]

Hiya folks. I have a WC D. tenebrosus who made herself a nice little eggsac last week.

Here's the problem;

When I caught her I put her in a small KK with about an inch of soil from the area she was found. It was supposed to be a temporary enclosure only. It took me a while to get around to moving her up though. When I did set up the new enclosure, I got ready to make the move and realized she'd beaten me to the punch and constructed a sac the night before.

So what will she do with the sac if I try to move her? Abandon it, take it with? Will she be stressed by the move enough to eat the sac? If she drops the sac and moves to the new enclosure will she accept the sac if I place it in there with her? So far she hasn't put it down once.

Also I'm assuming she won't feed while carrying around the sac, is this correct?

They carry spiderlings on their back like Lycosids, yes?

Are there moral implications that I should consider in releasing her and her babies into the wetland near my house since she's been feeding on my captive B. lateralis? (Possible pathogen release to the wild?)

What is the square root of pie?

Thanks in advance.

[Insideout414]

I'm curious on a few of these answers also. The one I found was in my bathroom.

I have gotten the family into relocating all spiders found in the house.


How long before I have a whole bunch of lil ones running around?

[ErikWestblom]

Hiya folks. I have a WC D. tenebrosus who made herself a nice little eggsac last week.

Here's the problem;

When I caught her I put her in a small KK with about an inch of soil from the area she was found. It was supposed to be a temporary enclosure only. It took me a while to get around to moving her up though. When I did set up the new enclosure, I got ready to make the move and realized she'd beaten me to the punch and constructed a sac the night before.

So what will she do with the sac if I try to move her? Abandon it, take it with? Will she be stressed by the move enough to eat the sac? If she drops the sac and moves to the new enclosure will she accept the sac if I place it in there with her? So far she hasn't put it down once.

Also I'm assuming she won't feed while carrying around the sac, is this correct?

They carry spiderlings on their back like Lycosids, yes?

Are there moral implications that I should consider in releasing her and her babies into the wetland near my house since she's been feeding on my captive B. lateralis? (Possible pathogen release to the wild?)

What is the square root of pie?

Thanks in advance.

Hey Etown!

I'm not sure about how much stress it takes for her to eat or abandon her sac. If she does keep it, she won't eat until it's time for the young ones to hatch. A day or two before it's hatching time, she'll make a nursery web around the sac, so make sure she has space for that. They usually make the nursery web in vegetation, so a plant would be nice.

She won't carry her young on her back, only Lycosids do that. The young will stay in the nursery web a molt or two, and the mother will stay on guard in close proximity.

Here's a pic of a Dolomedes nursery web with spiderlings in it and the mother on guard:
http://www.wavcott.org.uk/dolomedes/images/web_labelled.jpg

[Moltar]

Cool, thanks Erik. The info about the grass and the nursery web is especially good to know. I guess I'll go ahead and move her soon, as protective as she's been of the sac I bet she'll just take it with her.

[ErikWestblom]

Cool, thanks Erik. The info about the grass and the nursery web is especially good to know. I guess I'll go ahead and move her soon, as protective as she's been of the sac I bet she'll just take it with her.

No problems at all Ethan :)

Yeah, she'll probably hang on to it. Good luck!

[Insideout414]

No they don't carry them that is for sure. I came home today btw not trying to hi jack your thread I promise. To Hundreds and I mean Hundreds of slings. The Down side here is I was going to turn her back loose.

Now what can I do? They are in a cricket box which is about a 3x3x3 I'd say.

Looking a few have escaped out of the air holes and have made lil webs on my desk lol.

Can I just take her and them outside?

[ZergFront]

I don't suppose selling them is an option? :D

I think some of these bigger true spiders are selling to invert people. Might find someone on the boards that won't mind lots of slings.

[Moltar]

I wouldn't bother to sell them, it would be more hassle than I feel like dealing with. I would, however give some for free to anybody who comes to my house to get them.

Once i've had the pleasure of watching the construction of the nursery web and seen the slings emerge I was planning to place the whole setup (minus lid) outside in the marshy area near my house so they can populate that spot. It's a grassy, shrubby wetland that was woods just a couple of years ago so... I figure they would fit in nicely there.

By the way, I set up a 2.5 gallon tank with peat, some fake grasses and such. I'll just set the small KK minus lid in there and let the big girl move in at her leisure.