Spastic Baby Spiders

Gail

Arachnopixie
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
556
OK, as some may remember, I recently hatched out my first sack - A.Avics - ended up with 49. I didn't want to sell any (a local fella wants some) until I was sure that they were all healthy and eating well - I was worried that the creeping crud that killed most of the sack might be present in the 49 I saved.
Well, I have to say that it's been interesting - first, over half of the little buggers couldn't seem to figure out what "food" was, finally, as of last night, it seems that at least 95% of them have started eating well. But here is where the "spastic" comes in - a couple of the fools actually had themselves caught in their own webs! Tangled up so bad that I had to use micro tweezers and a pair of extremly sharp, pointed embroidery snips to free them! And when I checked this morning, one of the two is AGAIN, rolled up in his web (though he's munching the last bit of a baby roach LOL).
Has anyone else ever had spiderlings get stuck in their own webs or do I just have a couple of retarded spiderlings :rolleyes:

Gail
 

eksong

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 14, 2004
Messages
256
This is just speculation, but perhaps the condition of those few slings and the overall size of the surviving sac is an indication of line breeding... perhaps those few slings have been predisposed with a genetic defect?
 

Kismet

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 30, 2004
Messages
74
Only an idea but I have heard that if you have slings which are tangling themselves in their own web (I think Avics are pretty good at it) that adding two small sticks will help by giving them something to attach the webbing to...

Just an idea :?
 

Gail

Arachnopixie
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
556
Well, there's not much chance of it being an inbreeding problem as there is absolutely no way that the mother and father were related - she was wild caught about 7 years ago, he was wild caught this year. Good thought though.
As for giving them something to attach to, I'll have to try it - they are in very small vials so perhaps I'll try a few pieces of toothpick.

Gail
 

Kismet

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 30, 2004
Messages
74
Worth a go?

I tried two cut down kebab sticks with a 3rd instar Avic who wasn't webbing and it did infact build a little web in the middle. I put them in a V shape pushed into the peat at the bottom...
 
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