My D. vittatus made an eggsack! Questions inside :)

Biollantefan54 · Jul 31, 2014

My Huge D. vittatus made an eggsack last night and I am wondering if I pull it like a T's. I don't want hundreds of fishing spiders climbing out so what do I do? Do I treat the spider any different? Feeding? Tips? Thanks!

Here is a size reference of it before the eggsack:
View attachment 128741

buddah4207 · Jul 31, 2014

I honestly can not be much help on sling/ eggsac care, but I just want to say that girl is big and beautiful!

jecraque · Jul 31, 2014

If it were me, I'd just toss paper towel on top of her enclosure and worry about sorting babies out after they start to thin out a bit.

She likely won't eat much until after they arrive, so if you're worried about her health, you could pull it, but it seems like a lot of stress for little benefit.

RegallRegius · Jul 31, 2014

I can only say:

Good luck getting her to release the sac without ripping her fangs out. They are VERY intent on hanging onto that sac.

catfishrod69 · Jul 31, 2014

Is that species native to your area? Did you catch the mom?

loxoscelesfear · Jul 31, 2014

I'm impressed she is doing well. Not hardy like tenebrosus. Removing her egg sac will stress her out, let her be. The babies will not survive long. This species is prone to dessication, not straying far from water.

aaarg · Jul 31, 2014

loxoscelesfear said:
The babies will not survive long. This species is prone to dessication, not straying far from water.

This is kinda my experience with Dolomedes slings, so you'd do well to release as many as you can.

As others have said, leave the sac - she'll be clutching it tight, anyway. You don't have to worry about walking into a roomful of babies if you check on her every other day or so. As a Pisaurid, she'll spin a nursery web onto which the li'l slings will disperse, and then you can start to worry!

Beautiful spider. The D. vittatus I recently caught was looking rough after about a week, so I had to let her go.

Biollantefan54 · Jul 31, 2014

Yes, this spider is native to my area. I have caught D. tenebrosus and I have a D. triton as well. I found a D. vittatus male about a year ago and it molted into maturity and I released it. I caught this about a month ago. I have a HUGE water dish in it with small fish I caught in its habitat and some tiny crawfish and salamanders every once and a while. The crawfish are too small to do any damage and they really like them. I check on all my animals multiple times a day because it is in the middle of the house and I have to go through it to get to the bathroom, kitchen, and laundry room haha. I love this spider though haha. Thanks for the comments. It has already made a nursery web and hangs on that most of the day. Is there anything I can line the enclosure with to where the slings cant climb it?

loxoscelesfear · Jul 31, 2014

aaarg said:
The D. vittatus I recently caught was looking rough after about a week, so I had to let her go.

i couldn't have said it better myself. I kept a vittatus in a large screen chameleon cage w/ a huge water dish. After a few days she looked weak and lethargic. I have had no luck w/ vittatus, scriptus, or triton. tenebrosus, on the other hand, I think it could survive a nuclear blast

catfishrod69 · Aug 1, 2014

Well being she is native to your area, you can do what i recently did with tenebrosus. Just let her keep hold of the sac and hatch it. Once it hatches, take the enclosure outside somewhere. Make sure its out of sunlight, like in a old barn, shed, etc. Then just leave the enclosure until the slings disperse out of the vent holes. Once they are gone, bring her back inside. I think the slings stayed with my female about a week, then one day poof, they were all gone. She will more than likely double or triple clutch, so repeat as necessary.

Biollantefan54 · Aug 1, 2014

Oh, that sounds good! But yeah, they're is a spot in the woods behind my house with a creek and has some boards in it. If you lift up those boards you usually find a fishing spider. I have found a D. tenebrosus sling there, this D. vittatus, and a huge MM fishing spider there.

My D. vittatus made an eggsack! Questions inside :)

Biollantefan54

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