Aphonopelma anax, egg sac

Hi All,

It's been a while since I posted. All my spiders are healthy and happy and I'm feeling like a much more accomplished T-keeper.

I do have a question. I have a female Aphonopelma anax which I bought from ZooKeeper here in Austin last August. She has not molted since I purchased her. Yesterday, she created an egg sac which she is now carefully tending. Any thoughts as to how likely it is that she could have carried viable sperm this long? I'm assuming this will be a dud egg sac but want to take appropriate precautions. From what little I can find on the web, it looks like this species has a pretty high number of eggs per sac, perhaps 500-1000, does this sound accurate? From what I've seen here on the boards the recommendation is generally remove the egg sac at about 50 days. By that time, I should have an indication as to whether this is a viable egg sac or a dud (based upon whether she abandons it or not.) Does this all seem about right?

I've had most of my tarantulas since they were babies. This one is an exception. I just want to make sure I'm prepared for whatever eventuality comes to pass and to make whatever preparations and learn what I need to.

Cheers,

Spidergrrl (Paula)

Considering he species and the fact that its an adult, I'd bet the likelihood it was WC is high. Its entirely possible that the sac is viable. Everything I see/hear says to pull the sac at 30 days...maybe Aphonopelma take a little longer.

cold blood said:

Considering he species and the fact that its an adult, I'd bet the likelihood it was WC is high. Its entirely possible that the sac is viable. Everything I see/hear says to pull the sac at 30 days...maybe Aphonopelma take a little longer.

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Thanks. For now I'm going to act as if it is viable and wait and see. I think you're right, most likely WC. She is a beauty though and while I didn't start out planning on having a brood, I won't turn it down if she does end up having a viable egg sac.

I'm sure as we get closer to 30 days if she hasn't abandoned or eaten the egg sac, I will probably start laying in supplies and preparing for the possibility.

Cheers,

Spidergrrl (Paula)

Remove the water dish, too...you don't want her dunking it.