What a way to start the hobby !

I've ordered some tarantulas listed in another thread.

But today I went out for supplies and found a Chilean Rose Hair with egg sack. The egg sack is about the size of a quarter (US 25 cent piece)

What are the chances of it hatching (if thats the correct terminology)

fair chance

do you have any experience hatching egg sacs?

I have no experience period.

Steven Valys said:

do you have any experience hatching egg sacs?

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imjim said:

I have no experience period.

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Well then your chances just went down a little bit, not much though, most of this is luck.

Here is the part that is going to be hard. You have no idea when the sac was laid. In addition to not knowing when the sac was laid this also means you have no idea when it's going to hatch. So, your going to have to keep an eye on her and the sac. So long as the mother is tending to it you are ok.


Dry setup, water dish, temps in the mid to upper 70's. And from there all you have to do is wait it out. Try not to bother her to much ether, set the tank somewhere quiet.

Thank You for your help. I hope all goes well for her. . .

No matter what happens she won my heart. As the guy was putting her in the box she began grabbing and rolling the egg sac beneath her.

Once I setup the terrarium at home I put the egg sac in first then her. She immediatley went to it and stays over it with one leg, foot on it at all times. She's not aggressive at all rather she just stays with the egg sac waiting. Its really an amazing sight and experience for me as a first time tarantula keeper.

talkenlate04 said:

Well then your chances just went down a little bit, not much though, most of this is luck.

Here is the part that is going to be hard. You have no idea when the sac was laid. In addition to not knowing when the sac was laid this also means you have no idea when it's going to hatch. So, your going to have to keep an eye on her and the sac. So long as the mother is tending to it you are ok.


Dry setup, water dish, temps in the mid to upper 70's. And from there all you have to do is wait it out. Try not to bother her to much ether, set the tank somewhere quiet.

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Awww, that is such a great way to enter the hobby! Best of luck to you, her, and the eggsac!

Jen

Pics!!!

Lets see some pictures so we can all share the love!!!

good luck with the egg sack, keep us updated

Aarantula said:

Lets see some pictures so we can all share the love!!!

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As requested. . .

http://moijim.spaces.live.com/photos/cns!218C8D8A0844E497!2070/

jbrd said:

Can you still see her turning the egg sac? If so the sac may still be good.

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Yeah - She turns the egg sac frequently. She keeps one leg on the egg sac at all times. She is eating crickets as they pass by.

I know nothing about tarantulas but from what I read "here" and there all is good so far?

Well most of the grammostola rosea/chilean rose tarantulas you find at petstores are often wild caught individuals, so it's always a possibility that you get a "pregnant" one I suppose. However, if the tarantula molted after its latest mating session, assuming that it even mated at all(some tarantulas have been known to just lay "dud" eggsacks without ever meeting a male) then the eggsack may be a "dud" because the male's sperm has been "wasted" and all.

Either way, you should also try and monitor her as much as possible, sometimes they may even eat their eggsacks for no apparent reason. Many would suggest taking the eggsack from the spider to incubate it yourself, but the spider would be very defensive and I'd assume upset and stressed upon losing the eggsack, and on top of that you probably need some experience to incubate it yourself. I don't know, I've never tried incubating myself personally, but I've read that doing it yourself increases chance of survival and lowers the mortality rate of the newborns.

Most sterile eggsacs are usually eaten shortly (a few days to two weeks, it seems) after they're laid.

Gravid WC tarantulas are actually somewhat common around here...there's usually a thread or a mention once a week or so.

If she hasn't eaten the sac after being picked up from the tank and transported, I'd say you have a pretty good shot at it hatching. She seems to be a better mother than quite a few tarantulas.

This is always so amazing to hear about. Congrats on the girlie and her sac. But be prepared to have lots of tiny mouths to feed!

imjim said:

Its really an amazing sight and experience for me as a first time tarantula keeper.

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That is really exciting.

As others have said, it is pretty common for WC G. rosea's to drop fertile sacs. i wouldn't even consider trying to incubate it yourself. Just let Mother Nature or Mother Rosea take care of it.

Ryan (talkenlate) is an excellent person to listen to when it comes to advice regarding this subject. He is has had a lot of success with sacs and slings. i highly recommend following any advice he gives you.

Good luck. That is so awesome. Loved the pics of mom tending her sac.

Yeah and well done.

I personally don't feel that incubating is that difficult if you follow Ryan's way. It is simple and very cost effective.

imjim said:

... But today I went out for supplies and found a Chilean Rose Hair with egg sack. The egg sack is about the size of a quarter (US 25 cent piece)

What are the chances of it hatching (if thats the correct terminology)

Click to expand...

Actually, hatching happens inside the eggsac several weeks before the babies emerge. The technical term for the emergence is "eclosion."

At this stage in the game success is not too likely. The biggest problem with unexpected eggsacs is that the enthusiast hasn't done anything to prevent the eggs from drying out and dying after they're laid. That takes only a few hours of exposure to dry, room air.

ASAP, you should dampen most of the substrate in the tarantula's cage and cover the top with a layer of Saran Wrap to hold in the humidity. Move the cage to a warm part of the house if possible, but don't do anything to heat the cage.

It's okay to feed the mother one or two crickets a week while she's brooding the eggsac.

The babies, if there are any alive, will emerge from the eggsac in 55 to 70 days, depending on the average temperature of the cage.

If the eggs have died the mother will still tend the eggsac for a few days, then discard it. If she throws it away or tries to eat it, you know what happened.

Just in case, you should find 2 or 3 one gallon pickle jars from a fast food restaurant. Make up a batch of sifted peat or coconut husk and tamp it into the bottom of the jars to make a layer about 2 inches thick. Cover the jars with handkerchiefs that are held on with rubber bands. Use at least 2 rubber bands per jar. You don't want dozens of babies getting out and dying if a rubber band breaks, and there's safety in a little redundancy.

Over the next few weeks the substrate will dry out. That's okay. When the babies finally emerge from the eggsac all you need do is dampen the substrate in the jars a little and distribute the babies as evenly as possible between the jars.

The babies will probably not start eating each other for 1 or 2 weeks, then gradually you'll notice cannibalism. That's okay too. You need to let them weed out (or "cull") the slow, weak, small ones. Besides, exactly what do you think you're going to do with all those hundreds of babies, anyway?

Once you notice cannibalism it's okay to feed baby crickets (pinheads) to the baby tarantulas. Estimate the number of tarantulas per jar and try to throw in an estimated 2 baby crickets per baby tarantula. Obviously, this is not an exact science. Don't worry about getting it "just right." If you underfeed them a little, they'll make up the difference by eating their litter mates. If you overfeed them, the extra, baby crickets will just survive until the baby tarantulas get hungry again. Feed the babies like this about once a week.

When your baby tarantulas have finally reduced themselves to manageable numbers (you be the judge, but I'd recommend something like 75 to 100), you can start moving them to pill bottles, small condiment cups or small baby food jars half filled with well tamped substrate. From there on you care for them like any other babies. Be aware that by that time many of them will have burrowed into the substrate and you're going to underestimate their numbers by 50%. (You think you've only got 100 when you really have 200.)

Getting the babies out of the substrate will not be an easy job. I've heard of one fellow who took the jar into the bath room and carefully broke it in the bath tub. PLUG THE DRAIN FIRST! Use a small hammer or light iron rod; and wear light leather gloves to protect your hands! Safety goggles might also be a good idea during the breaking process. He was then able to carefully sift through the substrate, a couple tablespoons at a time, to find the babies. BE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN TO CLEAN ALL THE BROKEN GLASS OUT OF THE TUB WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED! This whole process works best if you can arrange a bright light over the tub to illuminate everything well. The babies look remarkable like little bits of dirt until they move, and good lighting helps a lot to recognize them.

After the mother is no longer brooding an eggsac (for whatever reason) you should switch your care over to the one described in www.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/roses.html.

To misquote... "Four score and twenty tarantulas ago..."