A. avic project

[grayzone]

haha.
HONESTLY, im not sure if there were any ewls in there or not. I was so tired and so excited i just rushed through it all so i could get back home and rest.

All i saw was lots of legs wiggling, some book lungs, and some still mid molt or just about out.
I will definitely get them switched over tomorrow and i will be trying to get a number.

As a side question, would it be a bad idea to separate them NOW? Just get them all into their own little condiment cup with moist sub?
It would likely take a little bit of time, but i dont mind. Better to separate them now then when theyre up and running Id imagine. Plus it could keep cannibalization down, and if any die it wouldnt be a problem for the rest of the group.

Seeing how i cant watch over them every day a dead 1i could go undetected and spreading germs to the rest?

 

[LadySharon]

Is there anyway you could move them to your new house?

I'm waiting on a count.

 

[grayzone]

i suppose i could. Especially after they are taken out of the incubator. I just think things are going better with these slings than with my previous attempts because im not around to interfere as often haha.

 

[rasulsimakshah]

hahaha still seems like you're doing a good job, 'interference' or not!

+1 to LadySharon, can't wait to hear the count. ^_^

 

[grayzone]

Ill do my best to get an accurate one tomorrow bro. Im interested too.

Aside to see what we could both potentially end up with, Id like a solid number for my final count to compare them at 2i.
Im really hoping to experience no casualties. Everything so far has been working so perfectly.

Seeing how this is my first "good" sack (meaning something other than eggs that spoil) i am super excited. Probably more than i should be haha.

 

[rasulsimakshah]

hahah no rush! i am super excited too man, haha, nothing wrong with it.

 

[LadySharon]

Well I've never bred/had a T lay a sack before so I'm sponging off your excitement. :biggrin:

I snipped one of your pictures and counted what I could by blue doting the abdomens - and I got 60... but I can tell that they are piled on eachother.

 

[grayzone]

yeah, its hard to count for sure due to that piling. Between that, all the tiny exuviae and the legs wiggling it was hard to tell.
I had to have my cousin help me with the process because i was so excited and tired. I will be going there @ some point today or tonight and attempting to find out for sure

 

[catfishrod69]

You could actually seperate them now into individual portion cups. I have done this a few times. It makes it alot easier. Because once they are 1st and 2nd instar, they wont cooperate at all. But when they are ewls they cant do anything.

 

[grayzone]

now THAT sounds like good news. I was kind of wondering about that.
I remember on a FEW occasions members who accidentally got shipped some 1i slings. They all hit 2i in the members care.

I will hit a local store to find upwards of 100 or so condiment cups for cheap. I will allow one or two airholes in each cup, and about a spoonfull of dampened coco in each as well.

great way to separate early AND get a count. Id imagine it easier to get them in straws for packaging when theyre separate as well.

 

[catfishrod69]

Ive had several 1st instar shipped to me. Actually 1st instar in shipping do just fine. But i dont ship them, because it could possibly be risky, and its frowned upon. I always order Dart 1oz portion cups from ebay. I order like 300 with lids for about $15-20. I take and put moist coco fiber in each one, line the bottom of a large sterilite with moist paper towels, and stack them in there. Kinda like a incubator inside a incubator. Yeah be sure to place some air holes on the cups. I use a tiny needle, and make about 12 holes around the lid. Be sure to put the holes where they wont be blocked off by the next cup ontop of it.

 

[grayzone]

well.. i was panicked, relieved, and amazed in a single second tonight.

I went to my cousins and walked into my old T room and gazed at the deli all the slings were in.
For a brief moment i thought "Oh no, theyre all dead". Everything was so still and calm.

Then came the Led flashlight. The instant the light shined on them i saw 752 legs wiggling at me in unison. Was amazing to see how they seemed to move together.

it took a long time to get 1oz condiment cups "sling ready" but I had help from my cousins husband, who is a member here ( thanks blakktalon) so it only took about 1.5 hrs.
All in all there were 94 1i slings that were separated. There were 3 of the 1i slings that were actually in the middle of eating another sackmate while i was separating them.
Im sure there was more cannibalization that i didnt witness, as some of the slings are VERY plump compared to the others already.

when done separating them, i then placed the condiment cups inside of 3 different rubbermaid bins that were lined with moistened papertowels (thanks for the advice John) to ensure humidity and hydration is good.

Is it normal for 1i slings to not be moving around that much? I was expecting them to be scattering away from me, but none of them moved anything other than their legs. Is it safe to assume only 2i and up slings actually move?

 

[catfishrod69]

Yeah getting those cups ready takes a while lol. We punched holes in over 400 of them, then rehoused slings into about 372 of them lol. Now that took a while. And ive got vials coming in, and will need to punch holes in about 600 of them.

If you had kept the slings in the incubator, once they hit 2nd instar, they would have started all running in unison. They will all stop at once, then one will start to run, and the rest follow suit. Your welcome bro!

I think the Avic slings dont move around as much as some other Genra. My 1st instar C. darlingi and C. marshalli were running little squirts.

well.. i was panicked, relieved, and amazed in a single second tonight.

I went to my cousins and walked into my old T room and gazed at the deli all the slings were in.
For a brief moment i thought "Oh no, theyre all dead". Everything was so still and calm.

Then came the Led flashlight. The instant the light shined on them i saw 752 legs wiggling at me in unison. Was amazing to see how they seemed to move together.

it took a long time to get 1oz condiment cups "sling ready" but I had help from my cousins husband, who is a member here ( thanks blakktalon) so it only took about 1.5 hrs.
All in all there were 94 1i slings that were separated. There were 3 of the 1i slings that were actually in the middle of eating another sackmate while i was separating them.
Im sure there was more cannibalization that i didnt witness, as some of the slings are VERY plump compared to the others already.

when done separating them, i then placed the condiment cups inside of 3 different rubbermaid bins that were lined with moistened papertowels (thanks for the advice John) to ensure humidity and hydration is good.

Is it normal for 1i slings to not be moving around that much? I was expecting them to be scattering away from me, but none of them moved anything other than their legs. Is it safe to assume only 2i and up slings actually move?

 

[grayzone]

yeah, theyre mostly stationary. Some laid on their backs, some lay on their bellies. They all got a bit livlier when the touched the moist cocofiber though. I saw them wiggling their legs.

i plan to check in on them in a few days to see how theyre doing, but honestly i dont think i have to.
Them being on wet fiber ..individualized.. inside of tupperware lined with wet papertowels means they have all the humidity they need.
im hoping that in a few weeks they start to darken

 

[rasulsimakshah]

just out of curiosity, do you feed the 1i slings anything? i've always wondered how long it takes for them to need their own food.

 

[catfishrod69]

They should all molt out without any losses. I really hope so man.

yeah, theyre mostly stationary. Some laid on their backs, some lay on their bellies. They all got a bit livlier when the touched the moist cocofiber though. I saw them wiggling their legs.

i plan to check in on them in a few days to see how theyre doing, but honestly i dont think i have to.
Them being on wet fiber ..individualized.. inside of tupperware lined with wet papertowels means they have all the humidity they need.
im hoping that in a few weeks they start to darken

---------- Post added 03-03-2013 at 12:54 PM ----------

Usually wait until 2nd instar to begin feeding. But ewls, and 1st instar will sometimes cannibalize.

just out of curiosity, do you feed the 1i slings anything? i've always wondered how long it takes for them to need their own food.

 

[LadySharon]

congrats again. I know if it was me.. no way could I let them go a few days without checking. I'd probably do spot checks every day. :lol (that is open 2-5 and check that I did the incubation is right)

That and I live in Colorado and it's really dry here. I've lost some slings because I moved my collection into a much warmer room and I didn't realize how fast the soil in little deli cups would dry out... (at least I'm assuming that's what happeend... finding a molt and a dead sling at the same time is no fun.) So I give them water more often now.

 

[Storm76]

Congrats, bro!

 

[grayzone]

as an update, tonight is the first time ive seen the 1i slings since sunday or monday.
My girl and i went through all 94 condiment cups and remoistened all the ts substrate. I also changed out the papertowels in each bin that is full of cups/enclosures.

I DID notice a tiny bit of mold here and there for some strange reason (nice and green not the typical white mold i see in enclosures at times) so i changed the substrate in the few cups that had it. That is also the reason i changed out the towels.

Anyways, out of the 94 slings there are no casualties as of yet. I noticed 4 that arent looking that hot, and are barely responsive but im hoping that changes with the freshly saturated cups.
out of the 4 weak/seemingly dying slings, 3 of them are tiny runts. 1 of them is one of the larger beastlier sized 1i avics (some of these are a LOT larger than the others.. nearly double in size in some cases)

I plan to go back on Wednesday or so to check in again.


I have my cousin rotating the larger bins/incubators daily to ensure the heat lamp isnt predominantly hitting one side only. Other than that theyve been getting no interaction.

Also, i noticed they are a good amount darker than they were a week ago, but that could just be due to them not being freshly hatched 1i.
Instead of clearish see through white they are now a dingy yellow. Some have a brownish carapace.

I cant wait till they start hitting 2i.
i know this is subjective, and depends on a few different key things, but how long does that typically take?

 

[grayzone]

just went to do some maintenance on the slings today. Have not been there since last Thursday.

these guys are becoming a LOT more active (some are crawling now, opposed to just laying and wiggling) and are darkening up nicely.

I counted 14 losses today, and believe i know what happened to most of them. 10 of the 14 were in the same rubbermaid. The rubbermaid itself only had a few ventilation holes, so im under the impression that humidity and stagnant air is the issue.
All 10 slings out of that container (along with 4 from misc. rubbermaids) were moldy and dead.


Also, since the beginning there has been 7 of the 94 housed individually in condiment cups that WERE NOT placed in an incubator at all. They are all thriving and very good looking.
I decided to take the moist paper towels out of every rubbermaid the cups are inside of, and also to leave the lids off of the rubbermaids.

I will be checking in again in a few days and updating.
These should be hitting 2i very soon .. anybody want to take guesses?


all the slings look like these guys (sizes and shades vary a bit naturally..)


and the dead guys for good measure