To pull or not To pull

[catfishrod69]

Thanks. Holy crap! I wish i still had my female! I have been wanting to get one badly, but figured i would wait til springtime. Im gonna downsize alot of my new worlds, and species that im just not as into as much, and focus more on baboons, pokies, and some asians. I like watching mine holding onto a lateralis with their little legs all sticking up in the air.

---------- Post added 01-30-2015 at 06:47 PM ----------

Yeah it sure can be. Its hard to get a pic of them though, they like to run and hide.

Surrounded in plastic or not, multiple M. balfouri co-inhabiting a space together must be awesome to behold.

 

[fuzzyavics72]

If you get a female soon, let him know. He only has one girl now. :/ Stunning pictures buddy!

 

[Poec54]

It can be a major pain. Especially when the slings are 1st and 2nd instar.

I find 1st instars harder to catch. They hate to leave the soil and silk they're familiar with, and are still very delicate so you have to be careful scooping them up. 2nd instars are much faster and will readily run anywhere (including into vials), so you can use that to your advantage. It seems that no matter how thoroughly you look thru the soil (over and over), there's always a few still in there hiding. Once or twice I've gotten lucky and been able to scoop up all the slings in one shot when they're 1st instar and together in the nursery silk.

 

[just1moreT]

I have had Ephebopus murinus go full term with her sac,without a problem and H incei also.I think if the female feels safe and a person dont bother them, there fine mothers .I pull to also, just depends on how deep they are.I think my fav feeding is my H incei communal momma comes and steals the meal worms from kids cause they really ain't all big enough to hold them down lol

 

[-=}GA']['OR{=-]

wOw! I'm surprised to see such variation in eggsack care. I usually leave mine with the female for 30 days. The only time I have had them eat the sack is soon after oviposition. Either the sack did not go together well, she sensed something was amiss or the female was disturbed in some way.

I keep all of my brooding females in a dark and quiet corner of the spider room, and disturb them as little as possible. It is a pain if they get to the 2i dispersal point, they end up everywhere and dug in by mom. All 3 of my E. olivacea egg sacks went to term in the females enclosure. I was working 60 hr weeks and did not pull them in time. What a pain that was getting all of them out of there!

 

[azroc909]

Martin, if it's a good sac please let me know looking to buy more diversipes! Or if you want to trade for my urticans. Best of luck to you buddy!.

Thanks bro! Yeah for sure we'll work something out. Will let you know.

I had the mother balfouri keep our babies till her slings were fifth instar. I've heard it's better to keep them with their mom. Was the greatest thing I've ever seen. It was like a bird feeding her young. Everyone needs balfouri in their collection. No other sp. of tarantula Is like balfouri.

Yeah it was really horrible. I couldnt believe a molt took her. I dont think a sling had tried biting her, if so i figured they would have all eaten on her. But she looked fine, molted all the way out too. Ah just a bunch of babies in plastic containers lol. I keep stuff simple mostly. Bout the fanciest i get is glass exo terras, and thats just because i have around 30 or more of them.

I wish i had that problem with some balfouri lol, you guys just keep rubbing it in with your communals. I just have few seperated slings .

wOw! I'm surprised to see such variation in eggsack care. I usually leave mine with the female for 30 days. The only time I have had them eat the sack is soon after oviposition. Either the sack did not go together well, she sensed something was amiss or the female was disturbed in some way.

yeah that's what i usually do too, i even found out to work for me was to cover them with a black tshirt , helps keep it dark if im in and out of t room.

---------- Post added 01-31-2015 at 06:51 AM ----------

I will post some pictures later if i decided to pull.

 

[catfishrod69]

Yeah that is true. Using 2nd instars running to your advantage does work out alot of the time. And sometimes you will get lucky and find them hatched out early on, and they will still be right there close to the sac. So after removing the mother (which is a pain) you can collect them all somewhat easier.

I find 1st instars harder to catch. They hate to leave the soil and silk they're familiar with, and are still very delicate so you have to be careful scooping them up. 2nd instars are much faster and will readily run anywhere (including into vials), so you can use that to your advantage. It seems that no matter how thoroughly you look thru the soil (over and over), there's always a few still in there hiding. Once or twice I've gotten lucky and been able to scoop up all the slings in one shot when they're 1st instar and together in the nursery silk.

 

[SpiderGuard101]

I'm probably asking an ignorant question here but I've never dealt with egg sacs or breeding before. My Newly acquired H.
Laid an egg sac Friday night. How do you retrieve the egg sac from a 8" burrow? Remove the T and dig it up? Seems rough to me to stress her out that much, but I don't see any other options.

 

[-=}GA']['OR{=-]

I'm probably asking an ignorant question here but I've never dealt with egg sacs or breeding before. My Newly acquired H.
Laid an egg sac Friday night. How do you retrieve the egg sac from a 8" burrow? Remove the T and dig it up? Seems rough to me to stress her out that much, but I don't see any other options.

I would leave it with her for 30 days. If it is a dud she will probably consume it.