Spiderlings!!! *pics*

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Well the terrifying moment is upon me, the spiderlings are stirring! A few have emerged from the sac and have already built tiny webs and are waiting to feed. I am going to wait until the rest of the spiderlings emerge from the sac before introducing any prey items.
Here are the stats:
-Egg sac constructed on January 29, 2004
-Egg sac removed from the female on February 4, 2004
-Artificial incubation at a temperature range of 69.6-80.4ºC
-Spiderlings emerging on March 5, 2004 (after 35 days)

Here are some pics:
http://home.cogeco.ca/~rbolton1/Folder/Egg%20Sac%203.JPG
Female with egg sac prior to separation.

http://home.cogeco.ca/~rbolton1/Folder/Egg%20Sac%204.JPG
Female with another egg sac prior to separation.

http://home.cogeco.ca/~rbolton1/Folder/Spiderling.JPG
Egg sac and spiderling.

http://home.cogeco.ca/~rbolton1/Folder/Spiderling%20Close.JPG
Spiderling closeup.

http://home.cogeco.ca/~rbolton1/Folder/Lings%20cricket.JPG
A couple of spiderlings with a 1/8" cricket (I wanted to see if they would eat, apparently they will....).

http://home.cogeco.ca/~rbolton1/Folder/Lings.JPG
A couple of larger spiderlings (sorry about the pics but these suckers are less than 1mm and I am shooting through thick glass - not bad then, considering).

http://home.cogeco.ca/~rbolton1/Folder/Upside%20down.JPG
http://home.cogeco.ca/~rbolton1/Folder/Upside%20down%202.JPG
Just some pictures of the female.

Enjoy!
Let me know what you think....
Cheers,
Ryan

[Dani33]

I think that your a brave man. I would never want all those kiddies in my house - lol. Momma sure is beautiful though. Good luck with trying to get all those babies into thier individual homes - sccaaaary! What kind of plan do you have to do that and not having any escape?

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Well, they are currently in a rather large air tight container to ensure there are no escapes (a periodic opening of the container at least once a day is plenty for gas exchage). I will be home all weekend stuck behind my desk so I can keep a watchful eye on the emergence process. I plan on keeping them together until they are a manageable size. They are cannibalistic but with a steady supply of fruit flies cannibalism should be minimal (I am not concerned really, a small number of larger ones is better than a large number of smaller ones :)). When they are bigger I will transfer them into test-tubes with sponge stoppers. And then hopefully Rob can take them off my hands ;)
Ryan

[Yve]

that must be exciting!...great pics..:)

[Gregg M]

The best thing to do with those is to leave all the babies together for a while.......... Let them feed on eachother until only the biggest and strongest are left........ You will loose alot of them but the ones left will be super strong and healthy........ They are much easier to deal with and separate when they are past the 4th or 5th instar........ Good luck.......

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Originally posted by Gregg M
The best thing to do with those is to leave all the babies together for a while.......... Let them feed on eachother until only the biggest and strongest are left........ You will loose alot of them but the ones left will be super strong and healthy........ They are much easier to deal with and separate when they are past the 4th or 5th instar........ Good luck.......
Thanks Gregg, my plan exactly, I appreciate the reassurance :) I have read that a lot of cannibalism takes place in the sac and it is the fitter/stronger ones that emerge. Like I had mentioned, I would rather not have to deal with them when they are this small, so I am happy with leaving them in there for a while LOL! Plus, it will likely be easier to find homes for 20 or so as opposed to 20-30 times that amount!
Ryan

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I edited the initial post to include a couple more spiderling pics (8 have emerged as of March 9th, but the sac is writhing so I expect more soon).
Ryan

[TheRedDragon]

You definitely have more guts than I! *L* Congrats on all the little ones though, and that female is gorgeous. :)

[Emily-Fisher]

Those are by far the cutest things I have ever seen!! Truly adorable!!! Eh.. plan on selling any? ;)

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Originally posted by Emily-Fisher
Eh.. plan on selling any? ;)
Mmmm hmmm....

[Emily-Fisher]

Originally posted by RMBolton
Mmmm hmmm....

NICE... when? :P

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Originally posted by Emily-Fisher
NICE... when? :P
Well I have got about 60 out of the sac now, they're looking big so I guess some degree of cannibalism does take place in the sac. These last few guys are bigger than the first ones that came out.
Anyway, I suppose when I know how many I got I will be able to trak down some vials and separate them. When they get to be a decent size I will sell them. I prefer to wholesale them, I don't want to sell them individually myself (a few perhaps). This was merely a learning experience for me as opposed to a financial endeavour.
We'll see what happens....
Ryan