Red backed spiderlings

[cracksinthepitch]

I have a small dilemma. I have 2 red Backed spiders captive in a cricket housing container. i have had them for about 5months now just observing them etc. They have reached quite a size now and 1 of them has produced a large egg sack. this is the dilemma, i not sure what i want to do with this egg sack. Im certainly not set up for hundreds of little babies who i think silk and fly anyway. I there somewhere that wants these babies for antivenom or the like. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated although i dont really want to send via postage or AAe anywhere. I would be prepared to deliver to the museum or the like if they were interested. Or should i just let them go or put the egg sack in the garden and see what happens? Cheers Cracks

 

[cracksinthepitch]

This is an old shot of their house

 

[ReptilianGuy]

:shock:you can keep red backs????:shock:, learn something new everyday

 

[Wild~Touch]

Return them to nature

 

[grannieannie]

yep, put them back in the garden

 

[jack]

you have two females there.... have you seen a male in with them?
if not, maybe they can store sperm from before capture...

 

[abbott75]

you have two females there.... have you seen a male in with them?
if not, maybe they can store sperm from before capture...

I was about to say the same thing...

 

[SCam]

you have two females there.... have you seen a male in with them?
if not, maybe they can store sperm from before capture...

ive heard scorpions can do it so i dont see why spiders cant

 

[cracksinthepitch]

This is one thing that puzzled me, maybe she has stored the sperm until a favourable house was found, or is there a possibility of one of the females becoming male, as the 2nd female is not in her/its usual location and doesnt look healthy at all, has lost its blackness and bulkyness, very puzzling.

 

[cracksinthepitch]

here's some close ups about a month ago

 

[cracksinthepitch]

The second spider is now back to normal location and looking ok, so doubt it became male and procreated,lol. So the general concensus is to return the egg sac to the wild, i shall do this once i find a dry warm spot for it. Any idea on a time frame for this to hatch ?

 

[bongie555]

I use to catch and keep redbacks when I was a kid, we use to make them fight with much bigger praying mantis, st andrews spiders and wolf spiders and they would win every time,very very aggresive. (pls dont flame me i was 12 yrs old))and yes they do produce eggsacks and the eggsacks do hatch into many many little baby redbacks. Not sure about the time frame for hatching but my parents back then had to drive me to a creek far away from the house to let them go(as I had 20 to 30 of them by then) as they didnt want hundreds of redbacks in our backyard and risk one of the kids getting bitten.
something to consider if you are letting them go..

 

[hallie]

Pretty sure redbacks mate then the female eats the male...?

If thats true you definately have 2 females or one would be lunch by now...

 

[cracksinthepitch]

Pretty sure redbacks mate then the female eats the male...?

If thats true you definately have 2 females or one would be lunch by now...

Some male spiders escape after mating with one female and then procede to mate with others and eventually die due to the fact that they have lost the urge to feed, thus starving themselves. If the female has devoured the male a small exosceleton would still be sighted as all the liquid has been sucked out of it, yum.

 

[cracksinthepitch]

I use to catch and keep redbacks when I was a kid, we use to make them fight with much bigger praying mantis, st andrews spiders and wolf spiders and they would win every time,very very aggresive. (pls dont flame me i was 12 yrs old))and yes they do produce eggsacks and the eggsacks do hatch into many many little baby redbacks. Not sure about the time frame for hatching but my parents back then had to drive me to a creek far away from the house to let them go(as I had 20 to 30 of them by then) as they didnt want hundreds of redbacks in our backyard and risk one of the kids getting bitten.
something to consider if you are letting them go..

Funny Bongie i have found them to be very timid and non aggressive. I have tried a few different things to disturb them and they play dead 100% of the time, i literally have to push them with tweezers to make them move, and if their prey is too lively in the snare they hold back for it to slow down to avoid injury. Interesting little critters though

 

[jack]

ditto the non aggressive opinion.
i pick them up all through summer (they infest the science labs) and often show the students how passive they are, it is hard to keep them on your hand because all they want to do is escape by dropping to the ground. i really dont think they would bite unless seriously molested- or more likely if they are accidently crushed picking something up (or sitting on them).

 

[cracksinthepitch]

Well here's the latest update, it took me 15 minutes this afternoon to remove the egg sac carefully while avoiding the large females and have stored it in a safe location to be relocated later. I just went out to check the animals and had alook inside the reds enclosure and the other female is in the process of laying an egg sac . how freaky, obviously food sources are up and they feel comfortable to lay and obviously had stored the sperm or delayed the egg laying until body condition was right. So now i have to go thru the same process tomorrow of removing another egg sac.
P.s. My wheel weaver egg sac has hatched with hundreds of little ones now making circle webs in my creeper, i assume that many will silk and disappear soon i just hope a few stay.

 

[Jdsixtyone]

wat do u feed them?

 

[cracksinthepitch]

wat do u feed them?

Mealworm beetles, small to medium woodies, small bugs i find in the garden while trying to find a slater eating spider.