Pet Update

King (Goliath Bird Eater) has broken his hind / right leg. It is broken about half way down and still attached. My husband was pretty worried at first, but I'm sure he'll be fine. We're waiting and watching for a molt and he is keeping the humidity high.

Since we moved him into the aquarium, he had been climbing the corners. He would sometimes get his foot stuck in the mesh lid.

King
Theraphosa blondi
(Goliath Bird Eater)

Chaos (Rose Hair) finally molted! She did it pretty quickly and while we weren't watching. Her color is brighter and beautiful!

Rose Hair Laid Eggs! What to do??

My husband and I now have 8 arachnids between us. We considered breeding and discussed it at length before deciding against it. We each have a Rose Hair that we purchased from a pet store. He has had his a couple of months. Then last month we got small clay pots for hides and renovated her habitat. Last week she webbed herself completely into the pot. She hid in there for a couple of days, then the web was GONE and she was hovering over a ball of web.

Grammostola rosea with web ball

We figured she had molted and rolled up the old skin in a ball like such garbage to be discarded. But she kept hovering over it! Today my husband spent 20 minutes trying to get the "garbage" out because she finally stepped away from it. She kept coming back when he reached into her cage. He put it in a little jar for me to check out when I got home, because I love to see the old skin!

I poked at the sac. Soft... soft... crunchy. Crazy! It felt kind of creepy. I didn't have an exact-o blade, so I just gripped the sac gently and pulled apart. I got a LOT of web, but it split in two. There was more web under that. I gripped deeper and pulled apart again. Imagine my surprise when I found EGGS!

Grammostola rosea egg sac

My husband feels HORRIBLE about fighting her to take her babies away! We've put the damaged sac back and some eggs fell out. I wonder if she'll put it all back together. I have found 1 page that says gestation is 6 weeks. We are totally unprepared for slings! I know there could be 80-1000, but we think it is on the low end.

We have her in a Kritter Keeper and are worried the slings will just get right out through the lid. Can we use cheese cloth between the cage and lid? Anyone have any experience here? Can we send the sac to a breeder? Suggestions, PLEASE??

Chaos Molted

My Grammostola rosea (Chilean Rose Hair) finally molted! I didn't get to see it happen, but she did put down a lot of web for it. I tried to check the exuvium for signs of sex, but the part I need to see is missing!