My name is Tracy Messenger, I look after all of the spiderlings that we have bred or aquired, the following information is dealing with only spiderlings upto 3ins after that they are handed over to my husband Phil who deals with the all of the adults. The information detailed below will work if you only have one spiderling or have a vast amount of spiderlings to rear up.

Phil normally removes eggsacs from females and artifically incubates them, once the spiderlings are developed, its at this point that Phil hands me a tub small containing anything from 50 to 1500 spiderlings. The photo above is a Pterinochilus murinus eggsac which will contain normally 70 to 130 spiderlings, this is at nymph stage and will be ready for potting up in a couple of weeks. The following pictures will explain my role with more detail.

When I am ready to separate the spiderlings, I make sure I have everything I will need ready i.e film pots, substrate, spray bottle and a sharp implement to pierce holes in the film pot lids (and a bottle of wine comes in handy too) the first job is to make sure I don't lose any, so I get a large plastic container and place the smaller container with the spiderlings in, inside the larger one, the reason for this is when I remove the lid of the spiderlings they tend to run everywhere.

I sit and prepare as many film pots that I think I will need, A film pot one third to half filled with substrate and lightly sprayed with a small air hole in the film pot lid, I find it easier to use matching film pots as some lids don't fit all the pots and the last thing you want happening is the spiderling escaping whilst your concentrating on finding the right lid. film pots are often given free from film processor shops on request.

When the spiderlings have moulted a few times, they will need rehousing into a larger container, the easest way to do this is to place the film pot on its side with the lid removed into the new laregr container, this is less stressful for the spider and also doubles up as a nice hiding place for it.

 

As I have to feed so many spiderlings/ juveniles as pictured above right, I find maggots the easiest way of feeding them as they are easily available in fishing tackle shops and they come in different sizes so you can get the right size even for the smallest spiderling. I perfer maggots because they are easier to use & cheaper than crickets, It also reduces the need to remove uneaten food, if the spider doesn't eat the maggot, the maggot will then pupate into a fly and the spider can then eat the fly. The small spiderlings in the film pots are fed on what the fishing tackle shop calls "squat maggots" and the larger spiderlings and juveniles in the larger pots are fed on regular white maggots. The coloured maggots are not recommended due to the dyes used. The above left picture is an Phormictopus cancerides feeding on a regular white maggot. Spiderlings will happily eat micro/ small crickets for those of you who would prefer not to use maggots. During feeding this gives you the perfect opportunity to remove any moults that may have happened during the week and to give the pot a quick misting of water as we don't give our spiderlings water dishes.