sschind
Well-known member
[SIZE=12pt]Information on the rearing of baby vinegaroons is scarce and with some prompting by Orin I have decided to share my experiences. This is by no means a scientific account of what I have experienced and many of the figures and dates given are estimates though they are pretty close. Some of the dates were recorded as they happened and some were taken from digital photograph information and the dates of the photos may have been a day or two after the actual event but certainly not more than that.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]On [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]February 7th, 2014[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] I purchased 6 M. giganteus from a reptile wholesaler. All were unsexed and the group consisted of two individuals which I was pretty sure were adults and 4 that were what I was assuming a molt younger (based on the size of the individuals.) I set them up individually in 16”x 7”x 6” plastic storage containers with multiple 1/8” holes drilled for ventilation and about 4” of damp coconut fiber substrate. I excavated a small area of the substrate and placed a flat piece of cork tile over half the substrate with just a tiny opening to the burrow extending beyond the edge of the tile. I placed a shallow jar lid on top of the cork for a water dish and filled it weekly. The containers were kept in my bug room which fluctuates in temperature from about 76 to 82 degrees and gets its natural [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Southern Wisconsin[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] light from a large window. No additional heat or light was provided. Feeding consisted of 1 or 2 large crickets, a few mealworms offered with forceps and/or a few 1/4 – ½ inch dubia roaches once a week. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]I have noticed that the younger ones rarely use their burrows and are almost always found on the surface whenever I check on them. The two larger ones hid more from the beginning and on March 3rd I noticed one of the adults had an egg sac. About a week later I noticed the other also was carrying a sac. About 2 weeks after that the second female was once again on the surface after apparently eating her eggs. On April 11th the eggs hatched and I took some poor quality photos through the bottom of the container.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt] I failed to record the exact date when the first molts started but they all molted within 2 days of each other and by May 1st all had finished molting and took on, what I was to later learn, their typical second instar look of a glossy black body with bright red pedipalps. I had left them alone for several days after they all finished molting to see if they would emerge on their own so I am guessing that by May 1st they had been 2i for 4 or 5 days which would mean they started their molt sometime near April 21st or 22nd (rough estimate.) By May 1st all had left the female and were hanging out in the burrow, which the female had significantly modified from my original, so I impatiently dug them up. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]I set them up in 4 oz. opaque condiment cups half full of coco fiber and several pinholes poked in the lids. About a week after I set them up they began taking newly hatched dubia roaches. The final count was 38 healthy babies. Two or three did not make it through the molt. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]After about 3 months I moved them to 8 oz. clear deli containers with about ¾ inch of coco fiber to give them a little more room and to encourage digging. I had sold or given away several individuals in the 2i stage so going into the fall/winter of 2014 I had about 29 individuals left. In September I noticed that they were getting very fat. Some of them were looking like they were ready to explode. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]I moved them into 16oz deli cups with about 2 inches of substrate and over the next couple of months most of them started burying themselves. I noticed that once they had completely sealed themselves in they would not feed so I stopped offering food. I could see some of them in their burrows from beneath and it appeared that though they were not eating they were getting larger and larger. Sometime in March of 2015 I could see that several of them had molted and were noticeably larger. About 10 days after molting they emerged. They started eating within a day or two. Aside from the size (they appeared to be about twice the length) the only noticeable difference was that the bright red pedipalps were now glossy black like the rest of the body. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Not all of the 29 buried themselves over the winter. Some didn’t start digging in until after the first ones emerged in March. Those that dug in late molted much quicker and spent much less time underground than those that had dug in back in late 2014. I still have 3 individuals that have not molted from 2i to 3i. They have not dug in and they still look like they are ready to explode. One late individual molted without burying itself and though it survived and is eating it appears to have some deformities. I attributed that to low humidity during molting but I can’t be certain. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]In late July I noticed that several of the 3i individuals started to take on the bloated look that the 2i individuals had prior to digging in and had dug themselves in once again. After a few weeks two of them have emerged after having molted once again. The 4i are about 1/3 to 1/2 again the size of the 3i. The entire process of digging and molting seems to have gone much faster for these individuals, about 3 weeks total. So far I have had two emerge and a third that is still dug in. I have two more that I can’t tell if they are going into the “ready to explode” stage or are just fat after a particularly heavy feeding. [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]As Orin has explained to me people have reported a wide range of times between moltings for babies. While once a year moltings in he wild may be the norm it appears that growth rates in captivity may not follow those norms. I may take an individual or two and "power feed" them and see what happens. I got three individuals to cooperate so this photo shows a 2i, 3i and 4i from left to right, for comparison. The first 4i I tried wanted to do nothing but attack the others but the second one was more cooperative. I also noted that the 4i have no qualms about letting loose their defense while the 2i and 3i were a bit more reluctant.[/SIZE]
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I'll also add a quick note on the adults. Over the winter all 6 had buried themselves. The two adults emerged with no changes one of the younger ones emerged without having molted 1 died during molting (I must have originally bought 7 and not 6 as I had thought) and the other 4 molted. I still haven't made an effort to *** the other 4 but they are eating well.
[SIZE=12pt]I would like to thank Orin for his encouraging me to write up my experiences. I think I may have gone over his “few paragraphs” suggestion but I realized, after not finding much information, that these are the kinds of reports we need to see. Scientific or not they do hold some value for the hobbyist.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]I have this finished now so I am going to post it so I don't lose it. As soon as I can get some new pictures I will try to update this with some comparison shots between the instars. [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] I know one of the 3i individuals I gave to a friend was huge the last time I saw it so It may have molted again. I traded a bunch to precarious so he may have additional information to add to mine. I will add [/SIZE]pertinent[SIZE=12pt] information as I get it [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]On [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]February 7th, 2014[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] I purchased 6 M. giganteus from a reptile wholesaler. All were unsexed and the group consisted of two individuals which I was pretty sure were adults and 4 that were what I was assuming a molt younger (based on the size of the individuals.) I set them up individually in 16”x 7”x 6” plastic storage containers with multiple 1/8” holes drilled for ventilation and about 4” of damp coconut fiber substrate. I excavated a small area of the substrate and placed a flat piece of cork tile over half the substrate with just a tiny opening to the burrow extending beyond the edge of the tile. I placed a shallow jar lid on top of the cork for a water dish and filled it weekly. The containers were kept in my bug room which fluctuates in temperature from about 76 to 82 degrees and gets its natural [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Southern Wisconsin[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] light from a large window. No additional heat or light was provided. Feeding consisted of 1 or 2 large crickets, a few mealworms offered with forceps and/or a few 1/4 – ½ inch dubia roaches once a week. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]I have noticed that the younger ones rarely use their burrows and are almost always found on the surface whenever I check on them. The two larger ones hid more from the beginning and on March 3rd I noticed one of the adults had an egg sac. About a week later I noticed the other also was carrying a sac. About 2 weeks after that the second female was once again on the surface after apparently eating her eggs. On April 11th the eggs hatched and I took some poor quality photos through the bottom of the container.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt] I failed to record the exact date when the first molts started but they all molted within 2 days of each other and by May 1st all had finished molting and took on, what I was to later learn, their typical second instar look of a glossy black body with bright red pedipalps. I had left them alone for several days after they all finished molting to see if they would emerge on their own so I am guessing that by May 1st they had been 2i for 4 or 5 days which would mean they started their molt sometime near April 21st or 22nd (rough estimate.) By May 1st all had left the female and were hanging out in the burrow, which the female had significantly modified from my original, so I impatiently dug them up. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]I set them up in 4 oz. opaque condiment cups half full of coco fiber and several pinholes poked in the lids. About a week after I set them up they began taking newly hatched dubia roaches. The final count was 38 healthy babies. Two or three did not make it through the molt. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]After about 3 months I moved them to 8 oz. clear deli containers with about ¾ inch of coco fiber to give them a little more room and to encourage digging. I had sold or given away several individuals in the 2i stage so going into the fall/winter of 2014 I had about 29 individuals left. In September I noticed that they were getting very fat. Some of them were looking like they were ready to explode. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]I moved them into 16oz deli cups with about 2 inches of substrate and over the next couple of months most of them started burying themselves. I noticed that once they had completely sealed themselves in they would not feed so I stopped offering food. I could see some of them in their burrows from beneath and it appeared that though they were not eating they were getting larger and larger. Sometime in March of 2015 I could see that several of them had molted and were noticeably larger. About 10 days after molting they emerged. They started eating within a day or two. Aside from the size (they appeared to be about twice the length) the only noticeable difference was that the bright red pedipalps were now glossy black like the rest of the body. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]Not all of the 29 buried themselves over the winter. Some didn’t start digging in until after the first ones emerged in March. Those that dug in late molted much quicker and spent much less time underground than those that had dug in back in late 2014. I still have 3 individuals that have not molted from 2i to 3i. They have not dug in and they still look like they are ready to explode. One late individual molted without burying itself and though it survived and is eating it appears to have some deformities. I attributed that to low humidity during molting but I can’t be certain. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]In late July I noticed that several of the 3i individuals started to take on the bloated look that the 2i individuals had prior to digging in and had dug themselves in once again. After a few weeks two of them have emerged after having molted once again. The 4i are about 1/3 to 1/2 again the size of the 3i. The entire process of digging and molting seems to have gone much faster for these individuals, about 3 weeks total. So far I have had two emerge and a third that is still dug in. I have two more that I can’t tell if they are going into the “ready to explode” stage or are just fat after a particularly heavy feeding. [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]As Orin has explained to me people have reported a wide range of times between moltings for babies. While once a year moltings in he wild may be the norm it appears that growth rates in captivity may not follow those norms. I may take an individual or two and "power feed" them and see what happens. I got three individuals to cooperate so this photo shows a 2i, 3i and 4i from left to right, for comparison. The first 4i I tried wanted to do nothing but attack the others but the second one was more cooperative. I also noted that the 4i have no qualms about letting loose their defense while the 2i and 3i were a bit more reluctant.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]
I'll also add a quick note on the adults. Over the winter all 6 had buried themselves. The two adults emerged with no changes one of the younger ones emerged without having molted 1 died during molting (I must have originally bought 7 and not 6 as I had thought) and the other 4 molted. I still haven't made an effort to *** the other 4 but they are eating well.
[SIZE=12pt]I would like to thank Orin for his encouraging me to write up my experiences. I think I may have gone over his “few paragraphs” suggestion but I realized, after not finding much information, that these are the kinds of reports we need to see. Scientific or not they do hold some value for the hobbyist.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]I have this finished now so I am going to post it so I don't lose it. As soon as I can get some new pictures I will try to update this with some comparison shots between the instars. [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] I know one of the 3i individuals I gave to a friend was huge the last time I saw it so It may have molted again. I traded a bunch to precarious so he may have additional information to add to mine. I will add [/SIZE]pertinent[SIZE=12pt] information as I get it [/SIZE]
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