I have a new colony of critically endangered animals that have literally appeared out of nowhere! My pet Gooty sapphire tarantula (Poecilotheria metallica) mysteriously laid an egg sac a couple months ago in her terrarium, but to the best of my knowledge she hadn’t mated. I was told it might be a ‘phantom’ egg sac, full of unfertilized eggs that she would eventually eat, but low and behold, the egg sac ended up hatching some 20-30 spiderlings! This birth event was special because the species is both critically endangered in the wild and reportedly communal!
In this episode, we meet our new colony of sapphire tarantulas, watch them feed, and discuss what we should do with them to help save them from extinction and possibly learn about keeping tarantulas in colonies. Hope you enjoy today’s spider episode! PS – Stay tuned for the additional fire ant update at the end!