Here is a photo of Kim the day I found her, a year ago. Notice the pretty marbled pattern on her abdomen? Black Widow females don’t get that trademark black glossy body until they reach sexual maturity.
Can you see the difference?? Laying eggs has totally deflated my chubby globular fatty, Black Widow, Kim into a little deflated skinny girl! She even looks a little wrinkly!
I’m pretty sure this is the actual egg sac that Kim, my Black Widow has laid. It’s small and a little ball of silk. Maybe a fertilized one would be more robust?
Aw, Kim tending to her babies (even though its probably not fertilized). So, what’s the actually egg sac? The ball of fuzz to the left? And what’s that dangling smaller orange ball?
Help with KIM!!
My Black Widow laid an egg sac!! Kim looks all skinny!
WHAT do I do? I have read that if I remove it she may waste away and die. I am assuming it is not viable since she is in a jar with a mesh lid and I doubt any males have gotten in. Also, she was immature when I found her over a year ago so I doubt she’s been holding sperm.
Apparently, she may get aggressive around her eggs so I’ll have to be careful when feeding her. She’s usually so skitish and shy so I’ll have to remember to be careful.
Anyone have any pointers? Or advice? I’d rather leave it be, if possible.
I shall go catch her something to eat and take some photos for you!
My African Mantis sizing up a Superworm and trying to decide if she can handle it. Turns out it was too big to handle so I fed it to Josephine the scorpion.
I also bought these adorable Velvet Ants. They are actually female flightless wasps native to our desert areas. They are sometimes called cowkillers b/c it is rumored their sting is so painful it could kill a cow. I won’t be handling these girls and have my tweezers ready for any necessary re-locations. They eat organic maple syrup. Nature can be so cruel sometimes, how can something be so cute, fuzzy and snuggly looking but you can’t even touch it?
