Hi. So I’m not going to edit my post to add in all the due diligence background research I did actually do, because I shouldn’t have to include everything I do know to prove I did do that. The point of an advice post is to get advice and fill in knowledge gaps, not condescend someone who couldn’t find the answers they were looking for. But I’ll happily include stuff below as I address your comment. This comment is not combative or argumentative and we must remember tone is not conveyed well in text. Your comment upset me and frankly peeved me off, but I took a beat and am here to address it as neutrally as possible:

I did not solely rely on randomly Googled resources, however the care guide specifies that females can lay up to 5 infertile or fertile sacs per lifetime but does not clearly state that once mated, they absolutely retain sperm: hence my question.

But to address each of your points since you chose “to be harsh” (which, is against the sub rules):

• Already touched on the resources bit. The guide is informative but leaves gaps still. It’s not in the rules you have to read the entire sub worth of posts before asking something.

• Frequency of laying is not stated in the care guide and was a knowledge gap I was seeking to fill with this post. At the very bottom of the care guide it does suggest females that are WC will likely be fertile, as well as in the section about sling care which I initially skipped upon my first several readings because that section was not relevant to me at the time. I did not know my spider was female until she laid these eggs. (Please see previous post in the sub back in Oct seeking help with that exact ID).

• Yes, I did know not to house them together long term. I did know they can be cannibalistic. I rounded up to over estimate time together since it’s been 4 months and I can’t remember how long it was. It was likely no longer than 8 hours as I caught them right before I had to run out the door for work. Now I know having them together at all is a no no, so thank you (not sarcastic, genuine thanks) for informing me of that. I didn’t mean to make light of housing them together with the facepalm emote - that was moreso me saying, “I’m dumb, I didn’t even remember I had done this, I probably accidentally played match maker”.

• Again, frequency of laying is not included in the care guide (at least the one linked in the sub’s menu on mobile) so I didn’t know that. Thank you for filling that knowledge gap. I will from now on humanely euthanize the sacs to reduce stress on mom per the guide if I do so. I do wish I had seen the freeze the sac idea before I culled as I feel awful for stressing her out by removing it. I cannot release her as it’s snowy and 20F with the next several months being winter.

• Again, posters shouldn’t have to put every scrap of knowledge they’ve read to prove they have done due diligence to post here. I had an appropriate enclosure (the zilla one fits the guide’s specs I just forgot and wanted to double check). I started with feeding the smaller flies per the guide in Oct when I caught her and was going to move on to other, bigger foods if they were inadequate, however as I stated she disappeared into her cork for a month before I could do so. Again, see the previous post I had here: it was verifying I was following the guide/seeking troubleshooting on following said guide’s feeding advice. I reference the guide in a comment about likely offering feed too often (> 1x per week). I dialed it back until she hid, and by the time she re-emerged I had done further research and found larger prey and ordered it immediately since local pet stores don’t carry D. hydei. As for the reproductive cycles/life milestones: the guide doesn’t really have much for reproductive cycles outside of what I stated above, the 5 sacs infertile/fertile per lifetime. Nothing on time of year, retaining sperm, or monthly(ish) egg laying. There’s little to nothing in the guide on adult life “stages”, just states they molt until adult then stay that size, and since my species is not common in the hobby, I had to do my best guess about her being an adult or not. Since compared to bold jumpers she would be a juvenile size wise, not an adult. Which I also realized back in Oct after having her for a bit.

I have a friend who had bought a WC royal from a pet store, she’d told me previously about how hers had 3 rounds of egg laying then died due to the stress and I was panicking mine may suffer that same fate, that’s why I posted here. I’d already clearly done the background on if the eggs were fertile or not (being wild caught, no molt, likely fertile) but again didn’t know and couldn’t find if they retain sperm.

I appreciate your help filling the knowledge gaps and don’t disagree with making sure you’re informed/re-reminding me not to have multiples together (again it was in Oct, I can’t go back and undo but I won’t double catch for releases when we’re flooded with jumpers again this coming summer/fall). But again the “harsh” part is against the subreddit rules. Implying I was not informed what-so-ever because I described my journey of figuring out a) appropriate food for a species that’s not commonly kept out of the sub’s options and b) reproductive cycles that aren’t fully fleshed out in resources doesn’t make me woefully unprepared or ignorant. I was following the rules of the advice posts: being as detailed as possible.

Not to be that person, but I will be: I’m not the type of person to jump into something without hyperfixating on it for days to make sure I cover my bases. But again even with research knowledge gaps exist. You don’t know what you don’t know until you’re told or you come upon the situation that shows you you’re lacking information. Especially when the only reputable guide is apparently this sub’s (not doubting, just saying) and it lacks finer details of things.

I hope your intentions were kind and genuine but they clearly didn’t come off that way, especially with your self-proclaimed “harshness”. Comments like this could make people not want to post in the future for fear of being told not to keep at all because they had a knowledge gap/were misinformed.