A close-up video of a tarantula building an egg sac has captivated Reddit, offering a rare look at a behavior most people never get to see.
In the r/spiders post titled "How Tarantula Make An Egg Sac!" the thread drew nearly 9,000 upvotes and hundreds of comments.
The video shows a tarantula laying a yellow, yolk-like mass of eggs, then carefully wrapping and shaping it into a silk egg sac.
(Click here if the embedded video does not appear.)
"I don't know what I expected but it was not that," one person wrote.
Another added, "I was not prepared."
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Others jumped in with explanations. Commenters said spiders use a hydraulic-like system that relies on internal fluid pressure to extend their legs, which may help explain how the tarantula seemed to "reflate" after laying the eggs.
Another commenter explained that tarantulas typically guard their egg sacs rather than incubate them, as birds do.
The clip appears to have been filmed in captivity. Human care, terrarium setups, and online hobbyist communities are making intimate animal moments far more visible than they would be in the wild.
Even species that people find unsettling can play important ecological roles.
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Commenters noted that an egg sac can contain hundreds of babies, in some cases around 300 to 600 on average, and potentially more.
A gravid (egg-carrying) tarantula may not just be an interesting pet — it could soon become hundreds of baby tarantulas that require planning, space, and care.
As one commenter put it, "That was amazing!"
Another captured the emotional whiplash of the internet's reaction more bluntly: "Awww. Ewww... Awww."
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