Gravid or Not?

[Christian Lames]

This Brachypelma Klaasi of mine was paired on the last week of July and for me it is a clear insertion. I expect her to lay a sac within 2-3months after mating(that's what I read online)

After almost 2 months the problems are;

1. She didn't use the Hide that I gave her and always roaming around the enclosure and sometimes climbng it, I guarantee that she is not stressed because of her healthy looking butt. Her First enclosure has a Coconut shell hide(she didn't even get inside) so I transfer her to an enclosure with a burrowing hide backdraft, after a week the burrow was filled with substrate and now she's roaming.

2. She won't eat. From Dubias, Lateralis, Superworms she is not interested. It's been almost 3 weeks. She seems to be catching the prey but no fang action.

This is my first breeding in my 2 years "Keeping Career" and I really hope that it will be successful.

 

[Teal]

I guarantee that she is not stressed because of her healthy looking butt.

The size of her abdomen has zero to do with stress...

She has a VERY large abdomen indeed... She could be full. She could be gravid. If she is climbing and roaming, she isn't happy. Can you post a photo of her full enclosure?

 

[Arachnophoric]

Could be gravid, could be in premolt. Either way, I agree that the roaming doesn't sound very normal for either scenario. If she's gravid then she should be finding a spot to hunker down and make an egg sac rather than roaming the enclosure, and if she's in premolt she should be behaving a bit lethargic rather than more active.

 

[Christian Lames]

The size of her abdomen has zero to do with stress...

She has a VERY large abdomen indeed... She could be full. She could be gravid. If she is climbing and roaming, she isn't happy. Can you post a photo of her full enclosure?

What I mean of healthy butt is that her Urticating Hairs was untouched. I'll upload an image of her full enclosure when I get home. Anyways, thank you so much for your opinion

 

[Christian Lames]

Could be gravid, could be in premolt. Either way, I agree that the roaming doesn't sound very normal for either scenario. If she's gravid then she should be finding a spot to hunker down and make an egg sac rather than roaming the enclosure, and if she's in premolt she should be behaving a bit lethargic rather than more active.

Pretty sure she is not in premolt. I paired them 2 months after she molted.

 

[Liquifin]

She looks gravid to me but your going to be disturbing her too much by the looks of it. Since this is the first time you're breeding a tarantula, here is some of my advice and things I do. Everyone who reads this post may have similar or different methods, but here is mine. These are beginner tips to breeding, so it should be very easy to follow.

1. Stop bothering your tarantula, by that I mean stop opening her enclosure, stop moving her enclosure, stop anything that'll disturb her too much.

2. Keep her somewhere dark, undisturbed, and very quiet, meaning somewhere dark and somewhere she won't be disturbed or bothered.

3. Keep her warm, which shouldn't be a problem since you're in the Philippines and also keep the substrate a bit more moist than usual.

These steps will help encourage a sac much more and since you're keeping her somewhere dark and undisturbed, it's best to check every 2-5 days for a sac and check as quickly as possible to not disturb her too much. From what I can say about B. klaasi is that they take quite a while for a sac, if you're lucky I'd say around 5 months for a sac from that species. Most of the time I've heard that it takes around 7-8 months for a sac of this species. But it should be quicker for a sac since the area you live in has tropical and warm temperatures.

 

[Christian Lames]

She looks gravid to me but your going to be disturbing her too much by the looks of it. Since this is the first time you're breeding a tarantula, here is some of my advice and things I do. Everyone who reads this post may have similar or different methods, but here is mine. These are beginner tips to breeding, so it should be very easy to follow.

1. Stop bothering your tarantula, by that I mean stop opening her enclosure, stop moving her enclosure, stop anything that'll disturb her too much.

2. Keep her somewhere dark, undisturbed, and very quiet, meaning somewhere dark and somewhere she won't be disturbed or bothered.

3. Keep her warm, which shouldn't be a problem since you're in the Philippines and also keep the substrate a bit more moist than usual.

These steps will help encourage a sac much more and since you're keeping her somewhere dark and undisturbed, it's best to check every 2-5 days for a sac and check as quickly as possible to not disturb her too much. From what I can say about B. klaasi is that they take quite a while for a sac, if you're lucky I'd say around 5 months for a sac from that species. Most of the time I've heard that it takes around 7-8 months for a sac of this species. But it should be quicker for a sac since the area you live in has tropical and warm temperatures.

Thanks for that. I always feel guilty that I changed her enclosure, because I know that I disturbed her. Anyways do you have any tips for the off feeding part?.

 

[Arachnophoric]

Thanks for that. I always feel guilty that I changed her enclosure, because I know that I disturbed her. Anyways do you have any tips for the off feeding part?.

With as fat as she is, gravid or not, food isn't going to be an issue. 3 weeks is a very short period of time for a T to go without eating, and I'm almost afraid if you keep trying to stuff her she may end up with issues attributed to obesity in adult Ts (yes, it IS possible).

If she's not interested in food, stop trying to feed her until she either settles in or molts. It's not uncommon for a gravid female to stop eating as she gets near laying a sac, and a lot of them won't eat after the fact either until the egg sac has hatched. You don't want to keep bothering her, because she won't settle down to lay a sac if you do, and you ESPECIALLY want to bother her as little as possible after she lays a sac, because disturbing a female with an egg sac can incite them to eat the egg sac if they get too stressed/bothered.

 

[Christian Lames]

With as fat as she is, gravid or not, food isn't going to be an issue. 3 weeks is a very short period of time for a T to go without eating, and I'm almost afraid if you keep trying to stuff her she may end up with issues attributed to obesity in adult Ts (yes, it IS possible).

If she's not interested in food, stop trying to feed her until she either settles in or molts. It's not uncommon for a gravid female to stop eating as she gets near laying a sac, and a lot of them won't eat after the fact either until the egg sac has hatched. You don't want to keep bothering her, because she won't settle down to lay a sac if you do, and you ESPECIALLY want to bother her as little as possible after she lays a sac, because disturbing a female with an egg sac can incite them to eat the egg sac if they get too stressed/bothered.

Ohhh. Thanks for this. I always thought that if your T is gravid she won't stop eating. Guess another knowledge has been given to me. For the disturbance part, i guess it would be fine. I could only see her once a week, because I'm in college. I have my little sister for monitoring, checking her up and giving me updates (I'm sure she is only using her eyes, cause she is scared.lol)

 

[Arachnophoric]

Ohhh. Thanks for this. I always thought that if your T is gravid she won't stop eating. Guess another knowledge has been given to me. For the disturbance part, i guess it would be fine. I could only see her once a week, because I'm in college. I have my little sister for monitoring, checking her up and giving me updates (I'm sure she is only using her eyes, cause she is scared.lol)

That'd be news to me! I had my own first sac this year with an N. incei female, and she sealed herself off in her burrow within 24 hours of having been paired and did not come out/unseal her burrow for anything for 2 months; 1 month gravid up to laying the sac, and 1 month with the sac until I pulled it. She didn't eat immediately after I pulled the sac either, it took her two days before she had any interest in food.

Some females will keep eating up to laying a sac, but I do believe they usually stop a little while prior to dropping a sac. Especially when they're as girthy as your gal.

 

[Christian Lames]

The size of her abdomen has zero to do with stress...

She has a VERY large abdomen indeed... She could be full. She could be gravid. If she is climbing and roaming, she isn't happy. Can you post a photo of her full enclosure?

Here is the Pic that you requested

 

[moricollins]

It's little wonder she's moving around all the time, there's nothing for her to hide behind/in...

 

[Arachnophoric]

Looks like the hide was made out of part of the backdrop? Perhaps try to add in another hide i.e. a half buried cork bark slab for her to utilize instead. Some plastic plants wouldn't hurt either.

Also maybe it's just out of frame, but she needs a water dish.

EDIT - Nvm on the water dish, I can see it in the back corner under the lid.

Also might want to reconsider that choice in lids, especially if she's roaming so much. Screen lids aren't the best option for terrestrial Ts on a good day, because they can easily climb up and get a tarsal claw stuck or drop and lose a leg in the process. Even with the distance looking to be in a pretty safe range, I wouldn't want that female taking ANY falls with her likely being gravid and so fat. A recipe for a very unfortunate mishap.

 

[Christian Lames]

It's little wonder she's moving around all the time, there's nothing for her to hide behind/in...

She can hide on that burrow. It may look little because she dump some substrate in there, and this was her 2nd enclosure because she did'nt use the coconut shell

 

[Christian Lames]

Looks like the hide was made out of part of the backdrop? Perhaps try to add in another hide i.e. a half buried cork bark slab for her to utilize instead. Some plastic plants wouldn't hurt either.

Also maybe it's just out of frame, but she needs a water dish.

EDIT - Nvm on the water dish, I can see it in the back corner under the lid.

Also might want to reconsider that choice in lids, especially if she's roaming so much. Screen lids aren't the best option for terrestrial Ts on a good day, because they can easily climb up and get a tarsal claw stuck or drop and lose a leg in the process. Even with the distance looking to be in a pretty safe range, I wouldn't want that female taking ANY falls with her likely being gravid and so fat. A recipe for a very unfortunate mishap.

Oh I forgot about the Screentop part. My bad on that, as for the dish. I overflow the waterdish once it's dry (once a week)

 

[Teal]

The enclosure looks fine. You'll just have tonwsit and see, I guess!