Hapalopus sp. breeding

[DerekG4]

One of my Hapalopus sp. pumpkin patch “large” has recently molted and I found out is a male. I have another one that is almost the same size (male is 2”, the other is 1 3/4”) and I was wondering possibly after it molts and turns out to be female, would it be possible to breed them?

Are these guys fairly easy to breed or are they notorious for eating the male?
After the male finally has his tibial hooks and bulbs, would he Molt again or is this his final Molt? How long does he have left?

 

[Theneil]

After the male finally has his tibial hooks and bulbs, would he Molt again or is this his final Molt?

After he matures (developes emboli and some species hooks) a male is done molting. I believe that is why they call it the "ultimate" molt. On rare occurances people have reported a Mature male molting or trying to molt, but i don't think it ever ends well.

 

[DerekG4]

I’ll definitely have to feed him a lot less now, don’t want him to die before my female matures.

 

[Liquifin]

I’ll definitely have to feed him a lot less now, don’t want him to die before my female matures.

Actually, you want to offer more water in his water dish. All MM are always burning themselves out to death looking for a female. They are going to constantly go in laps in their enclosure to find a mate/female. MM will always tired themselves to death if not by by old age. You should always make sure he is well fed as well. TBH I feed my MM a lot more than most people, and they tend to go on stronger during pairing and live much longer than the standards.

 

[Theneil]

I’ll definitely have to feed him a lot less now, don’t want him to die before my female matures.

I would let him eat as much as he wants. If you want to try to extend his life, i believe it would be much more effective to drop the temperature a bit.

 

[DerekG4]

Alrighty, I guess I’ll feed him as usual. Is there a certain size they have to reach before I can mate them? If my other one molts and does turn out to be female, I’m sure she won’t be any bigger than 2 1/4” after the Molt.

Is there like a good general guideline to breeding tarantulas here? Just wanna make sure I do everything right before I entroduce them to each other.

One other question I had was if it matters who I entroduce first? Should I get the male and put him in the females enclosure or vice versa? Or should I get both and put them in a new enclosure and watch them?

All I know is I gotta watch and make sure the female doesn’t eat the male, I heard usually feeding her heavily before entroducing them works, I also heard the female should always be much bigger than the male but I don’t know how true that is. I also heard somewhere that if a tarantula “copulates” but molts afterwards, it won’t lay an egg sac.

 

[Liquifin]

Alrighty, I guess I’ll feed him as usual. Is there a certain size they have to reach before I can mate them? If my other one molts and does turn out to be female, I’m sure she won’t be any bigger than 2 1/4” after the Molt.

Is there like a good general guideline to breeding tarantulas here? Just wanna make sure I do everything right before I entroduce them to each other.

One other question I had was if it matters who I entroduce first? Should I get the male and put him in the females enclosure or vice versa? Or should I get both and put them in a new enclosure and watch them?

All I know is I gotta watch and make sure the female doesn’t eat the male, I heard usually feeding her heavily before entroducing them works, I also heard the female should always be much bigger than the male but I don’t know how true that is. I also heard somewhere that if a tarantula “copulates” but molts afterwards, it won’t lay an egg sac.

Always feed the female up before pairing, to reduce the chances of the male being eaten. Females can be bred whenever the spermatheca is fully developed by checking her molt (my standards). The males always go to the females enclosure, no questions asked. The females go nowhere during pairing. You always introduced the male to the female. And yes, if a female has been bred and molts, then there's no eggsack coming, so basically; try again.

 

[Enrgy]

If he is mature, water is key. Dont let him get dehydrated. He will probably eat less or refuse food altogether as well