Share your fatal/scary breeding stories here..

[SkittleBunny]

I admit it. I'm terrified of this hobby. I'm starting to think it isnt for me 9 tarantulas in..

Reasons being, my first tarantula is Stiffler as some of you may know.. A male tarantula that matured in my care and i invested alot of money into him. (That'll teach me to buy unsexed specimens) Ive invested over 300 dollars into my tarantulas with intention to breed and sell eventually.

Eventually is now.

Ive been too afraid to put my male and female together, I dont want to lose my first tarantula due to a mistake on my part.. It might shock me back into arachnophobia and I would sell all my stock.

I want so badly for this to work.
The situation is perfect, both specimens matured in august and both are fed alot. 2-3 crickets daily since september when I was planning on breeding them but I was afriad and put it off. He hasnt made a sperm web this month (his last was late September) but he still wanders. He is willing to take the chance of his life or reproduction, I should honor that and allow him to make that chance but.. My mental disorders kind of cause me to panic and throw paranoid fits where the worst will happen and I'm just too afraid to face this situation. I love my original tarantula .. I dont want to lose him but its natural.

I want to hear your experiences.. Your first pairing, your first mating loss due to a fiesty female, or just plain scary breeding experiences.

I think it may help motivate me to take the chance and breed my pair, and endure the emotional pain I'm so afraid of.

 

[OliverWhatever]

Getting this chance is literally what mature males live for. It's better to get a chance to pass on his genes, and risk dying on the fangs of a female, than to forever wander around his enclosure seeking for a mate he will never find, until he eventually wears out and dies. It's nature, or what passes for it in our care. Make sure the female is well fed before mating, which I'm sure many other members here will tell you, along with some more helpful advice

 

[chanda]

I have never tried breeding any of my tarantulas. I've only once had both a mature male and a mature female of the same species at the same time, and that was a wild-caught local Aphonopelma female that I thought was already gravid and a wild-caught male I'd raised from a juvenile. Turns out the female was not gravid - but by the time I figured that out, the male had already died. I also failed to breed my wolf spiders and my wheel bugs because I was so afraid of one of them eating the other that I didn't get around to putting them together until one of them had died on its own, after which I was mentally kicking myself for not at least giving it a try.

The only thing the male tarantula wants to do is to find a mate and pass on his genetic material. Sure, it doesn't always work out - but you might as well take a shot. Once he's matured, the clock is ticking. Even if he does end up getting munched, it is possible that he will manage to fertilize the female first - and either way, all he's really lost if a few remaining months of life.

 

[BC1579]

It's better to get a chance to pass on his genes, and risk dying on the fangs of a female, than to forever wander around his enclosure seeking for a mate he will never find

That's beautiful.

 

[Trenor]

I admit it. I'm terrified of this hobby. I'm starting to think it isnt for me 9 tarantulas in..

Reasons being, my first tarantula is Stiffler as some of you may know.. A male tarantula that matured in my care and i invested alot of money into him. (That'll teach me to buy unsexed specimens) Ive invested over 300 dollars into my tarantulas with intention to breed and sell eventually.

Eventually is now.

Ive been too afraid to put my male and female together, I dont want to lose my first tarantula due to a mistake on my part.. It might shock me back into arachnophobia and I would sell all my stock.

What species are you wanting to pair? Some are much easier to pair than others.

Also I know you don't want him to meet a bad end, but if he is mature then he has limited time left anyway. Better to let him try to mate than just sit around till he dies.

 

[Venom1080]

Better to mate and die then wither away.
You're doing him a favor no matter what really.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

Well...one night I hooked up with this gal at a bar and...

Oh wait. Probably not the right kind of story. Nevermind!

Never tried to breed any tarantulas, although I did try to incubate a cobalt blue sac that was given to me at a pet shop. I have no idea whether it was fertile or not (probably not) but the experiment was a fail in any case.

 

[SkittleBunny]

What species are you wanting to pair? Some are much easier to pair than others.

Also I know you don't want him to meet a bad end, but if he is mature then he has limited time left anyway. Better to let him try to mate than just sit around till he dies.

Brachypelma albopilosum "Nicaragua" Both are very curly.
Female is 5.5"
Male is 6"
(Photo of the male has a green dish in the photo also, since they arent labled..)

 

[BC1579]

Soooooooooo...just a thought.

Are there any dealers/breeders in your area? I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping another hobbyist. Might be worth a call and a trip with your fuzzballs and see what they can do to help.

 

[Trenor]

Brachypelma albopilosum "Nicaragua" Both are very curly.
Female is 5.5"
Male is 6"
(Photo of the male has a green dish in the photo also, since they arent labled..)

I've not paired these myself but @Blue Jaye has. I don't think these will give much trouble as long as both are in the mood.

When I paired my P.cam female I place both enclosures beside each other in a large plastic tote on its side. Once I saw them mate I left them to move off from each other and then place them back into their own homes. I would likely try the same thing with the Brachypelma albopilosum "Nicaragua" if I were pairing them. Place the large plastic tote flat and put both enclosures in it beside each other. Open the lids and see how responsive they are. The big thing is not to force the male if they are not showing any interest.

 

[SkittleBunny]

Soooooooooo...just a thought.

Are there any dealers/breeders in your area? I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping another hobbyist. Might be worth a call and a trip with your fuzzballs and see what they can do to help.

Believe me ive tried but there seems to be no one around my area with similar interests. Lots of ball python people but no arachnid people lol

 

[SkittleBunny]

I've not paired these myself but @Blue Jaye has. I don't think these will give much trouble as long as both are in the mood.

When I paired my P.cam female I place both enclosures beside each other in a large plastic tote on its side. Once I saw them mate I left them to move off from each other and then place them back into their own homes. I would likely try the same thing with the Brachypelma albopilosum "Nicaragua" if I were pairing them. Place the large plastic tote flat and put both enclosures in it beside each other. Open the lids and see how responsive they are. The big thing is not to force the male if they are not showing any interest.

When I do pair them I will give this a try

 

[BC1579]

That's a bummer. I'm in New Orleans. If you're looking to get out of the hobby I'd gladly help take some of them off of your hands.

I would encourage you to read up on pairing, watch videos...anything that will boost your confidence. I wouldn't want anyone to walk away from something they clearly have a passion for (if you didn't you wouldn't be so emotionally invested in them ).

 

[Thistles]

I have two females, and they behaved very differently toward the male. One female was very willing and easy to pair, and the other tries to eat him. They molted one month apart, so I don't think it has to do with their condition. Keep something on hand to separate if you have to. I use a paintbrush and rubber-tipped tongs or a long-handled spoon. Introduce the male at the far end of the female's enclosure. Good luck!

 

[BC1579]

@petkokc has a couple of great vids on this.

He shows how to introduce the male to the female and what to look for.

I don't know if @Tomoran has any, but his channel is Tom's Big Spiders and his website is tomsbigspiders.com. I'm sure he's got some good information out there somewhere.

 

[lateapexpredator]

@petkokc has a couple of great vids on this.

He shows how to introduce the male to the female and what to look for.

I don't know if @Tomoran has any, but his channel is Tom's Big Spiders and his website is tomsbigspiders.com. I'm sure he's got some good information out there somewhere.

I should have figured he was on this site. I just discovered his channel and watched those two vids two days ago. What an entertaining and smart guy.

 

[Blue Jaye]

@SkittleBunny, Nicaraguan curly are pretty straight forward to breed. My male was a bit bigger than my female and extremely eager to pair. He actually tossed her around while pairing and when they parted she was pretty upset and wanted a piece of him. That was easily managed by the use of a paint brush to usher him away. I paired them in a neutral enclosure placed her in then him on the other side from her. They paired up pretty quickly. She dropped a sac faster than any species I’ve ever bred. If you decide not to pair them you can send your mm to me I have a female that’s ready and have been looking to pair her again.

 

[PinkT]

Brachypelma albopilosum "Nicaragua" Both are very curly.
Female is 5.5"
Male is 6"
(Photo of the male has a green dish in the photo also, since they arent labled..)

They are beautiful..if you have babies I would take one!! Breed them.