A. chalcodes breeding info

[padkison]

I'll be getting a mated female A. chalcodes next week. Does anyone have experience with breeding this T?

Looking for info on cooling off period, alterations to typical habitat for egg sac laying, etc.

Thanks

 

[P. Novak]

THis thread would help me as well, my A.chalcodes pair mated for the first time yesterday after several attempts.

 

[padkison]

Any Aphonopelma breeders out there with answers?

 

[Brian S]

Dude, I answered your question somewhere else but I guess you didnt check?

Anyway this is what I wrote............

Never bred that one but I have A hentzi twice successfully and if successful this time will make 3.
I mate them in the Fall as that is when they normally breed and I can find males out wandering. After mating I flood the substrate and take out in my garage to cool. I have an A hentzi that has been in my garage since November. We have had some nights get well below freezing (1 night was 9F)but the spider is alive and well. I could bring her inside now and get a sac but due to so many scorpions dropping kids I'm leaving her in the cold for now.
Now for your chalcode, I would do it about the same way except a shorter cooling period and probably a little less cool. Since you are in NC, I'm guessing you have pretty similar weather. You could mate her now, then let her chill for the next month if you have a garage or unheated basement. You may not want to soak the substrate as much as I do for hentzi but I would definetly soak some of it for sure.

 

[padkison]

Thanks. I did see your response on ATS boards.

However, I had read that Aphonopelma breeding cycles can vary by species/region of the country. Some breed in the fall and lay in the spring and some in the spring and lay in the summer. I don't know if chalcodes is the same as hentzi. Can't recall the source of this tho. I'll be following your guidelines unless I get specific chalcodes info.

Never bred that one but I have A hentzi twice successfully and if successful this time will make 3.

 

[Brian S]

Funny you mention that. Last Spring we had a male that lived thru the Winter and it was taken to glades where it was caught. I found a female and turned him loose next to her. They mated and I found a sac later in the Summer. Not sure if it was from a previous mating or not.
Bottom line, you should be able to breed one now and there still be enough cool weather to for a cooling period.

 

[wicked]

It seems specific A chalcodes info is hard to come by. I know there are two dealers with A chalcodes slings listed right now, so someone had to have been successful.

I picked up a gravid female last night. She was mated in Aug but did not have a cool down period. The weather is already warming up here, so I am wondering if I put her in the basement for a month will it be enough of a cool down period?
Soaking the substrate? Once before the cool down and once after? I have heard people mention soaking the substrate in the spring.
Any additional information would be great.

I have a sub adult male that I suspect will be having his ultimate molt this spring. This will be my first breeding project.(I tried to put together a A avic breeding project, but was plagued with bad luck and bad timing) Wish me luck.

 

[padkison]

Good luck with the sac. How warm will your basement be through the next month? Perhaps these do not have to get very cold to simulate winter in their natural habitat.

I'm pulling mine out of the basement starting in April. That will have given her a full month at 50-60 degrees. Hope it does the trick.

 

[crotaline]

I usually pair mine around August, because this is when I am able to acquire wc mature males. I then put the females into hibernation around Oct., warming them up again around the end of January. For hibernation I soak the substrate to raise humidity and keep the cage at about 60 degrees. I have successfully produced this species twice in this manner.

 

[wicked]

Good luck with the sac. How warm will your basement be through the next month? Perhaps these do not have to get very cold to simulate winter in their natural habitat.

I'm pulling mine out of the basement starting in April. That will have given her a full month at 50-60 degrees. Hope it does the trick.

Thanks.
We have a walk-out basement, so the temps fluctuate more than they would in a regular basement. I think the temps range upper 50s to mid 60s most of the time in the cool months. I was planning on having a secure, cat-proof shelf ready, but my husband hasn't done it yet. It isn't looking like my girl will get her cool down.
Here she is.

 

[padkison]

Nice looking girl.

I pulled Marilyn out of cool down yesterday. She was in a bad mood. See my post titled "Mad Marilyn"

 

[wicked]

My female was uncharactaristicly defensive a few days ago too. This morning she is bulldozing her substrate against the side of the tanks so I can't see in. I am hoping that is a good sign.
(crossing fingers) Here is hoping.

 

[padkison]

Marilyn is refusing food and pushing dirt. Maybe she's getting ready to drop a sac.

 

[wicked]

Marilyn is refusing food and pushing dirt. Maybe she's getting ready to drop a sac.

Mine has done a whole lot of nothing since my last post. I am losing hope.

Good luck to you though, I think you have a better chance of success than I do since yours had the benefit of a cool down period.

 

[padkison]

I made a trade for another female chalcodes arriving on Thursday. I hope to get a male or two in the fall and breed both.

 

[padkison]

Well,

Mine molted

 

[reptist]

Breeding A. chalcodes

The most difficult part of breeding this species is aquiring a male {unless you live or know people who live in Tucson} as their range is limited to a small area outside of Tucson, alot of the males you'll see for sale as "A. chalcodes" are prob. A. schmidti "whose range in AZ is much larger", the males and females look verry similair of the 2 species and I believe they can be and have been X-bred in captivity, the ez'est way to tell if you have A chalcodes or not is if you have collection data, in this case if the spider was collected in Tucson itself or w/in about 25 miles so-se of the city and below the pine line, you are almost sure to have A. chalcodes, anywhere north of tucson will be A. schmidti, above the pineline youll run into many species that have not had the hours spent on them that the previouslly mentioned have had taxonomicly such as A sp. huajuca, A sp. paysoni, A. sp flagstaff orange to name only a few, if you have no collection data then you have to have either a shed skin {in fair condition} or a dead specimen and delve into the intricate world of taxonomic charactoristics which is one of the most underdocumented and opinionated sciences I have ever studied, I could go into more detail but basicly it comes down to satae type and positioning, shape of the males palpal bubs as well as the spermathacea type and shape of the females, legnth of legs in comp. w/each other and comp w/ legnth of the carapace, occular positioning, foviel groove and to some extent color of the species{this is not a complete list by far}, on the 2 species in question {schmidti and chalcodes} the ez'est charactoristics to differentiate IMO are
1- Leg Legnth- in chalcodes legs 2 & 3 are almost equal, in schmidti legs 1 & 2 are almost equal
2-Spermathecae shape- schmidti have a much wider base than chalcodes although both have paired spermathacae
3-Palpal Spines{Males}- the male chalcodes have 6 tibial spines on the tibia of the palp and the schmidti have only 4
once you have the pair id'd as the same species breeding is usualy mid-late aug throughout sept to well into nov. or even early dec., then a cooling period of 8-12 wks or so, I havent ever used the flooding method as it doesnt generaly rain or snow during the cooling period here in AZ so I doubt it to be necessary in captivity, temps durring cooling should drop to 45-60 degrees {night} and no higher than 70-72 {day} after cooling period feed as usual and you should expect a sac anytime between late april and late july or 20-60days form warming them up, Hope that helps a bit, sorry so long but its so ez to mistake schmidti for chalcodes that I thought it needed to be covered especialy since I am pretty sure based on the shape of the palpal bulbs themselves that these species could easily be crossed, PEACE ALL, B.

 

[padkison]

Thanks for the info. I don't know for sure if the females I have are A. chalcodes, although they came from experienced T keepers, they were not collected directly by those people. I'll take a look at leg lengths and at the recent molt of my one female.

At any rate, I am looking for a MM male A. chalcodes, sounds like they come out in the fall.

 

[wicked]

My hopes for success were dashed upon the rocks of fate and bad luck. My girl molted yesterday.
Oh well, there is always next year.
I am mildly concerned about how dark she appears, compared to when my sub-adult male molted two years ago (he is still not mature). Is my A chalcodes female really A chalcodes? Hmm.

 

[P. Novak]

She looks like an Aphonopelma chalcodes to me. Sorry to hear that she molted out. I hope my female lays and doesn't decide to molt like yours.