any advice on breeding pokes

[Weapon-X]

hello everyone, i currently have a 7 inch female indian ornamental that would like to breed, and maybe make a little cash for myself, was wondering if anyone had any advice they could give me, i've heard from people that their difficult to breed,is this true?, any advice would greatly appreciated, thanks---Jeff:?

 

[LaRiz]

Jeff,
Not difficult to breed at all. Most of Poecilotheria are good to each other. Very caring lovers. The difficulty lies in getting an eggsac after a mating.
There are conditions that should be met before you introduce them to one another, and to increase your chances in getting an eggsac. Your female should be well conditioned and kinda fresh. I've had two Pokes (P. regalis, P. ornata). She should be settled in. You should have a ready and willing ultimate male that has been primed (sperm web).
Upon introduction into the female's enclosure, the male upon sensing the female's presence will typically forget about an human's and court the female. If the female responds with her own tapping, etc., things are looking good. If not, you may allow him to proceed with caution. Some females may not court back and mate, some will. Some will march toward the male and munch him, some will wait for the male to come near and then much him. Know your female, and watch her signals.
john

 

[Wade]

John-

Would you say 2 months following the female's last molt is a good time to make the attempt?

Wade

 

[King_Looey]

For an adult female, go for it.

 

[Weapon-X]

re

great, thanks for the help everyone=D

 

[LaRiz]

Wade,

I believe one month is sufficient enough time to wait until trying a male. Remember, these things aren't just eating machines, munchin' anything that moves. I don't think females have to be plump to discourage them from eating males. If they wanna eat 'em, they'll eat 'em.
john

 

[Dasgre0g]

I agree with Lariz on this one. I have had some very very skinny females NOT eat the males ever after several days of cohabitation. On the other hand I have had some overfed, extremely plump females make short work of their counterparts. In my experience, Pokeys are very very good about NOT eating their mates. I have had some live for as long as 2 months together with no incident. Good luck regardlss. Now just don't get bit!

 

[invertepet]

It depends on the species. I've had great fortune with fasciata but terrible results with regalis. Every large regalis female I've tried to breed, no matter how fattened and how big the enclosure, she ruthlessly pursues and eats the male. My recommendation is to try breeding slightly smaller females, even specimens that one might not think are large enough for breeding. Give that male every advantage he can get!

b

 

[LaRiz]

Long and boring perhaps...

It probably does depend upon species to a certain degree. I think it's more of a maturity issue, with Poecilotheria anyways.
The experience I like to share the most is my breeding of Poecilotheria rufilata in 2000. To go back a little, I recieved two 1st instar P. rufilata from Tarantula Ranch (Russell Smith, 'member him?), one matured a year later (went to Steven Kirby, 'member him? Yo, Steve what happened
), and almost 4 years later, the other, obviously female, was HUGE! I figured since she's like 8", she's gotta be breedable. I networked amongst several hobbyists and even online, and managed to get males, five at seperate times. At this time, I also had as my own several sub-adult P. rufilata growing up nicely (timing!). Well, all five males were quickly eaten, at seperate months of course. The female would not have them in her enclosure. She'd sense them, and immediately march upon them...well, they didn't stand a chance.
Months went by, she molted and looked quite different. She looked refreshed in a not just molted sort of way. I noticed alot of hair around the molt area, and even inside the cast skin. She wasn't bald or anything, just brighter, even a different hue of P. rufilata.
Was this her maturing molt? Is size a poor indicator of maturity? I say yes to both. Here's why, I introduced a male (6th bless his little spider soul) and she accepted him no problems. They mated, but she later molted again. Bye, bye sperm. The molt was sooooo soon, actually a couple days shy of the previous molt. Leads me to believe the tarantulas can do weird things.
Another 30 days went by, I tried the male, he did the trick again. Several months later, the female constructed an eggsac that resulted in a total of 75 spiderlings. One egg failed in eclosion, and one "egg w/legs" failed to molt. 73 perfect Poeciloteria rufilata. My proudest achievement to date (other than produce two of the finest examples of human specimens the earth has seen : my own children.
So, just because a female is big enough to be mature, doesn't mean she actually is. It can go the other way around too.
Other factors too, can prevent successful breedings. Perhaps a female is simply not ready.
Perhaps a bum male is offered and the female may be able to sense this. Who knows?
john

 

[Weapon-X]

RE

wow, more than i bbargained for,lol, thank you very much, perhaps i should take into thought that she may not be mature yet, hmmmm, and also perhaps i should buy a couple of males when i make the attempt, thank you very much i will consider all your advice as good advice, thanks, by the way if i'm sucsessful i will be selling regalis slings for a low price of 10-15 bucks, i'm trying to earn money to open a petshop, i'll proly be giving deals for a while till i get enough cash and a loan, thanks again---Jeff=D

 

[Devildoll]

umm...... well.... your pokie definatly ain't ready to molt yet.... unless you've been feeding her growth hormones since i saw it.

good luck if you get the chance to try it though.... but don't sell pokie slings at that price... email me if you want to know why... i don't want to start this debat right now... or call me....

uh... icfaulk@yahoo.com

 

[Wade]

Thanks John-

I just asked because I wondered if it's any different from the standard two-month rule...and it sounds like they are, perhaps being ready a bit faster than other species. I have three adult females and one immature male, plus two of undetermined sex. You're right, my adults are no "eating machines", although the younger ones are to some degree. Perhaps that's an indicator of maturity?

Wade