Breeding huntsmen, tips?

[Dennis Nedry]

Gonna try my luck at breeding my female huntsman to a male who'll be arriving in a few days. Any tips? Any way to reduce likelihood of her sexy date getting munched? How the hell will I seperate the slings?

And just go be clear these are huge and chunky Isopeda sp. I'm talking about, not spindly little Heteropodas. Crap pic of potential future mum:

 

[pannaking22]

That's a beauty of a spider. From what I've been able to tell, females aren't as likely to eat the males in sparassids as in other families, but you'll definitely want to make sure she's well fed before introducing them. Keep an eye on them, if you see them mating you can pull the male at some point after they've finished. Sometimes it can take a while, so unless you have a couple hours to watch them doing it, just plan on coming back later.

In terms of separation, very carefully lol. Probably best to try to pull mom so you can grab the slings at your leisure.

Good luck!

 

[The Snark]

Just one little suggestion. When introducing potential romance partners, give them plenty of room to run. Males seem to be a little faster and flightier and should be able to evade the lady if she's feeling grumpy or hungry.
Every time I've spotted a huntsman doing the serious Walter Payton fancy footwork it's been a male. The femmes are more like dragsters - straight shots.

 

[Dennis Nedry]

Just one little suggestion. When introducing potential romance partners, give them plenty of room to run. Males seem to be a little faster and flightier and should be able to evade the lady if she's feeling grumpy or hungry.
Every time I've spotted a huntsman doing the serious Walter Payton fancy footwork it's been a male. The femmes are more like dragsters - straight shots.

Yeah, I was planning on just leaving the enclosures open on a wide table so he could get away if he wanted to. They seem pretty chilled so I probably won't lose him if he bolts.

That's a beauty of a spider. From what I've been able to tell, females aren't as likely to eat the males in sparassids as in other families, but you'll definitely want to make sure she's well fed before introducing them. Keep an eye on them, if you see them mating you can pull the male at some point after they've finished. Sometimes it can take a while, so unless you have a couple hours to watch them doing it, just plan on coming back later

She's eaten two roaches in two days, she smashed both of them so I'll probably try a couple more. I'm on holidays so I have a couple hours spare.

The guy I bought these from on an auction page has another pair of the same species so I might get them as well just in case this male gets eaten

 

[The Snark]

They seem pretty chilled so I probably won't lose him if he bolts.

Lose him to predation. Losing him in the room, another matter entirely.

 

[Galapoheros]

You can tell real fast if something goes wrong. A chopstick comes in handy at that point or even the back of your fingers using them to break up a squabble. You can put the container with babies in it in a bathtub and then wrangle the babies that get out of the container in a deli as you try to catch them one by one. My first mistake was thinking the male was mature but it wasn't.

 

[Dennis Nedry]

I kinda let this thread die but oh well. Attempted breeding twice with at least two actual matings but I left the pair together in the dark for a couple weeks on end. She only tried to eat him on the second attempt. The male has since died and the female laid an egg sac, cut it open today to reveal lots of wiggling little spiders clustered together.

Doesn't look like they're at the stage where they're walking around yet but they're definitely alive, I had been keeping it pretty dry to avoid mould but now should I up the humidity and what'd be the best method to do so? I've got the cut sac in an empty deli cup right now

Side note - Anybody in Australia want some Isopeda slings in the near future?