Breeding P. Subfusca

DeTwan

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 8, 2007
Messages
223
Okay, how crazy am I for thinking of trying to breed the P Subfusca for my first breeding project. I hear they are extremely hard to breed, but I think I might be able to pull it off. The cage I keep my female in is extremely well ventilated I am about to introduce some moss to keep the hummity up while still maintaining good ventilation. I am also moving close to work and would beable to walk home every few hours to rotate the sack, b/c I hear egg rot is a major problem when breeding this species. Any suggestions would be nice... or am I just gonna waste my time and money.
 

Alice

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 29, 2006
Messages
976
it is certainly possible to breed the species, but this is not the very best time - apparently (not my info, but a friend bred them successfully this year) they need a cooling period to build a sac. cooling period for a mountain species meaning around 8-10° celsius!
maybe they will built without that, but that's what i heard. also, don't overdo the humidity thing. dry winter, warm and wet spring, that's more it.
good luck and keep us posted!
 

Tunedbeat

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 4, 2007
Messages
656
If you have a pair, i'd say go for it. Though, from what i've heard, the subfusca are one of the hardest of the Poecilotheria's to breed.
 

david goldsboro

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 25, 2005
Messages
88
i would give it a go there is no harm in trying , they are supossed to be quite difficult to get them to lay sac's depending on what form you have the highland need to be quite cool where the lowland just like normal pokies , Good luck with the mating , i have just mated my adult lowland and waiting for 9 more to reach sexual maturaty that should be in the next 3 months
 

EDED

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 12, 2004
Messages
549
dont be weird about it, be confident and do some research (talking to people who have bred the species) and get some info and go right into it.

goodluck!:clap:
 

DeTwan

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 8, 2007
Messages
223
Are there any significant markings to distingish a lowlands from a highland species?
 

Michael Jacobi

ARACHNOCULTURE MAGAZINE
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 17, 2003
Messages
938
Are there any significant markings to distingish a lowlands from a highland species?
This is a misconception. All P. subfusca are "highland" montane forest spiders. It is true that different populations have been found and some are comparatively "lowland". In other words, the species has a fragmented distribution and elevation varies throughout this small range. Three basic populations are known to exist and technically you could rank them by the altitude of the habitat, but that doesn't mean that any of these populations should be housed like Poecilotheria fasciata! (a lowland dry forest species from northern Sri Lanka). As for markings, dark coloration is a cool climate adaptation and - technically - darker spiders would be found at the highest elevation. For example, the subfusca I have bred are from a very dark female. (See the home page of my website for photo). It would be reasonable to assume that this spider originated from stock collected at high elevation, but the truth is that nobody really knows where the captive stock was collected from or whether all captive specimens have the same origins. In other words, unless you collected your stock or have reliable information from someone who did, arbitrarily referring to your spiders as "lowland" or "highland" seems pointless. And if you are basing this distinction on coloration or some designation of a dealer, I would argue that it is ridiculous.

For more information on the species and keeping it you can download one of my articles for free by clicking here. For information on the first US breedings of the species, an article written by Bill Korinek, Bruce Effenheim and myself can be found in ARACHNOCULTURE 2(1).

Kind regards, Michael
 

David Burns

Arachnoprince
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Joined
Jul 18, 2003
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1,681
Is there any info on whether altitude might have an effect on the care and breeding of highland species?
 
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