Breeding Poecilotheria metallica question

Austin S.

Austin S.

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So, as the title states! I would like some help. In the past, I bred this species ONCE, but the sac was a dud. I was told, then, (which keep in mind did not work for me, but it worked for the breeder) was, he had temps around 80 degrees, and misted/flooded the tank his females were in once a week. There was no cooling period or dry spell. Now, from what I've read lately, you need a cool period, heck, maybe even during the whole cycle the temps need to be low or something. This is the place to go for questions like this as I trust everyones opinion on this matter. So, if people who have bred this species that see this post, please feel free to fill me in on how you do it, ie; lights, temps, humidity, etc. If you do not feel inclined to tell it on here so others will see the secrets, please feel free to PM me or email me at austin@spearstravel.com. If you would not like to share information on how you do this, that is completely understandable. Thank you!
 
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fuzzyavics72

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I had planned on messaging you lol. You didn't have to start a new thread. I'm at work.
 
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fuzzyavics72

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She looks so old, but I beautiful old. I love her coloring. My girl is seven inches, but she looks nothing like your girl.
 
horanjp

horanjp

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+1 on the OP's question, my buddy and I will be doing this in a year or two. Dud sacs are such a bummer. If there's some ancient Chinese secret that most won't tell or post, I'd like to see that information......PM me that joint too if it's convenient....
 
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fuzzyavics72

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You don't need to worry about duds the most. You need to prey to have her lay a sac, for her not to eat her sac, and to successfully get the babies to third instar.
 
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Mako16

Mako16

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I will not open up a new thread , so my question goes here ..

I'm trying to breed my 2 female's P.metallica but they are giving me a headache! :)
The male has matured on 24th of July, but I'm not sure if he already made a spermweb or not..

I see something, could it be the leftover ?


This male really is weird, he also molted without any webbings at all.
Ok about breeding.. First, I've tried a shark tank method, but there was no response, so I let him out of the box, and now he is just
sitting there , not moving and not drumming. I must say, both of the female's didn't drumm back either, and they are both adult and fresh.
What could be wrong?

 
Poec54

Poec54

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Mako16 said:
I'm trying to breed my 2 female's P.metallica but they are giving me a headache! :)
The male has matured on 24th of July, but I'm not sure if he already made a spermweb or not..

First, I've tried a shark tank method, but there was no response, so I let him out of the box, and now he is just sitting there , not moving and not drumming. I must say, both of the female's didn't drumm back either, and they are both adult and fresh.
What could be wrong?
Click to expand...
- They'll make sperm webs within a couple weeks of their final shed. Yours has made one. It's rare to catch them in the act (especially if you're on a normal sleep schedule). There may be no noticeable evidence that one's been made. Yes, those silk fragments are probably the remains of a sperm web. He's loaded and ready to go.

- To me, and a few other breeders I've talked to, shark tanks are a waste of time. If they're interested in each other, you have to disturb them to let them make contact, and that will kill the mood. Do you have 2 females in that cage? Put them in separate cages. You need one male and one female to be able to focus on each other.

- Male not drumming, left in a female's cage? That's a great way to lose a male. They should ONLY be in together if both are drumming/tapping. Yours aren't interested in each other romantically, so you're risking a fight. I've paired up Poecs dozens of times. The encounters are usually peaceful, but there can be issues. If one or both aren't courting, get the male out. Try again another time. I've had a few Poec males killed within seconds of being put in the female's cage: they ran out of their retreats and instantly killed the male before I could react. I leave a male in for one night and take him out the next morning. 2nd and 3rd pairings have a much higher rate of males being killed (most of the male's I sent out on breeding loan are killed from this questionable practice). While that may not bother you, if the female sheds off schedule, she'll need to be re-mated, and if you've let the male be killed, you're not going to get a sac. Although uncommon, once in a while a male left in too long will kill the female. Poecs are not social or communal. They have a varying amount of tolerance for each other and temporarily share retreats in the wild. But they are out for themselves, and not interested in the welfare of the others. Sometimes there's disagreements amongst them, and confined in a cage, they can't get away to let things cool down. It can escalate in a slaughter, even with sac mates that have lived together for several years.

I've had better results for breeding after dark. Females should be fed well for a few weeks prior to introduction. Yours doesn't have enough weight on her; that increases the odds of her seeing him as a meal.

---------- Post added 08-21-2015 at 04:18 PM ----------
Thistles said:
This is a huge shame. These are an endangered species. The more people breeding, the better for the spiders and the hobby.
Click to expand...

More slings mean lower prices. Do you really think dealers want to see the market flooded with any species?
 
Pociemon

Pociemon

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Thistles said:
This is a huge shame. These are an endangered species. The more people breeding, the better for the spiders and the hobby.
Click to expand...
Why should people just say it? Many have tried for a long time to find the way to get offspring from them, invested lots of time, money on it!
I dont tell anybody how i make them, i used 3 years and alot of money until i got it right!

To the OP:

You can leave metallica males in with the females for longer periods of time, they are not easy to get sacs from, but breeding them is easy. They cohabitate just fine, the males are almost same size as females, so they can fend for themselves. I know that females have laid sacs while the male is still in there! But dont do this with any other than metallica, then you will start loosing males quickly.
 
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Mako16

Mako16

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Thanks Poec54!

I don't have 2 females in the same enclosure , they are all separated. This female on the picture is not such a good eater.. she just took 2 dubia roaches from her last molt. the second female is a bit larger and eating like crazy, so I hope I will have more succes with the bigger one. When I introduced the male, I disturbed the female with tweezers and gently push the male towards her, to see if anything happens when they interact , but the female did nothing.. she was very calm and act as if nobody was there.. the male literally walked across her and no reaction.. so they peacefully walked away from each other. I was waiting for about 15 minutes more, to see if they would start drumming , and nothing .. so I put the male out.
 
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