Buying slings vs buying sexed female (Smithi & Pulchra)

[canuck]

I was wondering anyone could offer their opinons on raising tarantulas from spiderlings with the goal getting a female vs buying a sexed 2" female. I do not currently own any tarantulas, but have a while back (males which were lost on breeding trades ) so I am familiar with T's. I am really only interested in having 2 or 3 species. B. Smithi and G. Pulchra being my 'grails' in their female form, and maybe an B. Albo.

I am in Canada, and getting a sexed Pulchra is out of the question as they are insanely expensive, so for this species I would definitely be going the spiderling route. The Albos grow like weeds, and are dirt cheap as spiderlings. So again, spiderlings are the clear winner there. But for the Smithi, I can either buy a sexed 2" female for $150, or buy a bunch of slings at $28 each and maybe end up with a couple females. Can a Smithi be sexed with 100% accuracy at 2"?

I can see the advantages of each approach. But as far as money, and time go.... have any of you who previously went the spiderling route for a slow grower like B. Smithi choose to buy a sexed female the second time around? or vice versa? Which did you prefer?

 

[xhexdx]

Capitalizing species name is incorrect. Only the genus should be capitalized.

Go the spiderling route with all three.

Yes, a smithi can accurately be sexed at 2", but that doesn't mean that whomever sexed it was accurate.

 

[JimM]

Usually with slow growers I get sexed females if at all possible. This is what I did with recently with B. smithi, B. emilia, and G. pulchripes.
Prices here are better than what you're quoting though.

Everything else has been slings recently. On that note, I had 4 P. ornata slings that all turned out to be male. Chances are slim on that happening, but can you imagine raising 4 smithi slings and the same thing happening? Something to think about.

Tough call on your part, but give the steep prices where you are, I'd be tempted to buy 3 slings and take my chances.

 

[BlackVenom]

If it's your goal to get a female B. smithi then just buy a sexed female. Save up some money and buy what you really want. Or just flip a coin and let that decide for you that's what I do.

 

[BrettG]

Our classifieds normally have great deals on smithi adults and juvies.

 

[canuck]

These are the prices I got from the classifieds, and are the cheapest I could find. Would be nice to be able to order from the USA lol

 

[BrettG]

These are the prices I got from the classifieds, and are the cheapest I could find. Would be nice to be able to order from the USA lol

ouch. $150 for a 2 inch female is nuts.Thats like adult female prices IMHO...Post up a WTB,and see what happens.

 

[Big_nito]

If you have time and patience, go for slings all the way. In my case, I love seeing my Ts grow up plus if you have multiple slings, you have a good chance of choosing a nice female and a nice male to be part of your collection or any breeding projects. The rest, you could sell them or trade up if you want. But again, it all boils down to TIME and PATIENCE...

 

[Amelia]

If you want a female, buy a female. If you want a 50/50 chance, buy one sling and wait for it to mature. If you want better odds buy a few slings. But if you only want one spider, buy the female or sell the rest of the slings once sexed.

 

[rockrox1]

I myself just bought slings hoping for a chance that one of them will be female. if your thinking of slow growers T, be patient and enjoy watching them grow.

 

[canuck]

Thanks for all the replies so far!

I am still pondering the smithi predicament.

As for the pulchra... I was thinking of buying 4 slings to ensure a female. There is clearly no guarantee, but again, a sexed female pulchra is just too much $$. The slings are not cheap either @ $40 each.

Does 4 sound good? lol I know JimM said he had that stroke of bad luck, getting all 4 males. Has anyone else bought 3 or 4 slings to end up with all males?

 

[xhexdx]

I haven't.

Went through 10 T. violaceus though, 6 ended up dying as they were growing up, and the 4 remaining were all female.

 

[Andrei]

Save money and buy a female. All these species have a slow growth rate.

 

[brian abrams]

Smithi female

I bought a 4" + female here in the Buffalo area from a friend for $90. Another friend of mine from Rockester is selling a 4" + Pulchra girl for $200. So, that sounds pretty high to me for a 2" female Smithi.

 

[barabootom]

For me, it would depend on the size of the slings. If you are talking 1/4in, I'd go with the sexed female. On the other hand, I purchased some 1 inch slings for $20 each a while back and they grew quickly to 3-4 inches. If the slings are reasonable in size, I'd go with the slings. Starting at 1/4 in with smithi is a slooow go.

 

[KoriTamashii]

It also really depends on how patient you are.

Do you WANT to wait for tiny slings to grow up, and throw in the likelihood that they may not be females?

Or do you want to go for what's likely a sure thing?

 

[canuck]

Hmmm... depends on the numbers I guess.

Say I got some Smithi spiderlings at about 1/2". Approximately how long would they take to get to about 3"? My house is usually 22C in the winter, and 24C in the summer, and I would feed the little guys all they would eat. If that makes much of a difference.

The sexed females I am considering are only 1.5" btw.

 

[barabootom]

For me, 1/2 in vs 1 1/2 inches isn't a lot for the price difference. I think I'd go with several 1/2 in. The time between the two can vary wildly, but I'd venture to guess from my experience with dozens of smithi slings, about 1 to 2 years to go from 1/2 in to 1 1/2 in.

 

[Leviticus]

Where exactly are you looking at purchasing the slings from??? I am assuming tarantulacanada based on the sexed slings 1.5 inch and the price am I correct? If so they do have an amazing accuracy rate and amazing reputation. Canada is tough because currently we only have two reputable dealers that have a good stock list. One of them is currently not very active either and hasn't updated the website in some time, nor has he answered my email I sent a few weeks ago(granted he is having a baby right away so that makes sense), so right now there is almost only one really active and reputable dealer.

 

[wonderfvl]

1+

If you have time and patience, go for slings.... But again, it all boils down to TIME and PATIENCE...

With B. smithi & G pulchra, you'll also need to enjoy being patient too. I bought slings, and several years later I'm beginning to have some really beautiful G. pulchra & B. smithi. I've not regretted it one minute. It's been a complete joy.