Can we make the breed bigger?

Trey

Arachnoknight
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Oct 20, 2005
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Well I was wondering if there is a way of making the standard size of spiders bigger? I don't mean like goliath bigger but a little bigger. I'll tell ya what im talking about. A few years ago I was looking at getting a doberman but I wanted a one from a real nice blood line. I contacted someone who only deals with dobies and rotts but only from german lines. They said that their adult males are usually around 135-145 lbs. I asked them how they got them to be so big and the guy said german blood lines are always going to be bigger than the US lines because where in US 2 neighbors that have the same breed can breed their dogs they can't in germany. He said that in germany you have to go through a 3 step process of evaluating the dogs before you can get a breeding permit. The only reason I was wondering if this would work is when I look at my mature male GBB he isn't as big as my immature male. Please do not flame I was just wondering because it would be nice to up the size (in a healthy way) in our favorite T's.
 

speedreader

Arachnobaron
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May 14, 2005
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Probably yes, with concerted effort. Since spider breed pretty quickly, it's possible to achieve visible results within a decade or two. However, that would require a pool of larger than average specimens.

Interestingly enough, the regular crickets sold in US were bred this way from some Afghani terrorist crickets :cool: .
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
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Well there is a big difference between dogs and Ts, but I guess to some extent it could be possible. Though I still think what I said in a similar thread, is it'll probably have to be an evolutionary thing, with several matings and several years. Not an instant thing.
 

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
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Hmmm I Dont know.

I dont think so, only because Ts are on a timer. You can stave off maturity by feeding less and cooling temps but eventually they are going to mature even if you dont want them to.
I think the difference between sizes of males is diet and the ammount of food fed to the male from molt to molt.

Ts have their limit to growing and I read a bunch of places that its because once they hit a certain point the book lungs cant filter enough oxygen to continue growing. So there is a natural cap to the growth of a T due to the oxygen level on earth.
 

Trey

Arachnoknight
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Well another thing is I hear about people feeding various T's (GBB's) like 7-10 at a time. Now I don't know how their doing it but my girl is healthy and she will only grab about 3-4 and discard the rest. She gets feed about once a week, twice a week now while breeding.
 

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
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Most people that do that just do it to watch the onslaught, myself included. Its not for any practical reason. But right after a molt ill wait longer then normal sometimes just so I can toss in a few prey and watch them all get hunted down to the last one. Other then that first feeding I dont do that. Its great to watch though.
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
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Well another thing is I hear about people feeding various T's (GBB's) like 7-10 at a time. Now I don't know how their doing it but my girl is healthy and she will only grab about 3-4 and discard the rest. She gets feed about once a week, twice a week now while breeding.
I think it's on the individual there. Like some people will eat alot of food, and others won't.
 

Alice

Arachnoangel
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Sep 29, 2006
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size is a matter of food AND genetics.

so yes, i think it is possible increase the average size of a species in the hobby by selective breeding. this would however mean a lot of trial and error, as genetics is a bit unpredictable at times (phenotype, the thing you see not neccessarily shows all about the genotype, so you may end up with things you didn't expect).

you would need a large breeding stock of bigger than avarage specimen to start out with, and it would certainly take several decades. also, there would be a limit to attainable size (booklungs etc.).

on another note: it's true, in germany you cannot just walk over to you neighbour and breed your dog. well, actually you can, but than you would not be able to get papers for the pups saying they are pure blood rottweils or whatever. those without papers obviously sell at far lower prices, as with a dog with papers, you can be sure that its parents both fullfilled the required breed standarts.
 
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