G pulchra first pairing. Seems successful??

[TechnoGeek]

View attachment 20230814_081709_1_1.mp4


Lemme apologize for the terrible lighting first. They seemed a bit stressed by bright light and so couldn't turn on the lights or use a flash.

The female was a complete bitch at first, she tried to attack the male, and I barely managed to save him. I attempted to introduce him again after a couple minutes and it went much better. Couldn't film the whole thing as I had to stay focused on separating them should things go south, but I think you can see a handout here.

I'll give the male a few weeks, maybe 6 to 8 weeks, to make another sperm web and then I will try to pair them one more time, and hopefully that'll ensure that I get an eggsac.

Any notes, tips, or advice are welcome!

 

[Wolfram1]

Very nice.

Did you see him swich pedipalps for emboli insertion? If you did he likely nailed at least one, if not both. It looked promising.

I would expect her to build an eggsack after the winter if you keep them at room temperature, or if you keep them warm, perhaps already in 3-4 months.

The only person i know that has bred them gives them about a 3 month winter period with about 15°C before warming them up again. Not sure if i agree with that, i think a less drastic decrease would be more appropriate, but it was sccessful so who am i to argue.

It probably works just as well without, perhaps we will hear from others about such successes.

I personally wouldn't try to pair them again, i did that with my Lasiodora parahybana and she drummed very briefly, luring him in, before clearly lunging at him to eat him, he was lucky she missed and took off. Nothing i could have done if she had nailed him.

Perhaps help him move on to another female? There are never enough G. pulchra around.

Good luck.

 

[TechnoGeek]

Very nice.

Did you see him swich pedipalps for emboli insertion? If you did he likely nailed at leat one, if not both. It looked promising.

I would expect her to build an eggsack after the winter if you keep them at room temperature, or if you keep them warm, perhaps already in 3-4 months.

The only person i know that has bred them gives them about a 3 month winter period with about 15°C before warming them up again. Not sure if i agree with that, i think a less drastic decreas would be more appropriate, but it was sccessful so who am i to argue.

It probably works just as well without, perhaps we will hear from others about such successes.

I personally wouldn't try to pair them again, i did that with my Lasiodora parahybana and she drummed very briefly, luring him in, before clearly lunging at him to eat him, he was lucky she missed and took off. Nothing i could have done if she had nailed him.

Perhaps help him move on to another female? There are never enough G. pulchra around.

Good luck.

Yeah L parahybana are crazy lol. I don't think these guys are as crazy but who knows.

I'll keep her at about 75 to 77F, not too warm but not cool neither. Should ensure I get a sac in 3 or 4 months.

Can't say for sure if he switched pedipalps, although it looked like he did, but black spiders in a dark room so not exactly very obvious.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

View attachment 452745


Lemme apologize for the terrible lighting first. They seemed a bit stressed by bright light and so couldn't turn on the lights or use a flash.

The female was a complete bitch at first, she tried to attack the male, and I barely managed to save him. I attempted to introduce him again after a couple minutes and it went much better. Couldn't film the whole thing as I had to stay focused on separating them should the go south, but I think you can see a handout here.

I'll give the male a few weeks, maybe 6 to 8 weeks, to make another sperm web and then I will try to pair them one more time, and hopefully that'll ensure that I get an eggsac.

Any notes, tips, or advice are welcome!

Dang males Got it rough , female Ts look so much stronger … good luck with breeding!!

 

[MariaLewisia]

You don't need to wait so long until you try again. A week or two should be enough for him to "reload". Be on the lookout for remains of the sperm web to know for sure.

Other than that, great job! I'm keeping my fingers crossed you get a sac!

 

[Wolfram1]

You don't need to wait so long until you try again. A week or two should be enough for him to "reload". Be on the lookout for remains of the sperm web to know for sure.

Other than that, great job! I'm keeping my fingers crossed you get a sac!

true, in retrospect i had waited too long, by the time i tried again she had already started to blow up with eggs.

That was on me.

 

[Matt Man]

wishing for a succesful sac

 

[TechnoGeek]

You don't need to wait so long until you try again. A week or two should be enough for him to "reload". Be on the lookout for remains of the sperm web to know for sure.

Other than that, great job! I'm keeping my fingers crossed you get a sac!

Thank you for the tip! I'll try again in 10 to 14 days! Meanwhile, I'll feed the female as much as she'll eat

 

[Liquifin]

It looks fine to me, although I can't be sure since the camera was shaky. But I think one pairing is good enough for me. Since he came out alive, Good job.

I'll keep her at about 75 to 77F, not too warm but not cool neither.

That's on the cooler side for me. I would try to maintain 77F+ after sometime after mating to the start the acclimation or conditioning of the female.

Should ensure I get a sac in 3 or 4 months.

I hate the notion and expectation of "X Amount" of months, etc. A female tarantula will drop an eggsac when she's ready. It could be 4 months or it could be years. Who knows? Females are the ones that know when the time is right, not us.

A week or two should be enough for him to "reload".

It would depend on when he's ready to make another sperm web. It's not always within a set time frame. Some males can go months before their next sperm web. Just be on the look out as what you stated and he should be ready to go again then. But one good insertion during pairing is enough in my opinion.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

View attachment 452745


Lemme apologize for the terrible lighting first. They seemed a bit stressed by bright light and so couldn't turn on the lights or use a flash.

The female was a complete bitch at first, she tried to attack the male, and I barely managed to save him. I attempted to introduce him again after a couple minutes and it went much better. Couldn't film the whole thing as I had to stay focused on separating them should things go south, but I think you can see a handout here.

I'll give the male a few weeks, maybe 6 to 8 weeks, to make another sperm web and then I will try to pair them one more time, and hopefully that'll ensure that I get an eggsac.

Any notes, tips, or advice are welcome!

The old myth of G. pulchra are difficult to breed is not entirely true. It's just difficult to get a sac or a fertile sac. This link had some interesting replies.

Breeding Grammostola pulchra

My 6.5" G. pulchra that molted two weeks ago is getting a boyfriend that just had his ultimate molt and made a sperm web. I've bred Grammostola before, but this is my first time breeding G. pulchra. Anyone have any advice regarding breeding G. pulchra? Someone told me the female will be optimal...

arachnoboards.com

 

[MariaLewisia]

It would depend on when he's ready to make another sperm web. It's not always within a set time frame. Some males can go months before their next sperm web. Just be on the look out as what you stated and he should be ready to go again then. But one good insertion during pairing is enough in my opinion.

That's very interesting, and very useful information, too! All my males have been very quick to make a new web after breeding. The ones who didn't I just assumed I had either missed or were older and done with it. Are the males of slower growing/longer lived species more likely to go longer between sperm webs? Or is that irrelevant?

 

[TechnoGeek]

That's on the cooler side for me. I would try to maintain 77F+ after sometime after mating to the start the acclimation or conditioning of the female.

I'll increase temperature to 83F then, in 2 weeks or so!

The old myth of G. pulchra are difficult to breed is not entirely true. It's just difficult to get a sac or a fertile sac. This link had some interesting replies.

The females are notorious for being jerks to males and this one wasn't very different. At first she tried to kill him which really pissed me off cause the day before I'd tried feeding her 3 or 4 different things and she showed no interest.. I was really irked with her lol.

Anyways second time was the charm. I will increase temperature as Maria and liquifin suggested and hopefully that'll get me a fertile eggsac.

Are the males of slower growing/longer lived species more likely to go longer between sperm webs? Or is that irrelevant?

This male made a sperm web within the first month after molting, but I still waited 4 or 5 weeks to ensure that the female is ready (she'd molted only a day before him lol).

 

[Arachnophobphile]

I'll increase temperature to 83F then, in 2 weeks or so!


The females are notorious for being jerks to males and this one wasn't very different. At first she tried to kill him which really pissed me off cause the day before I'd tried feeding her 3 or 4 different things and she showed no interest.. I was really irked with her lol.

Anyways second time was the charm. I will increase temperature as Maria and liquifin suggested and hopefully that'll get me a fertile eggsac.


This male made a sperm web within the first month after molting, but I still waited 4 or 5 weeks to ensure that the female is ready (she'd molted only a day before him lol).

I hope you get a fertile eggsac. G. pulchra is always high in demand. I hope that link I gave helped even if just a little.

 

[TechnoGeek]

G pulchra pairing - take 2

Aight here's the video:

20230824_141535_1.mp4

drive.google.com

Dropbox Link:

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Couldn't upload it to the forum directly, apparently it's too big.

Anyways, I think you can see successful copulation this time. They were a bit more relaxed so I could use the flash briefly. The female was very receptive this time and didn't attempt to murder him, not even after pairing.

This should conclude it, I will now wait 2 days and then raise the female's enclosure temp to 82F. Wish me luck!

PS: I didn't see a sperm web but I knew the male made one cause he had a lot of dirt on his cephalothorax and abdomen, which indicated that he must've crawled upside down for a second

 

[MariaLewisia]

Nice insertion there at the end! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.