Gotta Go Fast: T.gigas Breeding

awiec

Arachnoprince
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
1,325
While I have sent off males and bred wild spiders, I am finally getting my feet wet with some proper breeding of tarantulas.

Why T.gigas?
This is the second spider I've ever bought and currently the one I've had the longest thus far, these don't live super long so I figured I should hop to it. Also she has made several phantom sacs so I can be assured that she is indeed sexually mature and after several molts of not changing size, I am sure she is at max size. I have been prepping to breed her for quite some time as about a year ago I traded a juvenile male GBB for 5 T.gigas slings to hopefully get a male or two out of them. I was quite fortuitous that the male matured and she molted within the same week. I also have several outlets to be able to get rid of the slings as they can have up to 200 slings per sac but they sit around the $20-30 mark so I can get some cash to help offset the maintenance of my animals.

What the %&* is a T.gigas?
Well T.gigas is the largest species (~5 inches) in the genus Tapinauchenius which are new world arboreal tarantulas and are considered the fastest genus of tarantulas. T.gigas in particular is more defensive but as this genus does not have urticating hairs, they do prefer to run away. The genus as a whole are smallish metallic looking spiders of varying browns and blues except for the bushy bright orange T.gigas. Despite being arboreal, they will use sub to make very large web, dirt and cork complexes and are much easier to deal with if they are given these conditions. I would put this genus as a nice stepping stone between NW and OW as they are fast, bolt happy but their venom is not particularly strong.

What have I done to prepare?
The female has been given about 5 crickets per week to get her rather plump to hopefully convince her to not eat the male. The male has been fed a few times and I have put some of the female's webbing in his cage earlier today to hopefully get him in the mood as I have not seen any signs of a sperm web. Since his cage is a 32 oz deli cup I can easily place it in her cage to hopefully allow him to come out or I will encourage him if need be. I have catch cups, paint brushes etc to save him when the deed is done.

I plan to introduce them tonight or perhaps tomorrow depending on how cooperative the animals are being. If the male does well and survives, I will probably throw him up on here along with some of his sisters (really don't need 5 female T.gigas).
 

Chris LXXIX

ArachnoGod
Joined
Dec 25, 2014
Messages
5,845
I love your passion for T.gigas and everything that belongs and exist around those in Tapinauchenius :-s

Good luck and btw praise the Goddess!
 

awiec

Arachnoprince
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
1,325
I love your passion for T.gigas and everything that belongs and exist around those in Tapinauchenius :-s

Good luck and btw praise the Goddess!
Thank you, I just saw my little P.muticus today so she must have sensed your praise
 

CWilson1351

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 23, 2017
Messages
454
How about some photos of your T. gigas? I'm definitely intrigued after reading the OP.

EDIT: I decided to try looking them up myself. Those are very nice looking :) LPS actually had one but it was labeled as "Orange tree spider" Best of luck on the breeding!
 
Last edited:

awiec

Arachnoprince
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
1,325
How about some photos of your T. gigas? I'm definitely intrigued after reading the OP.
My phone does not take good pictures of the spiders for some reason, I'll see if I can get her to come out while I have my proper camera ready.
 

CWilson1351

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 23, 2017
Messages
454
My phone does not take good pictures of the spiders for some reason, I'll see if I can get her to come out while I have my proper camera ready.
Looks my edit was a tad late. When possible I'd still like seeing yours though lol Don't go out of your way on my account though :)
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
While I have sent off males and bred wild spiders, I am finally getting my feet wet with some proper breeding of tarantulas.

Why T.gigas?
This is the second spider I've ever bought and currently the one I've had the longest thus far, these don't live super long so I figured I should hop to it. Also she has made several phantom sacs so I can be assured that she is indeed sexually mature and after several molts of not changing size, I am sure she is at max size. I have been prepping to breed her for quite some time as about a year ago I traded a juvenile male GBB for 5 T.gigas slings to hopefully get a male or two out of them. I was quite fortuitous that the male matured and she molted within the same week. I also have several outlets to be able to get rid of the slings as they can have up to 200 slings per sac but they sit around the $20-30 mark so I can get some cash to help offset the maintenance of my animals.

What the %&* is a T.gigas?
Well T.gigas is the largest species (~5 inches) in the genus Tapinauchenius which are new world arboreal tarantulas and are considered the fastest genus of tarantulas. T.gigas in particular is more defensive but as this genus does not have urticating hairs, they do prefer to run away. The genus as a whole are smallish metallic looking spiders of varying browns and blues except for the bushy bright orange T.gigas. Despite being arboreal, they will use sub to make very large web, dirt and cork complexes and are much easier to deal with if they are given these conditions. I would put this genus as a nice stepping stone between NW and OW as they are fast, bolt happy but their venom is not particularly strong.

What have I done to prepare?
The female has been given about 5 crickets per week to get her rather plump to hopefully convince her to not eat the male. The male has been fed a few times and I have put some of the female's webbing in his cage earlier today to hopefully get him in the mood as I have not seen any signs of a sperm web. Since his cage is a 32 oz deli cup I can easily place it in her cage to hopefully allow him to come out or I will encourage him if need be. I have catch cups, paint brushes etc to save him when the deed is done.

I plan to introduce them tonight or perhaps tomorrow depending on how cooperative the animals are being. If the male does well and survives, I will probably throw him up on here along with some of his sisters (really don't need 5 female T.gigas).

I'd be very interested in seeing pics of their setup. The information you provided was quite interesting. I almost bought one several years ago, but turned to Psalmo instead for a bit. God speed on the breeding!
 

Hellblazer

Arachnosquire
Joined
May 13, 2016
Messages
134
Good luck! I just bought my first one of these at a reptile show today.
 

awiec

Arachnoprince
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
1,325
Unfortunatly she ate him, she tried to attack him, which he got away from and while I was in the process of coaxing him into a cup/my arm she activity chased him and nabbed him. Poor guy was still trying to get her with his pedipalp with his carapace punctured.

I feel what went wrong here is that he really didn't drum and he was actively webbing near her hide so it may have got her geared up for an intruder. I may post an ad looking for another male but I'm not one to send males to their deaths if the female doesn't want to cooperate.
 

Trenor

Arachnoprince
Joined
Jan 28, 2016
Messages
1,896
Sorry to hear it didn't go well. Better luck next time.
 

Jeff23

Arachnolord
Joined
Jul 27, 2016
Messages
620
I'm sorry the results didn't turn out better for you. Best of luck on the next attempt. Thanks for sharing a few pieces of missing information for me on your OP. I am in love with the whole Tapinauchenius genus and have quite a few of them. I may eventually have a few MM's available for someone. I bought five slings a while back, but don't currently have an adult female.

I am not sure what species I will breed eventually, but I am not at this level yet. I definitely want to breed an arboreal T as my first when it happens, based on smaller egg sac and short term cohabit normally being easier. If two arboreal T enclosures are placed next to each other, can they detect each other through the enclosure walls (MM taps after detecting the ready female)? I've seen it mentioned that arboreal T's are supposedly more receptive to a live-in mate for a time period so I guess the key is to get her to recognize his presence. I am keeping most of my larger juvenile/adults in Sterilite containers except for a few presentation ones so I guess most of mine would climb over the top to enter the female's enclosure. I also have some of Jamie's enclosures where the door is on the side.

It seems like with this species there is no reaction time because they are too fast to easily halt the female from going after the male if it goes wrong. I would love to see more opinions / knowledge from experts on this area for discussion (especially if someone has bred T. gigas).
 

awiec

Arachnoprince
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
1,325
I'm sorry the results didn't turn out better for you. Best of luck on the next attempt. Thanks for sharing a few pieces of missing information for me on your OP. I am in love with the whole Tapinauchenius genus and have quite a few of them. I may eventually have a few MM's available for someone. I bought five slings a while back, but don't currently have an adult female.

I am not sure what species I will breed eventually, but I am not at this level yet. I definitely want to breed an arboreal T as my first when it happens, based on smaller egg sac and short term cohabit normally being easier. If two arboreal T enclosures are placed next to each other, can they detect each other through the enclosure walls (MM taps after detecting the ready female)? I've seen it mentioned that arboreal T's are supposedly more receptive to a live-in mate for a time period so I guess the key is to get her to recognize his presence. I am keeping most of my larger juvenile/adults in Sterilite containers except for a few presentation ones so I guess most of mine would climb over the top to enter the female's enclosure. I also have some of Jamie's enclosures where the door is on the side.

It seems like with this species there is no reaction time because they are too fast to easily halt the female from going after the male if it goes wrong. I would love to see more opinions / knowledge from experts on this area for discussion (especially if someone has bred T. gigas).
I did actually put their containers near each other to try to get them to notice each other, but neither seemed to notice. From what I understand this species pairs very fast. I knew by how she was walking that she was going to go after him. I think if would have actually drummed then she may have beem more receptive instead of him webbing things.
 

awiec

Arachnoprince
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
1,325
Going to try for a round two, had a male mature last night...hopefully she doesn't eat this one
 

korg

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 24, 2013
Messages
596
Wishing you very good luck... make sure to have your proper camera ready! I'd love to see some photos of the spiders involved here.
 

awiec

Arachnoprince
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
1,325
Wishing you very good luck... make sure to have your proper camera ready! I'd love to see some photos of the spiders involved here.
I actually took pictures last time, just got them off my camera:

Here was the unfortunate male
Mature Male.JPG

Here is the man eater herself: Female.JPG
 
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