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).
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).