Roger Gan
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2020
- Messages
- 40
She just molted a month ago and is around 4.5 inches so what's the proper size for it to mate?
Great info, helpful.Spermatheca on their ~6" molt are not sclerotized yet, so anything below 6" I wouldn't even bother to try. Depending on how you are measuring it, 4.5" is roughly N6 (DLS fully stretched) or N7 (Legspan not fully stretched) only and not matured.
I don't necessarily agree with this however. In my experiences freshly matured females seem to be eager to drop sacs, in fact they are often the ones dropping phantom sacs. I have always had great success rates with young, but mature females.... especially with regards to fast growing species.And even if the spermatheca did sclerotized, breeding young females are more likely to fail, and if it did success, they tend to produce less eggs too.
Yes, I agree, getting viable sacs from old females is difficult and young adult females are often very receptive during pairing and more likely to proceed dropping sacs. I should have stated that's only my personal experience and clarify when I say young females I am referring to freshly matured once whose spermatheca just sclerotized. I've tried rushing it in the pass with some rarer species and most of those attempts failed.I don't necessarily agree with this however. In my experiences freshly matured females seem to be eager to drop sacs, in fact they are often the ones dropping phantom sacs. I have always had great success rates with young, but mature females....
Interesting point, and I think I'll have to agree too. Perhaps not exactly their growth rate, but their age and life span. Fast growing species tends to have shorter lifespans and thus older females in relative terms. I guess that's in some way "menopause" for spiders, though I am pretty sure there's no such thing hahah. But I'm quite sure there's a certain point they start to be less fertile, probably a few molts after reaching maximum size when their coloration starts to change (losing adult colors even when they're freshly molted).especially with regards to fast growing species.