How successful have you been at getting your desired sex(es)?

[moonstarfc]

So I generally only purchase sexed female Ts. I don't have anything against males, but I get extremely upset whenever any of my pets die so I'd like to prolong that as long as possible.

Despite that, there are some species I've been interested in keeping but haven't seen any sexed females for sale. I had wanted a female G. pulchra since I started this hobby, and finally I located a female someone on this website had for sale. But less than a week after I received her, she unfortunately died

I ended up then buying 3 G. pulchra slings, and I'm hoping that's enough to get a female, but sometimes I wonder if I should get a 4th? Just in case one dies or if I get extremely unlucky. How many slings do you generally buy when trying to get a particular sex? And have you been successful in getting what you were hoping for?

 

[nicodimus22]

15 males
9 unknown
19 females (a few were purchased already sexed)

So, if you take out the females I bought sexed, and look at only the slings I raised, I'm right around 50/50.

 

[moonstarfc]

15 males
9 unknown
19 females (a few were purchased already sexed)

So, if you take out the females I bought sexed, and look at only the slings I raised, I'm right around 50/50.

Do you buy a certain number of slings of a species to raise the chances of getting a female? If so, how many?

 

[nicodimus22]

Do you buy a certain number of slings of a species to raise the chances of getting a female? If so, how many?

Not really. I know some people buy like 5 or 10 to make sure they get a female, but I don't want to house that many of the same species, when that shelf space could be used for more variety. I usually just buy one or two, and see what happens.

 

[Liquifin]

Do you buy a certain number of slings of a species to raise the chances of getting a female? If so, how many?

Yes, this is me. As an T. enthusiasts and part time breeder. I buy many specimens of the same species. I always buy 2-5 of the same species, unless I buy a sexed female or get a discount to buy one T.

But from what I can say, I really don't care about my odds. If it's a male then look at the bright side, he's going to be a ladies man and can be sold, loan, or traded easily (Excluding LP's). No such thing as a worthless male if he is reproductive enough to breed. With around 82-ish? amount of T.'s here is my list
16 females (confirmed)
8 males (confirmed)
54 Unsexed (Because I'm to lazy to get molts and college essays are terrible ), well I know. Getting molts is hard because college and other issues keep me from getting molts. And when I do get the molts it's either destroyed or already disintegrated into pieces.

The only way to counter this and get them sexed with a good molt is to make sure I keep track of their molt cycles, that way I can estimate when it's best to prepare to get a molt before hand, so it's not in terrible conditions. But even then, college essays keep me up at night so I can't stay and watch them molt. So I guess chance is the best way to get a good sexed molt LOL.

Edit: forgot to mention some others, but whatever. Too lazy to finish counting

 

[FrDoc]

100%! If I care about the sex, I get off my wallet and buy the one I want. If I buy a sling, I don’t care. If one dies, I buy another. This method alleviates any worries over the matter. It probably helps that I don’t particularly care if a spider, scorpion, etc., dies. I actually get excited about freed up room for another.

 

[CommanderBacon]

I've been lucky in so far as anything I've gotten that has grown larger than 2" has been confirmed as female with the exception of one penultimate male A. geniculata a friend bought off of Craigslist unsexed for me as a birthday present.

Since I really enjoy watching tiny slings grow, that does mean that I only have four confirmed females so far, however. If the sex was extremely important to me, I'd buy more than one or buy a confirmed female, but I haven't had strong feelings one way or the other.

Honestly, a B. albo freebie my friend gave me as a 1" sling a few years ago turned out to be female, and I was kind of disappointed, because it was always skittish, kicky, and defensive, but I hope she calms down with time.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I usually just buy one sling at a time, if I get a female then happy days, if not and I enjoyed keeping the species then I sell the male off to a breeder once he matures and then get either another sling or a sexed female to replace him (I'd rather he gets to go and dip his dick-fingers or die trying than just sit in my room and wither).

That said, I have had pretty good luck with slings turning out to be female (at least 20 confirmed females and maybe around 10 or so males IIRC), not so much with unsexed juveniles (only 2 females compared to half a dozen males).

I seem to have iffy luck buying multiples of a species though, had 2 C. elegans escape, 1 of 2 C. leetzi slings die, and 1 of 3 A. variegata slings die.

 

[mack1855]

or if I get extremely unlucky

Don't get this.At all....We all get upset at the the death of any animal we keep,and
care for.And when its the keepers negligence,its compounded.But keeping,and appreciating
male T,s is just as important as keeping females.And a male living its natural life span
in our care,is just as important as getting females.One cant go without the other.
I get a male,im good,i get a female,im good.
I get a heathy male,that eats and thrives,its all good.

Give me your tired,your poor,...your male T,s.It says so on the Statue Of liberty.I think?

 

[moonstarfc]

Not really. I know some people buy like 5 or 10 to make sure they get a female, but I don't want to house that many of the same species, when that shelf space could be used for more variety. I usually just buy one or two, and see what happens.

The space is definitely a concern too, not to mention ending up with more Ts than I can take care of!

Yes, this is me. As an T. enthusiasts and part time breeder. I buy many specimens of the same species. I always buy 2-5 of the same species, unless I buy a sexed female or get a discount to buy one T.

But from what I can say, I really don't care about my odds. If it's a male then look at the bright side, he's going to be a ladies man and can be sold, loan, or traded easily (Excluding LP's). No such thing as a worthless male if he is reproductive enough to breed. With around 82-ish? amount of T.'s here is my list
16 females (confirmed)
8 males (confirmed)
54 Unsexed (Because I'm to lazy to get molts and college essays are terrible ), well I know. Getting molts is hard because college and other issues keep me from getting molts. And when I do get the molts it's either destroyed or already disintegrated into pieces.

The only to counter this and get them sexed with a good molt is to make sure I keep track of their molt cycles, that way I can estimate when it's best to prepare to get a molt before hand, so it's not in terrible conditions. But even then, college essays keep me up at night so I can't stay and watch them molt. So I guess chance is the best way to get a good sexed molt LOL.

Edit: forgot to mention some others, but whatever. Too lazy to finish counting

Well I guess not being able to sex them means you can't get too disappointed yet. I figure I'll probably be able to find someone who wants male pulchras, so I guess that's my backup plan.

 

[Liquifin]

Well I guess not being able to sex them means you can't get too disappointed yet.

You're funny. How many males do you think I already went through ??? Getting disappointed is understandable, but you can't always get what you want. Trust me, I've already been through a number of males already.

 

[moonstarfc]

100%! If I care about the sex, I get off my wallet and buy the one I want. If I buy a sling, I don’t care. If one dies, I buy another. This method alleviates any worries over the matter. It probably helps that I don’t particularly care if a spider, scorpion, etc., dies. I actually get excited about freed up room for another.

I guess that's one way to look at it, lucky you.

I've been lucky in so far as anything I've gotten that has grown larger than 2" has been confirmed as female with the exception of one penultimate male A. geniculata a friend bought off of Craigslist unsexed for me as a birthday present.

Since I really enjoy watching tiny slings grow, that does mean that I only have four confirmed females so far, however. If the sex was extremely important to me, I'd buy more than one or buy a confirmed female, but I haven't had strong feelings one way or the other.

Honestly, a B. albo freebie my friend gave me as a 1" sling a few years ago turned out to be female, and I was kind of disappointed, because it was always skittish, kicky, and defensive, but I hope she calms down with time.

That's really lucky. Your B. albo will probably calm down, I think it's probably normal for slings as all 3 of my pulchras are pretty defensive and skittish, despite the species having a reputation for being calm.

 

[mack1855]

No such thing as a worthless male if he is reproductive enough to breed.

.Thanks for this.

 

[moonstarfc]

I usually just buy one sling at a time, if I get a female then happy days, if not and I enjoyed keeping the species then I sell the male off to a breeder once he matures and then get either another sling or a sexed female to replace him (I'd rather he gets to go and dip his dick-fingers or die trying than just sit in my room and wither).

That said, I have had pretty good luck with slings turning out to be female (at least 20 confirmed females and maybe around 10 or so males IIRC), not so much with unsexed juveniles (only 2 females compared to half a dozen males).

I seem to have iffy luck buying multiples of a species though, had 2 C. elegans escape, 1 of 2 C. leetzi slings die, and 1 of 3 A. variegata slings die.

That is really lucky. Have you found it pretty easy to find breeders that were interested taking in your males? I think I'll take that route if I end up with any males out of my slings.

Don't get this.At all....We all get upset at the the death of any animal we keep,and
care for.And when its the keepers negligence,its compounded.But keeping,and appreciating
male T,s is just as important as keeping females.And a male living its natural life span
in our care,is just as important as getting females.One cant go without the other.
I get a male,im good,i get a female,im good.
I get a heathy male,that eats and thrives,its all good.

Give me your tired,your poor,...your male T,s.It says so on the Statue Of liberty.I think?

I didn't mean to sound so negative about males, moreso negative about myself since I know that I get extremely attached to my pets, and therefore I have an extreme emotional response when one dies, that's all. One of the reasons I got interested in tarantulas in the first place is because I found out that they can live a long time.

You're funny. How many males do you think I already went through ??? Getting disappointed is understandable, but you can't always get what you want. Trust me, I've already been through a number of males already.

Okay then, when you do get the males, do you usually try to breed them, or send them to someone else?

 

[Tenebrarius]

Do you buy a certain number of slings of a species to raise the chances of getting a female? If so, how many?

87.5% is your current probability for a female.

here:

1-((.5)^n); where n is in the number of unsexed Ts

there will always only be one scenario where you will get all males.


you are welcome.

 

[Liquifin]

Okay then, when you do get the males, do you usually try to breed them, or send them to someone else?

I normally keep some of my males if I have future breeding projects. I sold most of my other males at penultimate or as MM that I don't breed. When it comes to pokies, I usually sell them off at penultimate (unless i'm too lazy), because they become super leggy. And I don't want to deal with larger leggier pokies, like my rufilata. I sold him at penultimate close to 7''. I only buy multiple specimens for females/breeding. I don't see any other reason as to waste more money and space for multiple specimens of the same species unless for future breeding or wanting to get better chances on females.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Have you found it pretty easy to find breeders that were interested taking in your males?

Pretty easy, I just post in the Tarantula groups on FB and they usually get snapped up pretty quickly, unless you have something really rare then you shouldn't have a problem finding a buyer.

 

[nicodimus22]

No such thing as a worthless male if he is reproductive enough to breed.

Wish I could have put this on my online dating profile when I was a younger single man.

 

[draconisj4]

I've only bought one confirmed female, out of the 43 other Ts all bought as unsexed slings so far I have 7 confirmed and 4 suspect males, 5 confirmed and 2 suspect females. The rest either hoard their molts or are just too small to tell yet.

 

[Phia]

I am lucky enough to have a pretty good success rate with slings coming out as female. The trick I was taught by an eccentric old geezer was to pick the smallest (healthy looking one) in the batch, lol. Females tend to mature slower he said. Most of the males I have I got at a show where there was only one available of the species ...... or when I got two or three tiny 1/4" babies.

IDK though as I advance in this hobby I am getting more and more into just buying confirmed females outright. Less stress. Also, I like to name my T so then I can give them a proper name.