- Joined
- Feb 25, 2007
- Messages
- 458
Back in February I bought a sub-adult male B. emilia for future breeding to some females I have. The person I bought him from wasn't sure if he had one or two more molts to go to mature. Since I got him he has been doing nothing but pigging out up until the other day when he ran away from the cricket to hide on top of his house. didn't think anything of it. Today I happened to pass by the spider shelves and noticed he was hanging out in the front part of the cage.. I saw a shiny reflection off one of his legs....huh.:? got the flash light and took a closer look... boxing gloves and hooks ! I shine the light into the back part of the cage where it's dark.. there is a molt laying there. It was like there was no pre-molt symptoms lol. I totally did not think he was gonna go for me this year as all my other emilia's molted out in April/May with my smithi's not far behind . I really didn't expect to have a chance at breeding the emilia's until next year - I had fully expected it to be the smithi's this year until the male molted and showed he wasn't ready lol.
Now, this will be my first time breeding tarantulas. I have 4 female emilias all recently molted so everything is good from that standpoint. 2 of the females are a little bit bigger than the other two so I figure the larger two would be the best candidates for pairing up to the male to start with and then later try with the slightly smaller females. I know I need to wait for the male to finish drying out and later wait for him to make a sperm web. Will he want to eat soon after that or would he just want to get down to business? How soon after a sperm web to introduce the females? and how long/often should he be introduced them? Once attempt a day, once a week or twice a week or something? Guess I also need to start feeding extra heavy on the females to fill them up so they ain't too hungry when the time for dating starts. How often should I introduce the male to each of the females to hedge bets on success?
After all the dating is done, do I immediately start cooling the females down or do I wait a while? Normally my room is kept around 80-85 F, how much of a drop do I need? 70's or 60's? How long does one cool before bringing back up and then after that how long before a sac is produced (if they produce any)? Any other conditions I need to worry about?
Any other tips or suggestions would be appreciated? I'm gonna be a nervous wreck for a while.
Now, this will be my first time breeding tarantulas. I have 4 female emilias all recently molted so everything is good from that standpoint. 2 of the females are a little bit bigger than the other two so I figure the larger two would be the best candidates for pairing up to the male to start with and then later try with the slightly smaller females. I know I need to wait for the male to finish drying out and later wait for him to make a sperm web. Will he want to eat soon after that or would he just want to get down to business? How soon after a sperm web to introduce the females? and how long/often should he be introduced them? Once attempt a day, once a week or twice a week or something? Guess I also need to start feeding extra heavy on the females to fill them up so they ain't too hungry when the time for dating starts. How often should I introduce the male to each of the females to hedge bets on success?
After all the dating is done, do I immediately start cooling the females down or do I wait a while? Normally my room is kept around 80-85 F, how much of a drop do I need? 70's or 60's? How long does one cool before bringing back up and then after that how long before a sac is produced (if they produce any)? Any other conditions I need to worry about?
Any other tips or suggestions would be appreciated? I'm gonna be a nervous wreck for a while.
