My baby is own his way

[rknralf]

Well, today I am sad.
I sent my mature male A. geniculata out for breeding. I've had Erik for almost a year and he has been a great tarantula. Even at his mature size 7 inches plus, he was gentle and allowed me to pick him up and hold him. Fairly uncommon for a giant white knee. (My other male (Sam) has a bad temperment and I've not been able to hold him sine he was 1.5 inches. (He's now 5 inches)
I'm going to miss Erik terribly!
I hope he is successful in breeding and that his gentle personality will be propagated to his offspring.
Maybe I'll feel better tomorrow when I know he made it okay.
By the way, thanks for all your help on packing information.
Take care,
Ralph
P.S. I'll keep you posted on the breeding effort.

 

[Immortal_sin]

I know how you feel Ralph.
I sent out 3 of my mature males last month...one of them has already been munched, too.
I hope it was worth it, and we get an eggsac.
I am also bummed, I just sexed my L parahybana as male with this last molt as well. I think he'll be ultimate by next molt, as he's over 7" now.
That means I need to replace some expensive spiders (at that size anyway) if we don't get babies.
Good luck to Erik!

 

[kosh]

im still debating on whether or not to pimp out my rosehair....i have had him about 8 or 9 months and he was about 4" when i got him he moulted in june to about 5 - 5 1/4"...i will probably just let him go unbred as i dont know what i'd do with all the babies if he was successful....
good luck to ya rknralf!

 

[rknralf]

Thanks for your well wishes.
I am tracking the package through Airborne Express and should have a confirmed delivery by Noon P.S.T. I'll keep you all posted.
It was hard sending him out because he is one of my favorites.

I've also got 3 other confirmed males, a B. smithi, a G. pulchra, and another A. geniculata. I figure over the next year all three of them will also be on their way unless I can locate mature females for purchase (Not an easy or inexpensive task).

Holley, did you mention you had a shipping account with Airborne Express? If so, did you have to do anything special to get it? (i.e. have a business license) I'm thinking with the males I will be sending out and the possibility of spiderlings in the future it might be a good idea to get an account. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Rookie]

Handling

rknralf,
Will your male G.Pulchra allow you to handle him? If so, is he gentle with you? Anyone else wanna tell me about how patient/impatient G.Pulchras are with handling?
Sorry you had to send out your stud, it must be hard to let go of a T you've gotten so attached to.
Thanks,
Paul

 

[rknralf]

Paul,
My G. pulchra is perhaps the gentlest tarantula I have ever had. He doesn't even flick hairs. I think this is my favorite species and I would highly recommend them.
When I found out mine was a male, I purchased a second one hoping for a female. The second one is .5 inch and eats like a pig. I probably won't be able to sex that one for another year though as they grow quite slowly.
Ralph

 

[rknralf]

He made it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just got off the phone with Darrin and he opened the package while we talked! Erik made it all the way to Arizona just fine!
I'm very excited as this is my first attempt at packing a tarantula (By the way thanks all for the advice) and secondly, he will get to chance to mate!
Now I just have to wait and hope he does what God intended!
Thanks for letting me ramble and thanks for all the advice!
Take care,
Ralph

 

[Tarantula Lover]

hey

congrats!!

 

[Lycanthrope]

Congrats man. i know how you feel, i recently shipped out my
Cyriopagopus paganus to John Hoke. It was such a relief to hear he got there safely. Now im waiting for news on the breeding. I hope he didnt get munched:?

 

[Immortal_sin]

Ralph,
sorry for not responding earlier, I haven't been home.
For the Airborne account, I just signed up over the net. I signed up under my business name, but I don't know if that gives me better rates...I doubt it. I think they go by how many packages you ship per month. All I know is I get a much better rate than I did before I signed up!

 

[Joy]

Re: Handling

Congratulations on the safe arrival of your male, Ralph!

Originally posted by Rookie
rknralf,
Will your male G.Pulchra allow you to handle him? If so, is he gentle with you? Anyone else wanna tell me about how patient/impatient G.Pulchras are with handling?

Paul, I would agree that there are few better handling tarantulas than these. They don't even flick hairs IME, let alone attempt to bite.

(This gives me an excuse to post another picture of one of my spiders! I'm as bad as any grandmother, LOL)

Joy

 

[ArachnoJoost]

Keep those pics comin'!!! I love 'em