P.Murinus breeding information

fearcrazy8

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 25, 2009
Messages
26
I'm going to start a breeding project with my P.Murinus who is hopefully female. But a bunch of questions started popping into my head, questions I can't answer. So I'm looking for a bit of help from anyone who has experience breeding this species.

How difficult is this species to breed?
Do they require any type of pre mating changes? (IE: GBB's needing their burrow flooded before mating.)
How many eggs are typically produced?
What size does my (hopefully) female have to be to breed? Her last molt was 4.5".
And the most important question of all. Is this really a female? Here is the link to a picture in the gallery: http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/gallery/showimage.php?i=18578&c=10

Thanks in advance for answering my questions.
 

skippy

Arachnoangel
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Jan 6, 2009
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926
not very
nope
100-200
she sounds big enough to me
definitely looks like:D

any other questions?
 

fearcrazy8

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 25, 2009
Messages
26
Nope, no more questions. You pretty much summed it up. Thanks a lot. Waiting for a few more people to tell me it's female before I go out and purchase a male or advertise a 50/50, just to be sure. I've got 3 people saying female, 0 saying male. Once I get to 5 people saying female, I'll start looking for a male.
 

skippy

Arachnoangel
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i wouldn't bother waiting, the spermatheca is very prominent and looks darkened to me, i'd say she's ready to go. how long since her last molt?
 

skippy

Arachnoangel
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soon as she starts eating, fatten her up and then pair her up. it's the perfect time:D
 

skippy

Arachnoangel
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shouldn't be too much, i would just start scouring the local pet stores and see if you can spot one. there's a couple good shops in san diego if i recall correctly and if you're not that far south, there may be some in LA too(i try to avoid LA so i don't really know:})
 

Poxicator

Arachnobaron
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Nov 16, 2007
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354
be prepared for the double clutch

I've never mananged 200 from a sac, but quite often I don't count exact numbers. I have a sac at mo plus slings from the 2nd female. Easy to breed, its just getting them off mum thats the problem :)
 

fearcrazy8

Arachnopeon
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Oct 25, 2009
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I'll probably pull the sac at 20-25 days so I don't have to chase the babies around and risk getting tagged by the mom.
 

Poxicator

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
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Nov 16, 2007
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354
personally I'd leave it for 30+ days, they won't spread out as nymphs anyway.
 

AmbushArachnids

Arachnoculturist
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Jan 30, 2010
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This isnt in the report but it should be. :razz:
paired june 19th 2010 fluffy and zena paired 5 times over 3-4 weeks

zena layed a sac on 3:02am 7/25/2010
Pullled and incubated the eggs 7/30/2010
Eggs with legs 8/4/2010
1st instar 8/11/10
2nd instar 8/28/10
108 babies

It was very easy to breed my girl. It doesnt really get much easier IMO.
They have been known to double clutch! :) They make hammock style egg sacks so there is no turning the eggs. She really cant mess it up unless she eats them.
 

fearcrazy8

Arachnopeon
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Oct 25, 2009
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I'm getting mixed information on when to pull the sac. Some say 5 days, others say 30+. I plan on building a incubator, like the ones seen in Robc's tutorial. Not sure if that changes anything. When to pull the sac, is coming across to me as not having any wrong answers. Seems more like a personal preference that no one person can answer.
 

AmbushArachnids

Arachnoculturist
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IMO its best to pull them right before they become 2nd instar. Its the most natural way besides hatching them with mommy. The sac protects them from outside contaminents. But if the sac may be going bad then pulling it early allows you to separate them from the good ones. Some 1st instar will snack on there healthy brothers also. So giving them space is key in the incubator. So it has its benefits and downfalls. The sac is pretty much a wall of defense but one bad egg will start to spoil the bunch. I think most will agree whatever you do make sure everything is sterilized completly. Tools, Incubator, hands. Its like surgery. Keep in mind some Ts take longer to turn into post embryo, 1st instar and second. P. murinus is rather fast developing.
 
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Poxicator

Arachnobaron
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Are you suggesting that you pulled the sac after 5 days? and that 8 days after that you had elws?, a week following you had 1st instar? That timeframe doesn't sit happily with my experience. How high was your temperature?

I've had 5 sacs of these, a 6th Im waiting on. Ive left each one with mum, on a dry substrate with perhaps 1 or 2 substrate waterings during the entire process. Each sac Ive left with mum and from one of last years sacs I kept a community going, gradually depleting till 7 remained after just over 1 year.

You'll find there's more than 1 way of doing anything but I certainly wouldn't advice against removing a sac after only 5 days. Just my opinion.
 

AmbushArachnids

Arachnoculturist
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Are you suggesting that you pulled the sac after 5 days? and that 8 days after that you had elws?, a week following you had 1st instar? That timeframe doesn't sit happily with my experience. How high was your temperature?

I've had 5 sacs of these, a 6th Im waiting on. Ive left each one with mum, on a dry substrate with perhaps 1 or 2 substrate waterings during the entire process. Each sac Ive left with mum and from one of last years sacs I kept a community going, gradually depleting till 7 remained after just over 1 year.

You'll find there's more than 1 way of doing anything but I certainly wouldn't advice against removing a sac after only 5 days. Just my opinion.
I decided to pull the sac and incubate it. All my records are completly accurate. I have dated photos of the progress. I incubated the sac because i read in the TKG people have pulled it successfully after 2 days with B. smithi. If i had to do it over again i would leave it with the mother until they were first instar. I chose to do this so i could see what stages they developed. I put the sac in a coffee filter suspended over water in my climate control chamber. 87 deg 75% humidity. Of course the humidity was higher in the container because i reduced ventalation and they were over water. Check the calender and my dates. EWL at 10 days to be exact. :D

I never recomended to the OP he should pull it on the the 5th day. I actually advised him to wait until they were a couple days out from 2nd instar. I just stated what i did. What i did worked very well. But i had complete control over the climate. If he does decide to pull it and incubate the eggs its very important to make sure everything is clean to prevent them from spoiling or being attacked by mites. That includes pulling the exvium they shed.

If you like i can email you photos that have the birthdate in the properties of my photos.
 
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Poxicator

Arachnobaron
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Nov 16, 2007
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thanks Doug, you don't need to provide evidence, Im not doubting you :), just find it extraordinary that you achieved it so quickly. I'd shy away from those temps myself but its interesting to hear how other people approach things.
 

fearcrazy8

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 25, 2009
Messages
26
Thanks for all the great info guys. Should help a lot when the time comes. Still looking for that male! Got a few offers on the table, but nothing serious yet.
 

Bill S

Arachnoprince
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Oct 2, 2006
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I have several P. murinus that just reached maturity. I initially had no intent to breed them, but when confronted with four fat females and one lonely male - I gave in. My method for breeding is to put the containers with the two lucky spiders into a larger container, remove the lids of the small containers, and leave them alone for a while. In the case of the OBTs I added a cricket to each container to minimize any hunger that might lead to an unfortunate first date. The two OBTs each munched their crickets, then the male went visiting. It was love at first sight, followed by the male moving into the female's web and the female abandoning ship. So... I've moved the female into a new and larger container which will hopefully be her maternity ward. And the male is back in his own cage waiting for me to decide whether to provide a dating service.

If/when the female lays eggs I'll just leave them with her until the little guys start to disperse. I'm really not worried about getting high numbers of babies - more interested in watching the process and maybe getting a few babies. All excess babies will probably be donated to willing recipients.
 
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