Pairings Galore and what i've learned

[Skeri]

I've done some pairing lately with pretty good success. The B. vagans were paired twice and the female is showing all the signs of being gravid, but I don't like to count on things and jynx myself so i'm still just keeping my fingers crossed. I received my G. pulchripes today and they went right at it. The male keeps switching between cleaning himself and drumming, so i'm going to wait until he makes another sperm web and then pair them again. I find twice to be a good number for pairing. If I see good insertions both times I personally feel anything over that isn't needed. My A. urticans like to play footsies forever. I've only actually witnessed them mating once, but it was so short and it seemed as if the female might have backed off too soon, so I left them to cohab. While watching them there has been little aggression. The only aggression has surprisingly come from the male. The two wil climb all over eachother no problem, but if the female sneaks up on him he gives a loud smack to the enclosure. He has not bared his fangs. It seems like some sort of warning sign as if to say "If you bite me I can bite too." He has made a mess of sperm webs in the female's enclosure. This has lead me to believe that they have paired successfully.

Things I have learned:
1) Pairing isn't rocket science. If you do the homework before hand its very easy.
2) The difference between a male and female adult is very obvious.
3) I now find ventral sexing to be a ton easier.
4) Finding spermatheca and the uterus externus in an exuvium of a larger specimen is easy, and extremely easy when you know what you are looking for.
5) Either I have some pretty tame females, or male munching isn't quite as big of a risk as I might have once thought
6) Its alot easier for me to determine what is a spermweb and what is not
7) Some breeding reports are very helpful, while others are not. All I can say is thank goodness AB changed the format requirements. (good example is B.vagans breeding reports vs. A. sp. Peru Purple breeding reports)

I've been keeping notes from pairing until (hopefully) eggsacs or until I feel enough time has passed where no sac is inevitable. With all the pairing i'm doing and plan to do in the future I should end up with one sac, as to which I will also keep notes. I have to say i'm pretty excited and surprised how easy certain things have become. I think I knew what I was doing with a few things before, but now that i've seen alot of it first hand, the doubt is gone and i'm more confident in what i'm doing.

 

[le-thomas]

Just something to point out: Pairing and breeding is different with each species. Some species are known male-munchers, while others are not. Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens is an example of a species in which the females often eat the males.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. This sort of information is important to have.

 

[jayefbe]

I've done some pairing lately with pretty good success. I find twice to be a good number for pairing. If I see good insertions both times I personally feel anything over that isn't needed.

I'm not saying I disagree with this sentiment, but if you haven't hatched a sac yet, and haven't produced 2nd instars, how can you know that two insertions are enough? I'm sure you know this, but just want to emphasize that pairing is a small component of successfully breeding tarantulas. Best of luck with them, and I'm glad to hear that you're taking good notes on them.

 

[BrettG]

Here are some more tips for the OP...
-Shoot for 3 pairings.It just increases the odds.
-Don't feed TOO heavily,but increase the amount fed significantly.I used to power feed after pairings only to have females molt out.I feed our gravid spiders two large crickets 3x a week.
-Be sure to just leave them alone after paring(besides feeding/watering)Any outside stimuli can just stress them to the point that they never drop,or eat the sack shortly AFTER dropping.Try to provide them with a quiet environment.
-If something is just not dropping and is obviously full of eggs try moving the enclosure higher/lower in the room. Sometimes subtle changes in temp can trigger sack production.I have had good luck moving things higher and slightly flooding the enclosure.
-Do not let the air become stagnant. A lot of our gravid girls are stored in a walk in closet.I provide a day/night cycle,and keep the air circulating using a run of the mill WalMart oscillating fan set to medium.

 

[Skeri]

I'm not saying I disagree with this sentiment, but if you haven't hatched a sac yet, and haven't produced 2nd instars, how can you know that two insertions are enough? I'm sure you know this, but just want to emphasize that pairing is a small component of successfully breeding tarantulas. Best of luck with them, and I'm glad to hear that you're taking good notes on them.

I personally just felt it is over kill. I noticed in other breeding reports (I read more than just what i'm currently breeding and plan on in the future) that pairings were taking place during the female already being gravid. I came to that conclusion from usually the first two pairings, to the time the sac was laid, compared to other breeding reports and when the sac was laid. That was my main reason for coming to the conclusion that two pairings were sufficient. Although thats why I did add I personally feel, instead of something that implied it was always the correct way to go. It was just a conclusion I based upon other breeding reports. I suppose more wouldn't hurt at all supposing they weren't too spread out. My opinion could change over time as to the number of pairings I feel appropriate. This just seems to be a good starting point. I also noticed after the first two times, the female seems to be less receptive in my experiences thus far.

Yes, I am aware of pairing being a small component of successful breedings. I've been sure to read not only breeding reports from this board, but any others I could find as well. I didn't type them down, but have a mental note of things that worked and things that did not. I also did a good deal of studying breeding in general before starting breeding projects. Granted i'm learning alot along the way, but made sure I came into it with a good amount of knowledge as well. As I said alot of the things I learned I technically already knew, its just once I experienced everything first hand instead of just reading and looking at pictures and watching videos there was alot less doubt and everything made alot more sense.

I think good notes are important. Whether successful or not, something can be learned from them. So far I have kept notes consisting of the dates they were paired, behavior during pairing, and any seemingly out of character behavior for that specific tarantula that may or may not be an indication of being gravid. I have also taken some pictures. If and/or when I get a sac/sacs I will keep notes as to date laid, conditions kept, and behavior of the mother, along with of course hatching and instars.

Here are some more tips for the OP...
-Shoot for 3 pairings.It just increases the odds.
-Don't feed TOO heavily,but increase the amount fed significantly.I used to power feed after pairings only to have females molt out.I feed our gravid spiders two large crickets 3x a week.
-Be sure to just leave them alone after paring(besides feeding/watering)Any outside stimuli can just stress them to the point that they never drop,or eat the sack shortly AFTER dropping.Try to provide them with a quiet environment.
-If something is just not dropping and is obviously full of eggs try moving the enclosure higher/lower in the room. Sometimes subtle changes in temp can trigger sack production.I have had good luck moving things higher and slightly flooding the enclosure.
-Do not let the air become stagnant. A lot of our gravid girls are stored in a walk in closet.I provide a day/night cycle,and keep the air circulating using a run of the mill WalMart oscillating fan set to medium.

1) I will take that into consideration for sure.
2) I have thus far fed the female 4-6 crickets (depending on the size of the crickets I have at the moment) 8-12 hours before pairing for the first time. After that Its 2-3 crickets 2-3 times a week.
3) I tend to leave my spiders in peace and disturb them as little as I can anyways. I've actually been a bit extra cautious about that though. I read about that and would hate to know the reason one didn't produce a sack was due to my own being careless.
4) I've heard of that, but wasn't sure as to the effectiveness of it. I will surely keep that in mind.
5) My tarantulas are in a room where they are not exposed to any direct sunlight (curtains are kept closed), but do get a natural day and night cycle. I've seen mixed opinions to this having any effect, but I personally feel that either way it certainly can't hurt. The room also has a ceiling fan that I keep on high.

Mind you i'm not trying to sound like a know-it-all. I certainly appreciate any advice anyone gives me. Just letting you know what I have done, what i've read, what i've considered ect. I think the main two very helpful things is the feeding schedule and moving/flooding advice. Those are things I will for sure keep in mind for the future.

Right now my main concern is if/when I get a sac the humidity levels. It seems that alot of people have come to the conclusion with bad sacs that they either kept their environment too dry or too wet (dried out sacs and mold cases) I'm worried about finding the correct amount. That seems to be one bit of information i'm having some trouble finding a good answer to. My other concern is whether I should use the incubation method, or leave them to hatch with the mother to ewls. I've done a good bit of reading on both and can't seem to decide just yet which would be the better method.

Just something to point out: Pairing and breeding is different with each species. Some species are known male-munchers, while others are not. Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens is an example of a species in which the females often eat the males.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. This sort of information is important to have.

I was aware it is more common is some species than in others, but from watching many youtube videos and reading others having their male munched (not just in species known to male munch) I just assumed the risk to be much higher than it is. Thus far all my males have made it out of pairing uninjured and without the need for me to do any sort of separating other than letting the male back into his enclosure. I was expecting more aggression towards the males than what I have witnessed thus far based on what I have read and watched. My G. pulchripes who is generally a pet rock and very docile did throw up a threat posture at the male after pairing, but did not bite, strike, or make any warning slaps. So I guess I have witnessed some aggression, just not to the degree I was expecting. I think it comes with the reading and watching vs. doing ive been going through.

On a side note I do own a MF C. cyaneopubescens that I eventually plan on pairing. She is extremely skittish, as she even sometimes kicks hair at her crickets until she notices its food. Other than thats shes very docile. I'm curious to see how much that changes if I pair her.