Proper way to shark tank

[Trey]

Im going to be attempting to breed my GBB for the first time tomorrow and he is the only male I will have at doing this so I can't affford to lose him. What is the right way to shark tank him so that he doesn't get munched?

 

[Alice]

put him in a deli cup and put the cup in the female's tank. if he drums and she drums back, it should be ok to remove the lid of the cup and give them a try. you should stand by with tongs jus in case - many gbb females try to eat their mates even after a successful mating. you could save his life by putting something between them at the right moment, so you can re-mate them a few days/weeks later to increase the chance of a fertile sac. however, the females are quite fast to eat the males, so don't feel too bad if she gets him anyway.

 

[Masurai]

I had a friend that was breeding two GBB, and he turned his back for a second and BOOM he turned back around and there she was fang deep in her mate

 

[Trey]

lol, Thanks for the encouraging words! j/k I know these guys REALLY don't like the males and $40+ is a little too expensive for dinner!

 

[Masurai]

$40 ain't so bad, you gotta treat them to a nice fancy meal now and then right lol

 

[P. Novak]

What kinda cage is your female in? If it's not big enough to fit a small KK in it, use a delicup. Watch the reaction of the male and female while hes shark tanked. Good luck as well.

 

[Trey]

Shes in a 20 long........Do you have any tips about breeding GBB's other than prayer lol

 

[P. Novak]

Shes in a 20 long........Do you have any tips about breeding GBB's other than prayer lol

Whats the male in? Depending on what hes in, you can fit his enclosure in there.

Sorry, no tips, I've never bred this species, but when you do put the male in there just watch them, and keep tweezers and a spoon or something in your hands, so you can interfer if anything goes wrong.

 

[KJE]

I'm not so sure if you can tell anything from shark tanking this species. I have bred this species several times and I've only had one male that actually drummed. I have had several insertions made by males that never drummed.

If you do shark tank the male it might encourage him to build another sperm web, which is good.

I am in the process of breeding one of my females from this species. In the last week she has attacked 2 of my mature males. She didn't attack at all last year when I bred her. I just had to put liquid bandage on one of the males today because she fanged him in the abdomen. She didn't hang onto him, though. He ran out of her enclosure before she could get a good grab on him.

Thankfully, I only paid $10 for one of my males and only around $20 for the other 2 that I have.

I have found with my females that they usually just try to run the male off. Make sure you leave the top off the enclosure so the male can run away if he needs to. Although, the female is VERY fast and could grab him at any time.

We breed this species in our bathroom and watch them closely. We always have something to separate them handy, just in case. Today was the first time a male was actually fanged by one of my females.

Another problem with breeding this species can be that the male isn't large enough to lift the female. Last year it took this one male 4 or 5 tries before he was able to lift the female. Thankfully, she was willing to allow him to try.

Good luck! I hope all goes well. Please keep us posted on what happens.

BTW, there have been times that it took the male 2 hours before he decided to mate with the female. That's a pretty long time to be staring at a tarantula that isn't moving.

 

[Trey]

My male is coming in the mail tomorrow so im going to rehydrate and attempt to feed him and see how he does. Im so excited to finally try to breed her. I just hope everything turns out for the best! Thanks for the tips also.

 

[KJE]

If he's like the males I have here he might not eat. I would try feeding him, but take the cricket out the following day if he doesn't eat. I'm sure you already knew that. LOL!

I would give him 2 or 3 days to settle in before introducing him to the female.

 

[cacoseraph]

try feeding males a large variety of prey items, as diverse as possible. i have had mature males of various species that had very rarified dietary preferences.... i had a MM P. regalis that would only eat mature male B. lateralis. i tried fems and juvs of that species, and 4 other species of roaches, wax worms, meal worms, and even stupid crickets and the only thing he would eat was MM lateralis.