Psalmopoeus victori ready for mating?

[insectum]

Hi everyone,

I´d like to attempt breeding my Psalmopoeus victori, however I am not certain, if the female is mature enough yet. I´ve been keeping tarantulas for about five years now, however this would be my first breeding attempt. I´d be glad for every piece of advice, since there really is little to no information online on how to tell, when a female tarantula becomes sxually mature.
Now some more information:
She´s a young adult/subadult female and last molted out right around new years. Her legspan ist about 5.5in or 14 cm and she was captive bred in july of 2020.
I´m kind of certain, she´d be receptive, but I really would not want to risk her nor the male. She´s also ready for a rehouse, however I´d rather not disturbe her prior to a potential mating.
Of course I could wait for the next moult, but since there´s an offer for a mature male in my area and this species is still rather hard to come by, I´d really like to attempt to pair them in a few weeks.
Help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tarantuland]

Once the spermatheca is scloterized is how to tell. That one you got looks big enough. They’re more difficult to pair than irminia, cambridgei, or pulcher in my experience. Best of luck

 

[insectum]

Thanks a lot, I´ll try to get the male then.
Is there anything I need to watch out for with this species in particular or will it be enough to feed her well for the next few weeks and let them do their thing?
I have noticed that this species seems less likely to back away when disturbed, but much rather shows a defensive behavior, when my P. irminia for example would immediately retreat.

 

[Tarantuland]

Thanks a lot, I´ll try to get the male then.
Is there anything I need to watch out for with this species in particular or will it be enough to feed her well for the next few weeks and let them do their thing?
I have noticed that this species seems less likely to back away when disturbed, but much rather shows a defensive behavior, when my P. irminia for example would immediately retreat.

I’d spray them down for a few days and shark tank the male. Other psalmos have been among the easiest for me to pair but this one I tried with two males but they were both worthless. The males and females were slapping the entire time but never paired. I’ve found these to be the among meanest species of tarantula I’ve kept, similar to S cal

 

[insectum]

Alright, thanks for the advice.
I´ll do my very best to make this a success... once I find another male.
The one I had been hoping to get has just been sold, so I´ll have to keep on looking. Once I find another one I might post an Update here.

Hi everyone, it´s time for an update.
I was able to find another adult male and I am going to pick him up in about two weeks from now.
I´ve been feeding my female well over the past two months and she´s been putting on a good bit of size since her last moult. Hopefully that will be enough to produce a good sac and keep her from eating the male.
I was also thinking about feeding the female just prior to introducing them. Has anyone ever tried that?

 

[Tarantuland]

Hi everyone, it´s time for an update.
I was able to find another adult male and I am going to pick him up in about two weeks from now.
I´ve been feeding my female well over the past two months and she´s been putting on a good bit of size since her last moult. Hopefully that will be enough to produce a good sac and keep her from eating the male.
I was also thinking about feeding the female just prior to introducing them. Has anyone ever tried that?

Usually what I do for angrier species is feed the female until she refuses food then pair the next day. If she’s eating a roach then the male shows up, she could drop it to go for the bigger meal. I’ve also seen ppl pair a T minutes after feeding. Go with your gut. Good luck

 

[insectum]

Okay, I'll feed her some more then.

She's looking quite good.

Hi everyone, I picked up the male at a show yesterday and put him in his new enclosure next to the female´s. After wandering around all night and having a drink he decided to hide behind his corkbark for the day. I did however catch him investigating the ventillation close to the females enclosure multiple times. Meanwhile she is enjoying a juicy dubia roach... she´s outside very often and just won´t stop eating.
The seller assured me that the male had already produced a spermweb about ten days ago. I´ll try to introduce them in a few days and hope for the best. I was spurised at how great his leg span is. He seems to at least match her´s, but might even be close to 6" (15cm). It may however just seem that way due to his much more delicate build and long spindly legs.
I can´t wait to see how this plays out...

 

[8 legged]

Nice, but please wait two weeks or so to exime your new spider. I think you bought it in Hamm, check for mites and other not needed thinks before introduce into you collection.

 

[insectum]

Yes, I did buy the male in Hamm. Is there anything about that show in particular that I should watch out for or just general precautions?
Of course, I will monitor him for at least a week or so. He does however seem rather healthy to me and there are no mites nor any signs of disease...

 

[8 legged]

No, Hamm is a show like every other, just bigger. I always have a special eye on animals bought at shows... Also bought two spiders in Hamm. I was so glad when leaving this extreme stuffed hall's

 

[insectum]

Yes, it was really crowded this time... Luckily I had pre ordered all the animals I was looking for.
After monitoring and feeding the male for some more days, I introduced him to the female yesterday night. To keep an eye on the animals though not disturbe them, I placed both tanks in front of another and used a red flashlight for lighting.
His whole body immediately began to shake while he was searching for her. Once she came out of her hide and first contact was made, he proceded to lift her up and try to inseminate multiple times. During the whole mating there were no signs of agression and the female was very receptive. After only about half an hour the male retreated back to his enclousure and I separated them again. They both began cleaning themselves shortly after so I assume he was successful. I will however attempt another pairing in about a week or so, just to make sure.
The image is rather poor quality, but I still wanted to include it.
I am really glad it all went well.

Hi everyone, it's time for an Update!
On March 29th I introduced the male for a second time, which also seemed to be successful. After that I kept on feeding the female until she eventually webbed up the entrance to her hide about a week later. I noticed she had made an egg sac on May 26th and was planning on retrieving it about a month later.
While checking on her yesterday however, I noticed that she had already opened the egg sac and the juveniles were all over the webbing inside her hide. I intervened and removed the babies for further incubation. There are about 150 or more, so I am really pleased with the results.
Thanks for all the advice along the way. Let's hope they'll all make it.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I’d spray them down for a few days and shark tank the male. Other psalmos have been among the easiest for me to pair but this one I tried with two males but they were both worthless. The males and females were slapping the entire time but never paired. I’ve found these to be the among meanest species of tarantula I’ve kept, similar to S cal

Sounds like there hard to breed .

Hi everyone, it's time for an Update!
On March 29th I introduced the male for a second time, which also seemed to be successful. After that I kept on feeding the female until she eventually webbed up the entrance to her hide about a week later. I noticed she had made an egg sac on May 26th and was planning on retrieving it about a month later.
While checking on her yesterday however, I noticed that she had already opened the egg sac and the juveniles were all over the webbing inside her hide. I intervened and removed the babies for further incubation. There are about 150 or more, so I am really pleased with the results.
Thanks for all the advice along the way. Let's hope they'll all make it.

Congratulations !!!

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Hi everyone,

I´d like to attempt breeding my Psalmopoeus victori, however I am not certain, if the female is mature enough yet. I´ve been keeping tarantulas for about five years now, however this would be my first breeding attempt. I´d be glad for every piece of advice, since there really is little to no information online on how to tell, when a female tarantula becomes sxually mature.
Now some more information:
She´s a young adult/subadult female and last molted out right around new years. Her legspan ist about 5.5in or 14 cm and she was captive bred in july of 2020.
I´m kind of certain, she´d be receptive, but I really would not want to risk her nor the male. She´s also ready for a rehouse, however I´d rather not disturbe her prior to a potential mating.
Of course I could wait for the next moult, but since there´s an offer for a mature male in my area and this species is still rather hard to come by, I´d really like to attempt to pair them in a few weeks.
Help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm just here to say that's one stunning tarantula.