Seeking opinions - 1 MM left in group housing - Subfucsa

Phases

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 1, 2017
Messages
205
Hey all. Been a minute.

So, I have a Subfusca communal/group that have been living together a couple years now. The 3 females are large, at least six inches, at this point. They do vary in size. They share the same hide usually, but they spread out sometimes as well.

The 3 males matured a year ago this month. One disappeared about a month ago. I guess - As they do hide easily and sometimes it was a challenge to find all six but, I'm 99% sure he is gone. I hope he mated first! One died naturally couple days ago.

So, I have 1 MM left. He shares the hide with the females too, and also wanders and has his own spot(s).

Now - had the ban not hit last year this would be no question for me. I would just continue on as is, but with it in place I'm very nervous at this point. I do not want my only MM to be killed or eaten prior to a successful mating, because due to the ban, I do want to get at least one sac out of them if I can. That said, I hate to break them up after so much success, and with him in there, there is constant chance of mating.

My main question - do you think when tarantulas grow up together as these have, they are less likely to mate? Sibling thing? Would I have better odds if I moved him out, or even ... sigh.. separated them all.. then had monitored mating session per normal? Or, would you think leaving him in with the three girls as he has been a while now would have just as well chances as yielding sac(s)?

I hate to separate - this has been one of my most proud projects and has been so successful and almost a work of art (when the tank is clean LOL!) to come in and see three, four, five, six tarantulas all out together. Beautiful tarantulas. But, in the interest of helping ensure survival of ALL due to this ban, I may just have to.

btw lots of pics/vids on insta and youtube.

Last MM: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1WrgmXhjBt/
Beautiful molting: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz5z7kQB_UT/
MM and F: https://www.instagram.com/p/BzItJFThqs1/
F walked out during cleaning: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxTdo_qHWde/
All 6 few months back: https://www.instagram.com/p/BvM9PWJHDUr/

Anyway. Thoughts on mating?
 

chanda

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 27, 2010
Messages
2,229
Good luck to you! But given that they are siblings - and that the males matured a year ago - I fear that a successful mating may be unlikely.

Males typically mature well before their female sacmates, particularly when kept together in the same conditions. (I have heard of people manipulating maturation by keeping males cooler and feeding them less, to delay maturity, while keeping females warmer and power-feeding them so speed up maturity.) As yours were all kept communally, there's a good chance that your females are not yet mature and ready to breed - even though their male siblings are.

On top of that, the typical lifespan for a male after reaching maturity is usually only a year or less. If your male matured a year ago, he is most likely very near the end of his life - and already long past his breeding prime. The best time to breed a male is shortly after he matures, when he is busy making sperm webs and charging his pedipalps with fresh sperm. At this point, while it might still be possible for him to fertilize a sac, it is a lot less likely - and that's assuming your females have matured.
 

Phases

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 1, 2017
Messages
205
Good luck to you! But given that they are siblings - and that the males matured a year ago - I fear that a successful mating may be unlikely.

Males typically mature well before their female sacmates, particularly when kept together in the same conditions. (I have heard of people manipulating maturation by keeping males cooler and feeding them less, to delay maturity, while keeping females warmer and power-feeding them so speed up maturity.) As yours were all kept communally, there's a good chance that your females are not yet mature and ready to breed - even though their male siblings are.

On top of that, the typical lifespan for a male after reaching maturity is usually only a year or less. If your male matured a year ago, he is most likely very near the end of his life - and already long past his breeding prime. The best time to breed a male is shortly after he matures, when he is busy making sperm webs and charging his pedipalps with fresh sperm. At this point, while it might still be possible for him to fertilize a sac, it is a lot less likely - and that's assuming your females have matured.
Thanks, yea - the boys matured a year ago and the girls were still small. One boy did just die - and the girls are just now molting into 'large' status.

Maybe best bet would be to pull the boy out, power feed the girls, and pray he hangs on! I have had successful sacs come from old guys a couple times. One dude died within a few days of mating. Only got 16 from that sac - wonder if related..

I wish I would have more aggressively tackled this topic when the ban came out last year, that's right around when they matured too. Now I fear I may never see a MM here again! But, at least I do have 3 beautiful ladies :)
 

Phases

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 1, 2017
Messages
205
Hey guys just an update! Everyone is doing fantastic, the MM has been hanging in there just fine - and one of the females has an eggsac :) The other two have given her room and moved out of that area. They are staying together pretty much. :)

http://instagr.am/p/B8XHrTHBVUc/
http://instagr.am/p/B8P2YmMhREv/
http://instagr.am/p/B7xD0oRhbhO/
Now, I am debating how to handle it. We think we're going to let it hatch in place. I'm afraid removing the sac may destroy the harmony between the 4 if the mom gets way too mad. The others may be gravid for all I know. We are thinking about rehousing them into a larger cage. It would be their.... let me think. 4th rehousing. 5th home. (currently still in the 12x12x18 which is great for a handful of them, but with unknown number of sacs coming.....

Just wanted to update as I have done periodically since the very start of this communal. They quickly skyrocketed into my favorite/prized enclosure(s). They are beautiful. Almost like a piece of art when you look and see a few really beautiful taranatula's hanging out together.

:)
 
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