Should I make 2nd attempt to pair my Callobius Severus? (Long)

[Europus Gigantus]

First, let me start by saying I am a complete newbie at spider keeping. We have lived in this area for years and I had never seen a Callobius until we moved to our home in a wooded lot nearer to the Salish Sea in Washington State, USA. I have been obsessively reading all I can find about these interesting creatures, but really am just trying to make educated guesses on their care. So would appreciate some help!

It was eight days ago when I attempted to breed a mature male and female Callobius Severus (Hacklemesh Weavers). I did this by putting substrate and some bark in a large Rubbermaid type tote, and then putting their individual enclosure in the tote, open and on their sides so they could find each other. (It is really hard to find explicit instructions on these local true spiders.) Neither of the spiders seemed inclined to wander out of their enclosures, and it was late, so I put the lid on the tote and left them overnight. The next day, they were both out of their individual enclosures, but far from each other. I had put the enclosures on opposite sides of the tote. So, I don't know if they mated or not. I put the female back in her original enclosure, which had been previously pretty webbed up but the webbing got pretty destroyed in the whole process. She lives in a 6" Kritter Keeper and seems to be comfortable spending her time in one spot. She was not thrilled about the whole moving thing, but in the last three days she has settled down and is webbing up again and ate a cricket yesterday. I have planned on releasing the male today. He seems fine.

Now, this morning I went into our kitchen for a cup of coffee, and my husband told me he had a surprise for me. When making the coffee, he saw a nice healthy male Callobius s. getting a drink, and he captured him. This male seems ready to go, I think. Big palps and wandering around the house. So, questions...

Should I try to pair the female again so soon? I just feel the first time didn't happen, it may have, but how do you tell? Also, I have heard you should put the male into the female's enclosure. It seems to me that her enclosure is a little small to just dump a male in with her (she is very calm, btw, and compared to the male, has a size advantage.) I have a larger, about 8" keeper I could put her in, actually I also have a 10" keeper. I had been thinking about moving her to a larger enclosure anyway, in case she is gravid. I could keep the new male until she becomes comfortable in the new keeper and try putting him in with her.

I have had her for about three or four months. (I also have two small juveniles in individual enclosures who both molted last weekend, I don't know if male or female yet, so I will leave them alone.) But, I could really use some advice about breeding these pretty spiders, or seeing as we seem to have an abundance of them, maybe I should just leave well enough alone? Let the mature males out to go about their business? (I mostly just pity the poor, lonely, big palped males.) What do you think?

Thanks in advance!

 

[lrod10280]

My suggestion is that you should not try moving her or them into new enclosures for one. The mating process is very delicate and requires for them to feel out several different factors for choosing to mate. Moving her/them into new setups can cause for them to be more timid and unlikely interested in pursuing a mate. secondly, and I am a newer owner to Ts so just my opinion, but I wouldn't breed a captive T and a wild caught T. Just for different reasons but I don't know if that's a major no no. I believe that introducing the male into the females enclosure works best. Inversely, introducing the female into a males enclosure or separate foreign enclosure could cause her to attack him or become aggressive or uninterested in mating. Also making sure she is fed a day or so before mating will help with her aggression and potentially making her more likely to accept him as a mate if she is in her own enclosure and full.... if you plan to mate them anyways, you should do so by introducing the male into her enclosure. Usually they will engage in pre matung rituals which are cool to watch... also it should be apparent whether she wants to mate by how she responds to his "mating calls" (tap dancing and/or shaking.) Best of luck! Keep us updated and with pics!

 

[Europus Gigantus]

Thanks! Yes, I figured out I should have provided pictures. These are all wild caught local spiders and I have had the female for almost five months now! I never did release the first male, so now I have the female, two mature males, and two juveniles. They all seem to be pretty happy. I will try to post pictures next time I attempt to breed! I really appreciate your response, thank you again.

 

[lrod10280]

No problem. Excited to see the results. Good luck!