So, what are the odds in the sling lottery?

nicodimus22

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I understand that when I get a tiny sling, I don't have a 50/50 chance of getting a female, because males are more common. I've been looking online, but I can't seem to find much information on what the realistic odds are.

Those of you that have had a lot of slings, what percentage of them would you estimate turned out to be female? If it's species-specific, where can I look to find this information? Thank you!
 

Arachnomaniac19

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It really depends on the species. For my Hapalopus sp. Columbia large it's 2/2, for my Poecilotheria regalis it's 1/2, for my Grammostola porteri it's 4/5. This is from my experience of course. For some species it can be 1/10. If you want to increase your chances, get at least three slings, or a sexed female.
 
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Abyss

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I have had crazy good luck and most slings i have got over the years turned out female.
I still always got many at once but always had a handful of peeps go together to get em and i was almost always lucky enough to end up w/ the ladies lol.

Sex'd girls are def the easiest way to go tho!
 

EulersK

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I don't believe there is any concrete research done on the matter. This is why keepers just buy several slings of a single species. After a certain point, you're all but guaranteed to get a female.
 

viper69

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I understand that when I get a tiny sling, I don't have a 50/50 chance of getting a female, because males are more common
The truth is to the best of my knowledge no one has done population studies on sacs. Do some keepers observe things, sure. But we don't know. Some species tend to produce more of one gender according to what I've heard from people w/more experience than myself.

Is this normal, temperature related (like it is in reptiles), don't know.

It isn't necessarily true that males are more common.
 

Venom1080

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if anything, females of P muticus are more common. its the Asians like Lampropelma, Cyriopagopus, etc that are more male heavy IME. not Poecilotheria though, im pretty lucky with those.
 

Jeff23

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I wish I could find this information as well. I have been buying three to five each for slings on most of my purchases so I will soon have my results (except my Aphonopelma which may be the middle of the century with their growth rate).

I suppose this is my own phobia, but I will not buy an unsexed juvenile if I must have a female. It seems safer to get a smaller sling but you must wait longer to find out. I figure that a portion of egg sacs where females are in demand will be checked (to be sold as such). Males may be left in the undetermined to increase chances of a sale. Of course on a few species, males are of high value as well so I suppose it still depends on the species.
 

boina

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Uh yeah, I've been looking for that information for a while. When I buy slings I usually buy 3 at a time, but even when I bought only two so far I've always been lucky and had at least on female among them. I think from own experience with NW terrestrials it's really more or less a 50:50 chance. Unfortunately I can't say anything about OW species.
 

viper69

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It seems safer to get a smaller sling but you must wait longer to find out
True, I grew tired of waiting, so now I tend to by juvi females. I don't have the time to wait 5 years etc.

I think from own experience with NW terrestrials it's really more or less a 50:50 chance
too bad your experience isn't the actual reality of the gender distribution, nor my own. All my Brachy, bought 1, all female. But on my Avics, most bought in pairs, all male, with one exception.
 

boina

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too bad your experience isn't the actual reality of the gender distribution, nor my own. All my Brachy, bought 1, all female. But on my Avics, most bought in pairs, all male, with one exception.
Well, yeah, I guess that only means that anecdotal evidence isn't really evidence as we all knew before. Unfortunately when I bought Brachys I usually got 50:50, as I said. I talked to a breeder from Austria who specializes in Brachys and has several eggsacs every year. He said in his experience it's more like 60/40 for the males. As long as we don't have a real study it's all guess work and different experiences.
 

Jeff23

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I suppose if we were just theorizing with the results needed by Mother Nature a higher percentage of males would be needed since many males never make it to the female's den - trying to avoid enemies and find the street address for the female T without Google maps.
 
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