Tarantula breeding

[Taisiedoll]

Is there a "best tarantula species"?

Hey guys,


I have two questions:
1) Are there already enough tarantula breeders out there?
2) How would you go about supplying tarantulas to breeders/stores?

Additional info: based in the UK and looking to get tarantulas and make extra money.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Is there a "best tarantula species"?

Relating to what?

Specify

 

[Taisiedoll]

Relating to what?

Specify

making a "good pet".
Sorry this post was initially about breeding tarantulas, but I realised breeding should be discussed in the questions and discussions one (if I'm not wrong (I'm new)), so I edited it and made this up lol.

 

[Finikan]

1. Depends on how you want to look at it.
2. Network.

Breeding is a big time/money investment and its not a get rich quick scheme.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

making a "good pet".
Sorry this post was initially about breeding tarantulas, but I realised breeding should be discussed in the questions and discussions one (if I'm not wrong (I'm new)), so I edited it and made this up lol.

They make excellent animals for keepers if they done the research on them and actually care about their well-being. Really don't refer to them as pets as that references tarantulas as physically interacting with them, which most us do not handle for their safety.

I saw your other post on breeding. I'm getting the impression that you imagine breeding them and making alot of money.

That's a pipe dream at best.

First, you need to own tarantulas. Second, you actually need to be experienced in husbandry for them. Third, breeding is not for everyone.

There is already a plethora of well established breeders that you will never be able to compete with. The well established breeders don't just breed they hold the license to buy in bulk imported tarantulas to sell.

If you try breeding common tarantulas you are:
1. Going to have to buy adult females and males to get started sooner which cost more.

2. Have a method for selling them. Depending on which genus you go with you could be over your head with holding onto and caring for the offspring which could be quite alot.

Basically you're not going to get rich. Keepers that breed do it as a hobby or side business.

I wrote too much this would be better answered by the members that are established breeders.

 

[Taisiedoll]

1. Depends on how you want to look at it.
2. Network.

Breeding is a big time/money investment and its not a get rich quick scheme.

Just my 2 cents.

1. Could you elaborate please?
2. Like, on here?

Do you know if it is it still an investment if you start with just one species and keep replacing the male, if needed (if you are selling many spiderlings at a time)?

Thanks so much for your response!

I planned to do it as a second job.

The competition was exactly what I was afraid of .

Sounds like a lot of money would be needed to start?

 

[NMTs]

1. Could you elaborate please?
2. Like, on here?

Do you know if it is it still an investment if you start with just one species and keep replacing the male, if needed (if you are selling many spiderlings at a time)?

Who do you intend to sell all these spiderlings to?

 

[Finikan]

1. Could you elaborate please?
2. Like, on here?

Ok, say you buy some slings (5 will give you a 94% chance of getting a sexed pair), wait a few years for them to grow, learn everything about them then if you're still interested after they mature in a few years' time, breed them. Seems unlikely but who knows, right?

Or, say you dive right in you buy a male and female. What happens when mating goes wrong and the female eats him? You're out the cost of that male.

This is a fast two scenario summary typed from my phone on the go. Theres more scenarios, of course. And how is your husbandry? Experience? How do you house tiny spiderlings?

These are things you should already know, and maybe you do, hard to tell from your post, which reads like a "i think im going to make bank" scheme leading to a future "im stuck with hundreds of spiderlings that i cannot sell and have no room for" post. Or just maybe another post about "why did my tarantula die?".

 

[l4nsky]

If your main motivation in breeding tarantulas is monetary in nature, then unfortunately you have your priorities backward.

A lot of people do some quick, back-of-the-napkin math with some common species and think tarantula breeding is a get-rich-quick scheme. For instance, people look at Lasiadora parahybana and see that they can sell for $10 ea and can have 1500 eggs per sack. Quick and dirty $15,000 right? Wrong! That's the perception, but the reality is far, far from this.

• You now have 1500 mouths to feed, house, and care for. That has a cost, both monetary and time.
• You now have to move these animals, either through retail or wholesale.
  • If you go retail, you can get the $10 per that you used in your calculations, but you'll also have to deal with people, DOA's, get shipping supplies, and you'll probably only move 1-3 at a time. On top of that, tarantulas are a niche market, so if just one other sack is produced, you have some strong competition for a limited demand. Odds are, you won't move through even half of the eggsack in a year and you'll still have to provide food, husbandry, and bigger cages during this time.
  • If you go commercial, then you're dealing with wholesale prices. Even with extremely rare and desirable species, you're looking at a wholesale price around 20% of what retail would be. With common species, even less. For common species that have large eggsacks, like LP's, you probably won't even be able to give them away to a vendor. It's just not worth their time to provide husbandry to that many animals with such low profit margins.
• If you decide to try and breed a rarer species or an uncommon species, you still shouldn't expect to be profitable. For one, it takes money to make money. You'll be sinking in several hundred dollars for growout slings or potentially way more if you can find specimens with a confirmed sex. Second, there is usually a reason these species are rare and that reason usually is difficulty in breeding or fragility of the offspring. New keepers/breeders that successfully breed difficult species right off the bat are very few and far between. New keepers that breed difficult species right off the bat AND get over a 60% survival rate are even rarer.

IMHO, breeding is the natural evolution for a lot of hobbyists, but it is always rooted in passion, not profit. Passion is what will keep you providing husbandry to hundreds of slings that are "worthless" from a monetary standpoint. Passion is what will drive you to get your post pairing conditioning correct and dial in your incubator setup. Passion is what will choose the species for you to work with. Given enough time and experience, then sure, profit might emerge. IMO though, the only way to get to that point is through passion for the hobby.

 

[Taisiedoll]

Who do you intend to sell all these spiderlings to?

Stores and breeders just because I can't afford to set up an official business, and I imagine there is a lot of saturation; people already have their go-to online stores to purchase exotic pets, so I was thinking taking more of a supplier role may be a better option.

 

[Finikan]

Stores and breeders just because I can't afford to set up an official business,

How are you going to afford to breed tarantulas? House them? Feed them? Full time job, bro. Better to get a full time job UNLESS you are willing to sink the money, take time to learn the husbandry, and forget about it making YOU any money for right now. Youll be paying to take care of them.

 

[Taisiedoll]

If your main motivation in breeding tarantulas is monetary in nature, then unfortunately you have your priorities backward.

A lot of people do some quick, back-of-the-napkin math with some common species and think tarantula breeding is a get-rich-quick scheme. For instance, people look at Lasiadora parahybana and see that they can sell for $10 ea and can have 1500 eggs per sack. Quick and dirty $15,000 right? Wrong! That's the perception, but the reality is far, far from this.

• You now have 1500 mouths to feed, house, and care for. That has a cost, both monetary and time.
• You now have to move these animals, either through retail or wholesale.
  • If you go retail, you can get the $10 per that you used in your calculations, but you'll also have to deal with people, DOA's, get shipping supplies, and you'll probably only move 1-3 at a time. On top of that, tarantulas are a niche market, so if just one other sack is produced, you have some strong competition for a limited demand. Odds are, you won't move through even half of the eggsack in a year and you'll still have to provide food, husbandry, and bigger cages during this time.
  • If you go commercial, then you're dealing with wholesale prices. Even with extremely rare and desirable species, you're looking at a wholesale price around 20% of what retail would be. With common species, even less. For common species that have large eggsacks, like LP's, you probably won't even be able to give them away to a vendor. It's just not worth their time to provide husbandry to that many animals with such low profit margins.
• If you decide to try and breed a rarer species or an uncommon species, you still shouldn't expect to be profitable. For one, it takes money to make money. You'll be sinking in several hundred dollars for growout slings or potentially way more if you can find specimens with a confirmed sex. Second, there is usually a reason these species are rare and that reason usually is difficulty in breeding or fragility of the offspring. New keepers/breeders that successfully breed difficult species right off the bat are very few and far between. New keepers that breed difficult species right off the bat AND get over a 60% survival rate are even rarer.

IMHO, breeding is the natural evolution for a lot of hobbyists, but it is always rooted in passion, not profit. Passion is what will keep you providing husbandry to hundreds of slings that are "worthless" from a monetary standpoint. Passion is what will drive you to get your post pairing conditioning correct and dial in your incubator setup. Passion is what will choose the species for you to work with. Given enough time and experience, then sure, profit might emerge. IMO though, the only way to get to that point is through passion for the hobby.

Thanks so much!

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Thanks so much for your response!

I planned to do it as a second job.

The competition was exactly what I was afraid of .

Sounds like a lot of money would be needed to start?

Money, patience, experience and the drive are needed.

 

[NMTs]

Stores and breeders just because I can't afford to set up an official business, and I imagine there is a lot of saturation; people already have their go-to online stores to purchase exotic pets, so I was thinking taking more of a supplier role may be a better option.

I think you've been given good feedback about the realities you'd face should you try to get into the breeding game. If you are truly passionate about it and are willing to put in the blood, sweat, and tears that it would take to succeed (in the Tarantula breeding business or any other business), then keep doing your due diligence and make it happen. If I were going to start a T breeding for profit enterprise, I would first make sure I had a very good understanding of who my potential customers and business partners are and what their outlook for the next 5 years really is. Best to make these connections and build those relationships before you make the investment in livestock and capital.

I don't think anyone is trying to discourage you from breeding T's - those of us that are hobbyists are happy to have as many breeders out there as possible. It just needs to be done in a way that is beneficial for the hobby and arachnid/tarantula community as a whole.

 

[Finikan]

I don't think anyone is trying to discourage you from breeding T's - those of us that are hobbyists are happy to have as many breeders out there as possible.

Absolutely.

looking to get tarantulas and make extra money.

First learn about tarantulas, second get tarantulas. Then see how you feel about the hobby.
Tarantulas arent really "pets", at least, not to most of us here. Its a hobby and we put a lot of work into it. Breeders do the same..... multiplied. If they didn't. They wouldnt be breeders in the first place!

 

[vicareux]

Is there a "best tarantula species"?

Hm, a very difficult question, and the answer is subjective, depending on perspective, experienc-
just kidding. Of course it's Acanthoscurria geniculata.
("Geniculata is overrated" - fight me)

 

[Arachnophobphile]

My genic challenges you to an eating contest.....

 

[Taisiedoll]

My genic challenges you to an eating contest.....

Hahaha

 

[liquidfluidity]

Takes lots of thought and prep. I've been keeping off and on for 30 years and just now decided to give breeding a shot.... albeit a true spider. Sitting on my first sac.

One thing to be certain of is roughly how many you may have and where to go with them.

Just this old timer's $.02

 

[me and my Ts]

If you want a second job breeding animals I don’t think tarantulas are the way to go, dart frogs would probably be better for making profit. The initial cost would be more but from my understanding it would be much easier and faster to breed them. They would also probably be easier to sell. Another plus is that you could propagate rare plants in their tank as another way to make money.

Or shrimp