Tarantula Hunting in Arizona

[AphonopelmaTX]

I don't undetstand why people keep taking them from the wild. Are they hard to breed?

No one wants to wait 5-7 years for a spiderling to grow up most likely. Who wants to go through the trouble of breeding and raising the babies when one can walk outside and grab several nicely colored adult females and sell them for stupid amounts of money?

 

[Andrea82]

No one wants to wait 5-7 years for a spiderling to grow up most likely. Who wants to go through the trouble of breeding and raising the babies when one can walk outside and grab several nicely colored adult females and sell them for stupid amounts of money?

Money and instant gratification.

 

[viper69]

I don't undetstand why people keep taking them from the wild. Are they hard to breed?

GREED

They aren't hard to breed.

 

[Jeff23]

One of the problems that I have seen is the prices. I still do not have this species though I want more of the Aphonopelma genus.

If someone wants to buy an adult size female T the species grown from slings cost 2X to 3X more. They are selling these wild ones for as low as $50 as a large size T. How many other species can compete with this price?

 

[Andrea82]

One of the problems that I have seen is the prices. I still do not have this species though I want more of the Aphonopelma genus.

If someone wants to buy an adult size female T the species grown from slings cost 2X to 3X more. They are selling these wild ones for as low as $50 as a large size T. How many other species can compete with this price?

Maybe breeders in the US should sell them for less. From what I understand, it is mainly the costs of importing tarantula from europe which makes T's so expensive iver there. But they don't have to import this species so why the high prices?

 

[viper69]

Maybe breeders in the US should sell them for less. From what I understand, it is mainly the costs of importing tarantula from europe which makes T's so expensive iver there. But they don't have to import this species so why the high prices?

GREED!

The importation costs can be considerable, but even captive born Ts are not necessarily sold any cheaper here. The markets are completely different in terms of prices. There are many different species I see that typically go 33-50% LESS in Europe (after Euro to US$ conversion). I think Ts are the one thing that Europe has cheaper than the USA.