The commitment of breeding

AbraCadaver

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 6, 2009
Messages
296
So, at first I was like "Oh, I*m not gonna breed, I don't need to.." but now I've gotten the itch.. Go figure.

Anyways.. I was thinking - is it a big commitment when you decide to breed? Approx how long will it take from start to finish, what precautions should be taken, how long to you keep the kiddoes?

I just want to remind everyone I'm a complete dolt with the searching.
 

syndicate

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Messages
4,497
Well it depends on what your breeding to some extent but if your not ready to feed and properly care for 100 or more spiderling's i'd advise not to start breeding.
Here's an example:
Lets say you breed A.geniculata and you get 1500 slings.Feeding that many slings is no easy task!Also trying to sell that many is not gonna be easy either.
So are you willing so sit on 500+ or more of these and wait for them to sell?Also are you experienced with shipping spiders?Sometimes it can be more work than fun when you are breeding a ton of stuff and have a giant collection to care for and look after.I'm not in any way telling you not to go and start breeding but just things to keep in mind!
-Chris
 

TalonAWD

Arachnoprince
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Joined
Jul 28, 2007
Messages
1,139
From my experience...
After the insertion, the female would take 2-3 months before droping her sac. She would need to eat alot. Than after the sac drops, 30 days later pull it and you have slings or eggs with legs.

You keep them until second instar, or in lamens terms when they look like tarantulas with hair. Than you seperate.

Precautions? after the insertion try not to stress the female. You would want to make sure the enclosure is humid and my stle for some T's is take a syringe and water a layer under the top so that eveaporation can happen slowly. This is crucial for when she lays the sac. I do this so I do not have to worry about misting the enclosure as this is a disturbance for the female.

Here are the tools I use.

 

AbraCadaver

Arachnoknight
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Feb 6, 2009
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296
Chris, that kind of info is exactly what I want!

And thank you Steve! I already have a syringe I use for that very purpose on my avics as it is. Stole the idea from you :D

Now, what I'm planning to start with is my a.versicolor. They sell rather fast up here, as they're popular spideys.
 

WARPIG

Arachnoangel
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Jun 29, 2007
Messages
821
This is a topic often glossed over. It is a commitment and one alot of folks just don't fully understand.

Breeding, rearing, feeding, housing, selling, and shipping. Then, what do you do with a species that doesn't move. Economic times are hard, can you turn even a modest profit?

I got into the hobby just about 5 yrs ago, I opted not to breed until I knew how to care for my T's well, and only really concentrated on T's I was interested in. I have three MM that are happily in retirement inspite the fact that I have available females, strictly because I know they won't sell well.

I'd rather sit on these males than sit on many slings which won't sell.

Pick your projects wisely, or you'll end up knee deep in slings.

PIG-
 

Fran

Arachnoprince
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From my experience...
After the insertion, the female would take 2-3 months before droping her sac. She would need to eat alot. Than after the sac drops, 30 days later pull it and you have slings or eggs with legs.
or 4,5,6..depending on the sp.
 

mitchrobot

Arachnoknight
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Jun 12, 2006
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285
from start to finish varies...
i had a c.elegans drop a sac 12 days from mating, babies were ready to go a little over a month later...where as my n.chromatus didnt lay a sac for months and the nymphs are still taking for ever to be ready for market. once i had a regalis go like 10 months after mating before making a sac! so its really a shot in the dark to say how long it takes form start to finish...but a ball park guess would be a few months

also, the amount of work on your part varies with the amount in care and involvement you want. i have a few females that i let raise their own sacs, psalmos and avics. they do everything until its time to rehouse the slings. other species (big terrestrials usually or pokies) i pull the sac at day 30ish and keep the egg/egg-legs/nymphs in a really simple incubator and watch over them the best that i can until again, they are ready to be rehoused.

be prepared to commit a good chunk of time here and there when it comes time to rehouse slings. some sacs are HUGE and take forever to separate out all the kids. consider this: grab vial, poke holes in lid, put in damp peat moss, spray with spray bottle, catch sling, put in vial, close lid. now multiply that by 50-200+ times. feeding and watering is similar.
some people do leave slings together for a good while, as well as leave them with the mother, i personally dont. although i did leave my irminia with her slings for a couple months last year and had no problems, she fed them for a while, but i did notive cannibalism going on. although with a species like LP or NC that has hundreds to thousands of slings at a time, i dont see a problem with a little bit of cannibalism...

make sure you have a source for appropriately sized food. i feed my slings b.lateralis mainly, fruit flies for the tiny ones, but only to get them one molt farther (ive only had to do this with c.elegans and huntsman spiders). pinhead crickets work well too, along with micro mealworms and even cut up larger bugs.

i keep my slings until they have fed a few times. and as long as they take to go from my house to a new owners. some species move faster than others on the market. think about what you plan on doing with the slings, selling them in huge lots in nice, but if you dont mind packing and shipping all too much, nickel and diming them out isnt bad either. you can also give them away if you dont feel like going into that aspect of the hobby.

risks: cant think of all too many. ive lost MMs here and there, but i also let many of my girls chomp old haggard males who have already done their job. be careful with BIG males, i have heard stories more than once of large MM eating females. just keep an eye on them. i have also lost two females in the past a few weeks after eggsacs were laid. not sure why, sacs were good, cant honestly say it was a direct result of breeding, but just thought id bring it up (but again, ive lost spiders out of the blue for no reason that i could tell before, mated or not)

breeding Ts for me has been a very enjoyable aspect of the hobby, it is quite rewarding when it works out, and watching the mating behavior is pretty interesting too. all i can say is be prepared for the work involved in sling care, taking care of hundreds of slings at a time becomes a chore :eek:, but it is part of breeding them. if you cant see yourself spending 1-3 hours feeding and rehousing, maybe reconsider ;)

cant think of anything else to write
~m
 

AbraCadaver

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 6, 2009
Messages
296
This is a topic often glossed over. It is a commitment and one alot of folks just don't fully understand.

Breeding, rearing, feeding, housing, selling, and shipping. Then, what do you do with a species that doesn't move. Economic times are hard, can you turn even a modest profit?

I got into the hobby just about 5 yrs ago, I opted not to breed until I knew how to care for my T's well, and only really concentrated on T's I was interested in. I have three MM that are happily in retirement inspite the fact that I have available females, strictly because I know they won't sell well.

I'd rather sit on these males than sit on many slings which won't sell.

Pick your projects wisely, or you'll end up knee deep in slings.

PIG-
Good point. But as mentioned, versis are very popular up here, the person I bought Dumpling from sold 150 slings in a matter of a week.

I like to think I know how to take care of my spiders. They get food, water and nice enclosures, and I "only" have 11, so they're not an overwhelming responsibility.

Finances aren't a problem here, as it's one sac I'm planning atm, just to try my hand at it.

Thanks for your input =)
 

JC

Arachnolort
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 15, 2009
Messages
1,421
This is a topic often glossed over. It is a commitment and one alot of folks just don't fully understand.

Breeding, rearing, feeding, housing, selling, and shipping. Then, what do you do with a species that doesn't move. Economic times are hard, can you turn even a modest profit?

I got into the hobby just about 5 yrs ago, I opted not to breed until I knew how to care for my T's well, and only really concentrated on T's I was interested in. I have three MM that are happily in retirement inspite the fact that I have available females, strictly because I know they won't sell well.

I'd rather sit on these males than sit on many slings which won't sell.

Pick your projects wisely, or you'll end up knee deep in slings.

PIG-

But its not that serious either.

1) Find an easy to breed easy to sell spider - A.versicolor is a great choice.
2) Find someone that will take them all in one bulk purchase.
3) Learn how to feed, rear, and ship slings bulk slings.
4) Read the breeding reports and study the mating habits of your spider.
5) Learn about when to pull and incubate the egg-sack.(Get materials before the sack is laid).

A.veriscolor will drop a sack about 1-2 months after a good insertion depending on how you set the female's metabolism(feeding & temperature). Getting a sack is easy, what you do with it after it's laid is a bit trickier.
 

Fran

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
1,533
Good point. But as mentioned, versis are very popular up here, the person I bought Dumpling from sold 150 slings in a matter of a week.

I like to think I know how to take care of my spiders. They get food, water and nice enclosures, and I "only" have 11, so they're not an overwhelming responsibility.

Finances aren't a problem here, as it's one sac I'm planning atm, just to try my hand at it.

Thanks for your input =)
You can sell anything in a matter of hours...Just depending on your prices.
 

NevularScorpion

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Messages
916
From my experience...
After the insertion, the female would take 2-3 months before droping her sac. She would need to eat alot. Than after the sac drops, 30 days later pull it and you have slings or eggs with legs.

You keep them until second instar, or in lamens terms when they look like tarantulas with hair. Than you seperate.

Precautions? after the insertion try not to stress the female. You would want to make sure the enclosure is humid and my stle for some T's is take a syringe and water a layer under the top so that eveaporation can happen slowly. This is crucial for when she lays the sac. I do this so I do not have to worry about misting the enclosure as this is a disturbance for the female.

Here are the tools I use.

Hey bro, do you know a good place to get this ?
 

Falk

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
May 28, 2009
Messages
679
A tip is to try to figure out the mating season for the specie you want to breed, if its summer time or winter in the origin countrie, simulate rain/dry season ect ect.

Some species are harder than others, i had a lot of problems with my male G. pulchra that didnt want to make a spermweb.

I think you should start with something that is easy to breed and easy to sell, Avicularia versicolor for an ex.
I left my slings with the female until they where all 2:nd instar and then i put each one in photo jars, very easy and not a single one died and all where sold after 2 weeks.

Brachypelma albopilosum is also very easy but the slings are harder to sell.
 

AbraCadaver

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 6, 2009
Messages
296
Thanks Falk! I was waiting for you to reply, because I know you have a pretty good measure of the scandinavian market!

It is indeed my wee Dumpling I want to breed, so I will research the mating season. Thanks for the tip!
 
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