To breed or not to breed

[jrh3]

Personally, I would never turn down a chance to breed. Regardless of species.

 

[CommanderBacon]

My first MM died without me making any attempt to breed him. I didn't like seeing him slowing fading and dying without anything coming of his life, so I decided to breed future males I had.

My second MM was my first breeding trade. He was one of my favorite tarantulas and I cried when I shipped him off (I paid shipping), but I took a trade of several slings for him (breeder paid shipping), and asked to receive some of his offspring if there was a successful pairing. The breeder was super cool about it and sent me five slings from the resulting sac at my shipping expense. I didn't want to hear if my boy didn't make it, but he apparently went on to another person for breeding. I'm happy to imagine that he might be the father of a few thousand slings.

My third MM I paired myself in a reverse loan, which was local. I only kept one sling because I was doing it for the experience and I'm not a huge fan of the species. My male didn't make it more than 5 months after maturation, but I was able to produce slings, and I think that was is cool.

On the other hand, in November, I received an MM of unknown age on a breeding loan that has likely failed. The MM has since died in an attempted penultimate molt. I still wonder if I should have left him in with my female so at least there was an increased opportunity for them to pair before he died, and maybe he could have provided nutrients for the slings if she ate him, but I wanted to be very careful. At this point, I doubt there will be a sac. I would not have risked this pairing attempt on a 50/50 trade with someone I didn't know, and would have preferred to purchase him outright.

And finally, I had a recent male mature out and after no one was interested in him (I would have offered him for an outright purchase), I went ahead and purchased a female. I am pretty sure the female ate him, but she's currently sitting on a sac, so it was worth it to me.

I mention these scenarios because I want to make clear that anything can happen, and you need to gauge the risk you're willing to take. The pairing might not take (likely won't with pulchra/quirogai tbh), the male can be eaten even if the breeder is experienced and watching, etc. While a 50/50 trade is nice, it might not work out. Most breeders I know are only inclined to work out 50/50 with males from people they already know or buy outright to avoid dealing with the fallout of a breeding attempt gone awry.

 

[Neonblizzard]

My first MM died without me making any attempt to breed him. I didn't like seeing him slowing fading and dying without anything coming of his life, so I decided to breed future males I had.

My second MM was my first breeding trade. He was one of my favorite tarantulas and I cried when I shipped him off (I paid shipping), but I took a trade of several slings for him (breeder paid shipping), and asked to receive some of his offspring if there was a successful pairing. The breeder was super cool about it and sent me five slings from the resulting sac at my shipping expense. I didn't want to hear if my boy didn't make it, but he apparently went on to another person for breeding. I'm happy to imagine that he might be the father of a few thousand slings.

My third MM I paired myself in a reverse loan, which was local. I only kept one sling because I was doing it for the experience and I'm not a huge fan of the species. My male didn't make it more than 5 months after maturation, but I was able to produce slings, and I think that was is cool.

On the other hand, in November, I received an MM of unknown age on a breeding loan that has likely failed. The MM has since died in an attempted penultimate molt. I still wonder if I should have left him in with my female so at least there was an increased opportunity for them to pair before he died, and maybe he could have provided nutrients for the slings if she ate him, but I wanted to be very careful. At this point, I doubt there will be a sac. I would not have risked this pairing attempt on a 50/50 trade with someone I didn't know, and would have preferred to purchase him outright.

And finally, I had a recent male mature out and after no one was interested in him (I would have offered him for an outright purchase), I went ahead and purchased a female. I am pretty sure the female ate him, but she's currently sitting on a sac, so it was worth it to me.

I mention these scenarios because I want to make clear that anything can happen, and you need to gauge the risk you're willing to take. The pairing might not take (likely won't with pulchra/quirogai tbh), the male can be eaten even if the breeder is experienced and watching, etc. While a 50/50 trade is nice, it might not work out. Most breeders I know are only inclined to work out 50/50 with males from people they already know or buy outright to avoid dealing with the fallout of a breeding attempt gone awry.

Thanks for sharing your experience, it's great hearing from everyone

 

[viper69]

Sell males, never loan

 

[Neonblizzard]

Sell males, never loan

I feel like i would probably just sell rather than loan simply because there's a lot of room for stuff to go wrong or fall out over. But i guess it depends how well you know the person you're loaning to

 

[LucN]

While I don't have the intention to breed yet, I do plan on it eventually for the learning experience. I would choose a species which is reknown to be gentle, easy to care for and long-lived. I would do my best to pass on slings locally before sending some off to a dealer. Until that time comes, I'll continue to pay a little bit extra for a sexed female. I don't mind. I wouldn't feel comfortable to send off any of my MMs to strangers, that's just me.

 

[Matt Man]

I feel like i would probably just sell rather than loan simply because there's a lot of room for stuff to go wrong or fall out over. But i guess it depends how well you know the person you're loaning to

you typically don't get that good of $ for your male so I prefer doing loans for slings. We were loaned a MM GBB and did multiple pairings. They are notoriously difficult so when we reported to the owner the multiple pairings didn't produce a sac they totally understood.
If you have a successful pairing you just have to be honest and share your stock. It's NBD. I can see selling if you have no interest in any of the slings though, some people don't want them, or don't know how to sell them.

 

[Matts inverts]

How many times has the person breed tarantulas or spiders. I would practice on like jumping spiders. It’s not the same but I would want someone to know what they are doing before they try to breed the tarantula.

 

[Neonblizzard]

you typically don't get that good of $ for your male so I prefer doing loans for slings. We were loaned a MM GBB and did multiple pairings. They are notoriously difficult so when we reported to the owner the multiple pairings didn't produce a sac they totally understood.
If you have a successful pairing you just have to be honest and share your stock. It's NBD. I can see selling if you have no interest in any of the slings though, some people don't want them, or don't know how to sell them.

I think it's a combination of me not knowing how to look after a mountain of slings and also not knowing how to sell them... Ending up with 100+ juvie t's sounds frightening haha

 

[Matt Man]

I think it's a combination of me not knowing how to look after a mountain of slings and also not knowing how to sell them... Ending up with 100+ juvie t's sounds frightening haha

totally valid concerns and a totally valid response to said concerns.

 

[Matts inverts]

Most shops that have inverts would love to have G. pulchra slings and the rest, you could sell on Craigslist. and you could keep some of the slings

 

[CommanderBacon]

Most shops that have inverts would love to have G. pulchra slings and the rest, you could sell on Craigslist. and you could keep some of the slings

With G pulchra/quirogai, I think the issue is more of finding a breeder who has been able to successfully get a sac out of them before. Otherwise, you're probably way better off selling him outright :/

 

[Liquifin]

Wow, people have varying opinions. Here's my take.

If you want to loan you need to be aware that there is no 100% chance of slings as anything can happen since it's a risk no matter what. Also, only loan to people you can trust or people who are truly reputable/experienced with "real" experience. There is a few people out there with false credentials in terms of breeding, so stay away from those people as they're probably not-so-experienced when it comes to breeding. You're going to need to find someone who has not only "paired" tarantulas, but someone who has successfully produced offspring with skill and credibility. I'm at a point where if someone wants a loan, they better have proof as a persons' word just doesn't cut it. If you can't find that person then I suggest just selling him off.

I think it's a combination of me not knowing how to look after a mountain of slings and also not knowing how to sell them... Ending up with 100+ juvie t's sounds frightening haha

Yeah, you're probably better off selling your male in that case.

 

[RevS]

I've loaned my only MM (GBB) so far over a month ago.

As I'm not a breeder and never sold a spider before my terms were really good for the breeder who needed a male of that species - I brought him in myself (it was damn cold and I was afraid to ship him), I didn't want money nor did I want half of the slings. I asked for the possible return if he survives and 1-2 slings from successful pairing. They agreed.
To my surprise they just gave me 2 slings out of their stock right away, confirmed my contact info and suggested they might return the male if they're around my area.

I intend to contact them in 3 weeks or so (it'll be two full months) and inquire if the male is still alive.

I'll also try to arrange a loan for my other males when they mature - I simply don't want them to waste away in my care. It's never been an "FI" for me. I just think it's the correct thing to do.

What I've been wondering recently myself is if there's a point in breeding my females. So far my only confirmed ones are T.vagans and P.cambridgei. Basically everyone has them and I don't know if anyone would take the slings from me - even as a wholesale.

 

[RoachCoach]

All my pets die virgins. Haven’t heard one complain yet.

I wish I could count myself and be added there but I have slain many a gross beasts. many. too many.

 

[Neonblizzard]

I've loaned my only MM (GBB) so far over a month ago.

As I'm not a breeder and never sold a spider before my terms were really good for the breeder who needed a male of that species - I brought him in myself (it was damn cold and I was afraid to ship him), I didn't want money nor did I want half of the slings. I asked for the possible return if he survives and 1-2 slings from successful pairing. They agreed.
To my surprise they just gave me 2 slings out of their stock right away, confirmed my contact info and suggested they might return the male if they're around my area.

I intend to contact them in 3 weeks or so (it'll be two full months) and inquire if the male is still alive.

I'll also try to arrange a loan for my other males when they mature - I simply don't want them to waste away in my care. It's never been an "FI" for me. I just think it's the correct thing to do.

What I've been wondering recently myself is if there's a point in breeding my females. So far my only confirmed ones are T.vagans and P.cambridgei. Basically everyone has them and I don't know if anyone would take the slings from me - even as a wholesale.

That's an interesting thought, i have no idea how the market works; i guess its like any 'product' as such where if its already widely available then the demand drops. But on the flip side the hobby is growing constantly, so maybe we'll need even more what we might call the staple tarantulas. They are just as lovely as the rarer ones all the same

 

[RevS]

That's an interesting thought, i have no idea how the market works; i guess its like any 'product' as such where if its already widely available then the demand drops. But on the flip side the hobby is growing constantly, so maybe we'll need even more what we might call the staple tarantulas. They are just as lovely as the rarer ones all the same

That's one thing. The only other reason I can think of is to get some experience in breeding in general before I attempt other (more expensive and/or rare) species.

Say - when my Phormictopus Sp. "Bayahibe" matures and if I end up with a female the males will probably be difficult to come by - it'd be better to have some experience before I attempt breeding.

 

[Craig73]

I wish I could count myself and be added there but I have slain many a gross beasts. many. too many.

Laughing. All of my T’s have a ways to go to maturity. I did do my first ever shipping of four of my slings to another member and arrived alive, so have confidence if I ever do want to ship Ts for breeding I will have had a little experience with that piece.

When I got into T’s last year I never thought of breeding as an aspect. Could change my mind and fortunately have the luxury of time to get educated on it.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

This is just a casual question that I'm interested to hear fellow tarantula owners opinions of.

I mentioned to my friends that if my G pulchra sling is a male i would probably loan him out for breeding, as one T born in captivity is one less taken from the wild. and they found it incredible that i would risk my beloved pet being eaten.

My thoughts were that although it can be risky and sad if were eaten, it's kind of what they were born to do. We can't exactly neuter a T Like we could an animal to remove that instinct to mate; could you consider it cruel to let a mature male frantically wander its enclosure looking for a mate it will never find? Although i understand they don't feel emotions or frustration the way a mammal does...

Would love to hear people's opinions and feelings about this

It's your T and your choice in the end. If you want to mate him please make sure you loan him to a reputable breeder who KNOWS what they are doing. Meaning have alot of experience.

Breeders with experience are more successful saving the male. You're talking about a G. pulchra that is a slow grower and hard to breed. So find an experienced breeder that has more than one female ready to mate.

They are always in demand so if you want to breed please do. Male G. pulchra's average life span is about 8-10 years. So make this one count.

 

[Neonblizzard]

Thank you everyone for your input! If they do end up being a male i think i will put them up for breeding. I see its important for the hobby and there's not that much risk involved with an experienced breeder