Today in the Spider Room?

[MGHamlin]

I have bred C versi several times. Make sure you keep her fed after pairings. You are right to leave it a few days between pairings but if you see sperm webs say after 3 or 4 days, don't hold him back. It is much better when he is locked and loaded. I usually aim for 3 or 4 successful insertions and then keep the female well fed and watered. If she is going to produce a sac you will see heavier than usual webbing and often they completely seal themselves. IME, they make great mums and you should be able to leave the sac with mum. I do tend to pull the sac at about day 42 (6 weeks) for final incubation but you can pull sooner or just leave with mum and wait for the little blue floofers to emerge.
Good luck

Thanks so much for the excellent advice! I'll give this all a try.

One follow-up question, when you say 3-4 successful insertions, do you mean actual insertions into the epigastric furrow, or 3-4 pairing attempts? I saw what looked to be two good insertions yesterday, and then the male disengaged. If I see another 1-2 successful insertions on the next attempt, is that probably good? Or should I do another 2-3 separate pairing events?

 

[The Spider House]

Thanks so much for the excellent advice! I'll give this all a try.

One follow-up question, when you say 3-4 successful insertions, do you mean actual insertions into the epigastric furrow, or 3-4 pairing attempts? I saw what looked to be two good insertions yesterday, and then the male disengaged. If I see another 1-2 successful insertions on the next attempt, is that probably good? Or should I do another 2-3 separate pairing events?

If the femalenis receptive she will usually allow both palps to be inserted. I still class that as 1 insertion.

So another 2 or 3 if she keeps letting him. If she is really aggressive though in future pairings then it is likely the deed is already done.

 

[MGHamlin]

Would have been really cool if you could have deposited her in the turret under the cork bark. Instant familiar home.

I have bred C versi several times. Make sure you keep her fed after pairings. You are right to leave it a few days between pairings but if you see sperm webs say after 3 or 4 days, don't hold him back. It is much better when he is locked and loaded. I usually aim for 3 or 4 successful insertions and then keep the female well fed and watered. If she is going to produce a sac you will see heavier than usual webbing and often they completely seal themselves. IME, they make great mums and you should be able to leave the sac with mum. I do tend to pull the sac at about day 42 (6 weeks) for final incubation but you can pull sooner or just leave with mum and wait for the little blue floofers to emerge.
Good luck

If the femalenis receptive she will usually allow both palps to be inserted. I still class that as 1 insertion.

So another 2 or 3 if she keeps letting him. If she is really aggressive though in future pairings then it is likely the deed is already done.

Thanks again! I'll give it a couple more goes, but will watch for signs that she's already had enough. She was very receptive yesterday and I was surprised at how well behaved she was. She basically laid flat on her back on the cork bark to give him great access, and she didn't chase or react to the male as he disengaged; she basically just let him back away and kept laying in what I can only describe as a relaxed posture.

 

[The Spider House]

Thanks again! I'll give it a couple more goes, but will watch for signs that she's already had enough. She was very receptive yesterday and I was surprised at how well behaved she was. She basically laid flat on her back on the cork bark to give him great access, and she didn't chase or react to the male as he disengaged; she basically just let him back away and kept laying in what I can only describe as a relaxed posture.

He is a stud then
TBH, versi are usually very receptive. Sounds like a perfect match so you should have success. When did the female moult?

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

First time experiencing T death. One of my first tarantula 0.0.1 B. auratum (2") death curl this morning. I saw it moving this past week and it was on pre-molt.

I’m very sorry for your loss! One you’ve raised is even more of a gut punch. With a brachy, 2” May have been a long time.

 

[zsiciarz]

Finally got to build the fourth planted enclosure to fill the empty space on the Psalmopoeinae shelf. The rightmost one will most likely house my Amazonius burgessi female.

 

[The Spider House]

As at 14.4.24 the following breeding updates in The Spider House...

Pamphobeteus mascara nymphs ready to get to L1 any day now

Pamphobeteus machalla egg sac (~14 days)

Ceribena versicolor egg sac x2 (9.4.24 and 13.4.24)

Pamphobeteus ultramarinus and Theraphosa blondi hopefully going to drop a sac any day soon.

 

[FlamingSwampert]

Last night my t albo left it's burrow for the first time in over a month and ate for the first time in my care! Love these guys but I can't wait til they're more active!

 

[MGHamlin]

He is a stud then
TBH, versi are usually very receptive. Sounds like a perfect match so you should have success. When did the female moult?

The female molted about four months ago, which has me a little anxious she'll molt out instead of lay an egg sac. I've got limited time with the male, though, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I'm assuming if she molts out, and the male is still around, I can try again.

Relatedly, and very unusual for my female versi, I caught her out drinking from her water bowl this afternoon. I always keep a bowl in there, but I've never seen her drink from it. I usually shoot some drops on her webbing and that seems to fit the bill for her. Is seeking out water a sign of anything regarding breeding?

I've dropped a pic of her drinking. She's got a big ol' caboose!

 

[CalicoGremlin]

Rehoused a bunch of Aphonopelmas today! Got everybody some nice grow out enclosures from the show yesterday, and some new Ts to put in them too!
0.0.1 A. sp jalisco. Bold little critter, immediately started exploring and found their mealworm snack.

And now for the new Ts!
O.1 A. michoacán. Gave me my second ever threat pose! Was not expecting that from an aphonopelma lol. Plopped the catch cup over her and the rest of the rehouse went smoothly. Girly just doesn't like the paintbrush.¯\_(ツ)_/¯
0.0.1 A. steindachneri. Rehoused this one to a smaller dram vial. They are currently the smallest T in my collection!
0.0.1 A. anax. I've never seen an anax with coloring like this, so of course I had to snag them up! So far their temper is as good as their looks, an all around beaut!

 

[l4nsky]

O.1 A. michoacán. Gave me my second ever threat pose! Was not expecting that from an aphonopelma lol. Plopped the catch cup over her and the rest of the rehouse went smoothly. Girly just doesn't like the paintbrush.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This is likely not Aphonopelma sp Michoacan, but instead an unknown Tliltocatl spp. There was a large importer that had some confusion with their MX breeder and missold some tarantulas in the not too distant past.

It looks like you do have a P. sp rufus and P. everetti, so it appears to be just a simple labeling mistake that happened somewhere down the line. I wouldn't immediately start questioning every other sling you purchased from them, but I'd keep good records of what you did and try to verify their identity before they ever leave my collection.

I had something similar happen to me recently with some small Aphonopelma sp Michoacan juvies. Bought three from two different vendors, started to question why they didn't look anything like my adults, and started to investigate. One of the vendors is a buddy of mine and he helped me kick the can back to the importer, who then reached out to their breeder overseas who confirmed they had a mixup and sent slings from a Tliltocatl eggsack labeled as A. sp Michoacan, but they didn't say which Tliltocatl sp.

AFAIK, the importer took the "A. sp Michoacan" slings off their wholesale list, but didn't send out any communication about the mixup, so that's going to be a problem for anyone trying to breed this species in the future..... Basically, if you purchased an A. sp Michoacan and it looked like this when young, then it's not A. sp Michoacan:
View attachment 454790

Anyways, the three "A. sp Michoacan" juvies I purchased, which were actually a Tliltocatl sp, were gifted to a friend who understands their identity problem, and I have since purchased other animals from the same importer. I'm raising them up now, so we'll see if they turn out to be the right species lol.

https://arachnoboards.com/threads/today-in-the-spider-room.306112/post-3362919

 

[The Spider House]

The female molted about four months ago, which has me a little anxious she'll molt out instead of lay an egg sac. I've got limited time with the male, though, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I'm assuming if she molts out, and the male is still around, I can try again.

Relatedly, and very unusual for my female versi, I caught her out drinking from her water bowl this afternoon. I always keep a bowl in there, but I've never seen her drink from it. I usually shoot some drops on her webbing and that seems to fit the bill for her. Is seeking out water a sign of anything regarding breeding?

I've dropped a pic of her drinking. She's got a big ol' caboose!

4 months post moult will hopefully be ok. Ideally you are looking at less than 3 months bit as an adult should be moulting once a year ish anyway so should have approx 6 months which is usually enough time to produce a sac.

RE: Drinking. Likely just to be coincidence and never noticed before. As always though, water should always be available. I usually hot glue a water dish (plastic cap will do) on the bark or side of terrarium as well as a ground water dish for all my arboreal.

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Just amazed at the transformation Ephebopus murinus, Kuyuri, made of her home. A few weeks ago, I got to witness her making these changes.

Her prior arboreal life. She lived in the back left corner and hunted from her porch there.

In just a few days time, she redecorated and burrowed.


Her new hunting stance in fossorial life:

 

[NMTs]

Last night I "shark-tanked" this MM Phormingochilus everetti in my female's enclosure to see if either of them showed interest in pairing. I'd say the answer was yes:



There was also about 4-5 hours of constant activity of them trying to figure out how to get to each other, which was recorded using my motion-activated home security cameras. The male will be introduced for real this evening, wish him luck!

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Last night I "shark-tanked" this MM Phormingochilus everetti in my female's enclosure to see if either of them showed interest in pairing. I'd say the answer was yes:

I love this concept. I haven’t been sure if my P irminia female is mature or not, but that may be a way of telling without endangering my male. She’s grown extremely reclusive, so maybe not, but may be worth a shot.

 

[NMTs]

I love this concept. I haven’t been sure if my P irminia female is mature or not, but that may be a way of telling without endangering my male. She’s grown extremely reclusive, so maybe not, but may be worth a shot.

I've read about shark-tanking and seen videos of it, but this is the first time I've tried it. My female above is very reclusive, too, and has been very well fed, so I wouldn't think she was coming out to see what was on the menu (I hope). It also helped me get a better understanding of just how big she really is compared to the male!

I'm following @l4nsky advice pretty closely on this project since he's had so much success breeding the genus. Hopefully I can chip in a little bit, too!

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

I've read about shark-tanking and seen videos of it, but this is the first time I've tried it. My female above is very reclusive, too, and has been very well fed, so I wouldn't think she was coming out to see what was on the menu (I hope). It also helped me get a better understanding of just how big she really is compared to the male!

I'm following @l4nsky advice pretty closely on this project since he's had so much success breeding the genus. Hopefully I can chip in a little bit, too!

Whenever I heard about shark tanking, I erroneously thought they put the male in there with the lid off. >_<

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Happy day! MM Psalmopoeus irminia, Wei, had the super worm I prekilled for him last night in his mouth this morning and looks like he ate about 2/3 of it.

 

[fcat]

@IntermittentSygnal
Update on my Ephebopus cyanognathus rehouse. She did end up incorporating/bringing her old turret into her new hidey hole. It's hard to tell but she did a nice job smoothing it all out


The orange

Looks like she is working on a bit of a sock behind it, leading to the backside of her new hidey hole


I basically glitter bombed her enclosure with building materials but it's just webbing for now :/

Her lid lock/paperweight/potential betrothed, Fornax. Looks like I rang the dinner bell taking pictures, also appears to have molted and put on a lot of size. Haven't seen him in a month. One of the few "reclusive" Ts that is always visible at the top of his turret. I missed him.