We need more captive-bred native Aphonopelma's in the hobby

[Spiderkid]

So, a few weeks ago I found some awesome T's at an awesome price. I stopped by my LPS to pick up some feeders, and I saw that they had five Aphonopelmas, all labeled as "U.S. Desert Tarantulas". I asked the employees if they knew what species they had, but they were pretty clueless (and scared of them too, lol). They seemed really anxious to get rid of them, and were willing to take $70 for all five. I did some research on my own, and talked to a local entomology professor that I know. I'm now fairly certain that I have two A.reversum (suspect pair), two A. brunnius (another suspect pair), and I'm still working on identifying the last one I'm hoping to start a breeding project a few years down the line. Have A.reversum or A. brunnius ever been successfully bred in captivity? IMO, Aphonopelmas are really underrated in the hobby, especially the ones native to the U.S. Hopefully, you guys will see some of my slings in the classifieds section in the future I'll try to put up some pics soon, but first I have to get my digital camera fixed (no idea how long that'll take lol)

 

[Solucki]

They had about 100 a. Hentzi slings at lps in austin for $3 a piece.

 

[Spiderkid]

But these were all around 3-5in DLS. And it was cool to see something besides A. hentzi, A. chalcodes, A. sp "New River", and A. sp "Flagstaff Orange".

 

[Giantsfan24]

They are quite under rated. Many are quite pretty. The bicoloratum(sp?) is often confused with a B Boehmei and the Chalcodes(and all 8000 of its sub species) are very beautiful as well. A high contrast Hentzi is gorgeous. They are generally caml(though some can be fiesty) and move around quite a bit. They burrow yet are not pet holes. In the US, they may not seem exotic because all of them are local.

 

[tonypace2009]

all my Aphonopelma hentzies are beautiful to me. When in
Juvenile stage they tend to be a dull brown but
After they reach there mature molt they get to the contrasting
Colors . Once out of there containers they are very calm.
They seem to be underrated . They just take forever to grow.

 

[grayzone]

currently working on a chalcodes project.
Would LOVE to add some bicoloratum or moderatum to my collection and attempt to get more of them going around

 

[toast4nat]

I love my A. schmidti. She's always moving around and I love the gold/black contrast. I'd love to breed her eventually, but obviously, I'd have to find someone to do that. Plus, I've had her for over a year with no molt and no signs of pre-molt. She's probably pretty old, I know for sure she's WC. Love her though, she's my baby Barbie

 

[Drezno]

I think the issue is twofold: incredibly slow growth rates and relatively easy access to WC adults. If you breed them, you might have to wait for quite a while to sell your slings (or just sell them small... if there's a market for tiny and slow growing Aphonopelma slings). If you're in the US and can get WC adults, I imagine you can make a lot more money a lot faster just selling those.

A. moderatum and A. bicoloratum are the best looking in my opinion, and I would definitely love to see more CB's around!

 

[grayzone]

see.. and thats the thing that bothers me.
People want ts, but will buy them from other hobbiests as WC sub/adults due to growth rate..
in a way, isnt that promoting the same UNDESIRABLE business as the T catchers that import WC to our LPS?

I have no clue if my female is WC or not, but she is about 4" .. i got her as a freebie and have been sucessfully pairing her. Im not in it for a buck or two per sling .. if i can sucessfully breed her, the slings will go for trades or freebies to those who want them or buy other ts i have in the works.

---------- Post added 12-02-2012 at 02:05 PM ----------

imo, if you dont have the patience to raise it, you probably wont appreciate it in your collection!

 

[Drezno]

in a way, isnt that promoting the same UNDESIRABLE business as the T catchers that import WC to our LPS?

Yeah, I would say so. It would be ideal if nobody had to take tarantulas out of their natural habitats, but money can be a pretty powerful motivator...

 

[grayzone]

well, remember that if nobody took ts out of their natural habitat, we would be limited to Aphonopelma... maybe some Brachys?

Exporting them in incredible numbers is what the problem has been. The whole animal trade (not just tarantulas) is very profitable.

---------- Post added 12-02-2012 at 02:18 PM ----------

continuing to buy WC tarantulas, while there are PLENTY of available CB ones of the same species (just because of size or shipping price) does nothing positive for the hobby

 

[Drezno]

I was meaning it would be ideal if we had sufficient captive breeding populations of all the Ts people want in the hobby.

 

[grayzone]

well, for the most part we DO. But like you previously stated.. greed is a powerful motivator.
When i say greed, i mean BOTH sides of the fence too.

Sellers jack up prices with every seasonal change due to supply and demand
Buyers pick and choose due to numerous options (including buying WC from hobbiests/LPS ts to save a few bucks)

The only time i feel it ok to buy a WC tarantula really is when its VERY rare in the current US hobby, and its for boosting the number of CB slings. Come on I. seladonium

 

[Spiderkid]

I've never seen A. Brunnius or A. Reversum for sale in the pet trade- the reason these T's caught my eye was because they looked different from the usual A. hentzi or A. chalcodes I see from time to time in pet stores. And if my breeding project does work out, most of them will be given to friends of mine that keep T's (or anyone that asks nicely ) I just wanna see more Aphonopelmas in the hobby- as Solucki stated, they aren't exactly profitable to breed anyway.

 

[Amoeba]

http://youtu.be/41FCTonTZkE?hd=1

I'm in love with my girl, she is so sweet and gentle.

Next on my list will be
A. anax and A. paloma.

 

[Philth]

I did some research on my own, and talked to a local entomology professor that I know. I'm now fairly certain that I have two A.reversum (suspect pair), two A. brunnius (another suspect pair),

I'd like to hear more about how you and the local entomology professor determined the 2 species? :? I find it odd to find those two species to end up at a pet shop in the north East.

Later, Tom

 

[taraction]

aren't some aphonopelma species really hard to breed? seems that people have had only limited success with some of them.

my lps is offering a pair of 1" a. bicoloratum slings for $70 each. i haven't seen them offered since 2008! i'm tempted to pick them up but by the time they're ready to breed i might have to pass the project onto the next generation.

 

[captmarga]

I have a huge A hentzi breeding project going on (with animals removed from sites where they would have been killed off, construction and a private yard where we have so far located 44 burrows in a 100 sq yard area), along with chalcodes, paysoni and moderatum breedings.

I would like to see more being offered from already-captive parents instead of continuing to have more taken from the wild.

I hope to add anax to that list soon, and any other natives I come across.

Marga

 

[Spiderkid]

I'd like to hear more about how you and the local entomology professor determined the 2 species? :? I find it odd to find those two species to end up at a pet shop in the north East.

Later, Tom

We used a hand lense to look @ the structure of the chelicerae, pedipalps, and first pair of legs, which we compared to diagrams and illustrations in a few old field guides and web databases...and I have no idea how they ended up in the shop- usually they only have the standard G. rosea and rarely an A. avic. I'll ask them about it next time I stop by to pick up feeders (which might be a while lol, I have enough Dubias to last months )

 

[BrettG]

We are working with chalcodes,time will tell if we did anything right.