one of my other hobbies -> Results!

[presspirate]

Allow me to be the first to say.....Eeeeew. I think adult tarantulas are pretty cool. (Couldn't own one myself) But the babies my gosh all I can think is GET EM OFF ME!!! Now that I've said that....

....I have a few questions.

How many babies do you think you have there? (Kind of like guess how many jelly beans in a jar. Sorry, I have no prize for you though.) I'm sure you don't intend to keep them all, so will you sell them locally, or wholesale them? What do they eat as young? How fast do they grow? Will you have to separate them at some point? What do you estimate the survival rate to be? When you breed them, do you breed them in jars, or move them after they have done the deed? How do you know when the female is gravid? After she has laid the eggs, how do you get her out? Or does she not come out till after they have hatched?

Phew.... I'm sorry for all of the questions. Though the little ones are kind of...nasty looking to me. I am absolutely fascinated! Nice job and good luck with them!

[BlindOne]

Originally Posted by presspirate

....I have a few questions.

How many babies do you think you have there? (Kind of like guess how many jelly beans in a jar. Sorry, I have no prize for you though.) I'm sure you don't intend to keep them all, so will you sell them locally, or wholesale them? What do they eat as young? How fast do they grow? Will you have to separate them at some point? What do you estimate the survival rate to be? When you breed them, do you breed them in jars, or move them after they have done the deed? How do you know when the female is gravid? After she has laid the eggs, how do you get her out? Or does she not come out till after they have hatched?

I'm guessing 50-60 spiderlings, it's -very- hard to visually guesstimate, I'll get a full count when I separate them out from mom.

I may sell a few but I will mostly work wholesale trades to get into higher end T's.

They'll eat small crickets. I usually crush the heads and toss them in.

They grow quick, I got these adults as spiderlings in Jan '09.

I expect all of them to survive but I'll have to separate them within a molt or two (1-2 months)

I bred this species by 'shark-tanking' two spider cages in one large cage. This gives the male opportunity to evade a non cooperating female

I knew they were gravid because the female dropped a sac 3 weeks after she was bred. In species where the gestation is longer, you can 'candle' the female, looking for a yellow glow to indicate fertile eggs in her abdomen.

You don't remove a sac from the female until about 30 days unless you have a mechanical mom because the eggs need to be rotated. Mommy spiders actually take very good care of their offspring. They will seal themselves into a chamber to take care of the sac. I've pulled the sac and incubated them myself before but I wanted to let mom take care of this one to see it happen.

Did I get them all?

[presspirate]

Yes you did. Thanks! At what age will you sell them, and what is the growing rate for them? Whats the lifespan?

[BlindOne]

Originally Posted by presspirate

Yes you did. Thanks! At what age will you sell them, and what is the growing rate for them? Whats the lifespan?

I can sell them starting with the next molt, they are fully ready for life ;-D

Males usually live 2-3 years while females can live up to 20 years.