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  • #1

    Tarantula inbreeding

    I know there are people here who know more about the science of spiders than the average hobbyist so I was wondering if anyone can shed some light on this question.

    Has there been any observation of the results of spider inbreeding? Do we have any idea if it is as harmful as it can be in vertebrates, or even if we don't know can anyone make an educated guess as to whether it would be?

    I ask because I have some B. smithi slings I plan to breed (in about 50 years when they're all grown up!) but 5 of them are sacmates. I'm sure they won't care themselves but I can't help wondering if that's a bad idea. But I also can't help thinking that it must be a reasonably regular thing? A lot of people who buy slings at the same time must get them from the same sac, and if they then swap Ts around for breeding I guess their must be some incest going on. Or does the difference in the time to male and female maturity ensure this doesn't happen?

    I suppose it would be interesting to perform a long term experiment on by breeding several generations from one original sac. Would have to be something that grows a bit quicker than a Brachy tho, lol.
    Tags: inbreeding, tarantula
  • #2
    i think... just think mind, there was a thread about this not too long ago. shold still be here somewhere, as from what i can remember, inbreeding doesnt seem to affect them, but like you said... i think a long experiment would be needed to get the right answer

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    • #3
      It is apparently not harmful to Ts, although this topic has been brought up and given many replies before, so you probably wont get many this time....
      Try using the search feature for 'inbreeding' and you should find all your questions answered
      Hope this helps a little!

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      • #4
        Ok, I managed to find it. Sorry bout that, should have used the search first

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        • #5
          As Jason and Oli have said above, this has been brought up several times and there is a fair amount of information and peoples "views" on the forum if you use the search facility.
          also there are two entries in early journals, i'm not sure if these are available anymore (maybe Mark, Ray or Richard will enlighten the issue)
          these are
          Journal of the British Tarantula Society: Volume 5, No. 3, 1990
          Judith Layzell Inbreeding. 12

          Journal of the British Tarantula Society: Volume 6, No. 1, 1990
          Jason Dunlop The ins and outs of inbreeding. 13—14

          Also try searching the old interweb, there's a few threads in other forums that provide a *percentage* of constructive comments

          Hope this helps

          Colin
          Don't forget to learn what you can, when you can, where you can.



          Please Support CB Grammostola :- Act Now To Secure The Future

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          • #6
            can't recall the journal number, but there's an article on P murinus inbreeding, specifically. the upshot is that there didn't seem to be any negative effects of inbreeding quite a few generations of P murinus.
            we don't know alot about inbreeding inverts, but alot of inverts can reproduce without mating, so hard to say, really. it's a different world.
            mixing bloodlines when possibly probably doesn't hurt, though.
            Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
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            • #7
              The reference you want is:
              O'Dell, G. 2006. Breeding mythology explored in Pterinochilus murinus and other theraphosid species. Journal of the British Tarantula Society, 21 (2): 39–46.

              4 generations of inbreeding and no problems...

              The reports of 'inbreeding depression' in theraphosids date back to the early days - times when successful captive breeding itself was a rarity. In other words, people were quick to blame inbreeding for duff egg-sacs, but we now realise that other factors are often the cause: too dry, too humid etc. Don't believe that overused factoid that small males are the result of inbreeding - total BS given that wild museum specimens can display the same size range.

              Lesson of the day - don't extrapolate vertebrate biology to invertebrate examples.

              Anybody got a batch of my prolific lobster roaches? Well they were founded on 4 nymphs found in a tub of crickets. I haven't added any other stock to them since I've had them several years ago. They've been through several population bottle-necks where I've over-used the colony, which reduced genetic diversity even more. They are still as prolific as ever and extremely inbred.

              Cheers,
              Richard

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