For those....

[lynn mawdesley]

...that have bred Aphonopelma, particulary chalcodes whats the average time taken from mating to eggsac and incubation time also ?

Many thanks in advance for any replies

Lynn

[lynn mawdesley]

Anyone???

[James Box]

have to look up later, there was a table of gestation periods in a book i have!

[lynn mawdesley]

have to look up later, there was a table of gestation periods in a book i have!

Thanks James mate She seems to be doing a hell of alot of webbing at the mo although its only been a month since the mating

[James Box]

that's a great sign!

oh have you sent a message i didn't respond to yet?! i got confused lol, will check later

also did i tell you my second female New River moulted? she just had her first crickets served yesterday, and she was rather eager!

[lynn mawdesley]

Dunno James i may have lol terrible memory haha

Good to hear she's moulted bet she looks stunning ! did you notice Lee had a mature male also on the webby, selling a pair? someone has bought them so hopefully lots of streams lol

[James Box]

Probably was me, or another friend! a couple of us have trios coming, arriving Friday, in fact!

edit: whoops might've misunderstood...did you mean chalcodes or new rivers? i meant chalcodes lol! new rivers i am just going to have to wait for my male to mature, and in in the meantime hopefully sort out borrowing yours!

sorry, i just checked the book and it has incubation periods, not gestation periods!!!
if its any help, 64 days incubation for chalcodes, according to Schultz in the tarantula keeper's guide.

[Ray Gabriel]

Aphonopelma sp are an underworked group, especially for breeding. The main problem being getting a large enough group from the same locality, so you know that the dry/wet or warm/cold seasons work for all the specimens. I once had the chance to import around 2 species at the cost of a few dollars each ($10-20), I contacted a couple of people and managed to get an order for around 250 specimens (all common stuff) I was then told the minimum order for overseas was $5000, well I would never manage to sell that many specimens so it fell through.

I would suggest to anyone working this group (I think of Aphonopelma as the equivalent of Northern Grammostola in thier care) that they study the climate for the area and duplicate this as close as possible with a group containing adult and sub adult specimens, so the males mature in time for the females.

I also suggest you obtain and read a copy of W. J. Bearg the tarantula, it tells all about the seasons of Aphonopelma (though this will change for different species) , amongst other things.

Hope this helps

Ray

[James Box]

Thanks Ray, that's much appreciated! of course i am kicking myself for not getting that book at the BTS where i saw it!

shame about that deal falling through before...i have ordered a few species from Lee, arriving with the chalcodes, so hopefully this will be the start of some interesting breeding research!

[lynn mawdesley]

Hi James,

It is for new rivers but chalcodes seems to be the closest to them.

Hi Ray ( sorry havent quite figured out how to multiquote haha)

My new river female moulted out and about a month later the male matured, ive since paired them up about a month ago and he got a good few inserts.
Ive checked the climatic data for the new river area and doing my best to mimic it ...she seems to be webbing up alot although its only been a month i dont expect to see anything just yet.

Thanks for the reply

Lynn

[stuart longhorn]

Can i just say, when considering climate data, make sure to factor in that these spiders live in deep burrows, and the environment in a burrow can differ substantially from the air temp/humidity.

In the daytime, temperature can be considerably lower in the burrows than the ambient air temp, and humidity higher. (and for some, i even expect warmer burrow temps at night than the air temps - I consider the burrows protect the spiders AND provide stabilizing of environmental fluctuations)
Further, consider that alot of the 'desert' Aphonopelma actually can show preference to living along more humid river valleys not the open -baking hot and dry - deserts...,plus burrows are often sealed in the dry season


I think i may be preaching to the converted here.. but just y 2cents worth for for everyone else!
s

[lynn mawdesley]

Can i just say, when considering climate data, make sure to factor in that these spiders live in deep burrows, and the environment in a burrow can differ substantially from the air temp/humidity.

In the daytime, temperature can be considerably lower in the burrows than the ambient air temp, and humidity higher. (and for some, i even expect warmer burrow temps at night than the air temps - I consider the burrows protect the spiders AND provide stabilizing of environmental fluctuations)
Further, consider that alot of the 'desert' Aphonopelma actually can show preference to living along more humid river valleys not the open -baking hot and dry - deserts...,plus burrows are often sealed in the dry season


I think i may be preaching to the converted here.. but just y 2cents worth for for everyone else!
s

Excellent post Stuart ( hope your well btw )
You have made a very important point here and your 2 cents worth is great for the likes of me and others whom are relativley new to the hobby
Tis all down to our good friend Mr James Box now as he has since purchased my mated female
Best of luck James .... and thankyou Stuart for bringing this thread back to life