Breeding???

[Mert TURKOGLU]

Hi everybody..I recently bought 2 X Mature female and a mature male Grammostola roseas. The male has his boxing glove like palps and his hooks. I really cant seem to find a detail dscription on how to mate them. I'm a noobie in the hobby and kindly am asking a description on how??? Can I put them together straight away or do I have to wait for a sign or anything. Some help please before I feed my female a male : ) Thanks in advance . Best Regards. Mert TURKOGLU

[James Box]

hi mate, i'd just carefully introduce the male into the enclosure of the female. if you do it from the opposite side to wherever she is, he'll have a chance to work out where he is before she pounces (and she might do, just to prepare you for the worst).
once the male touches her silk (if she's had a chance to lay much), he should start vibrating and drumming...and hopefully she'll like the sound of that and approach him...
just be cautious and watchful, keep maybe a plastic lid or something ready to go between them if it goes sour, not that you'll have alot of warning.
the female should approach slowly, but not in a hunting pose (sorry, that's no help, as you're new you may not know the very subtle difference, which is so subtle i can't describe it!) and may raise up and spread her fangs wide. this is again, subtly different from a threat pose...VERY subtly.
it's normal to be overcautious and read everything she does as a threat, but give the male a chance!
hopefully someone with a bit more experience can enlighten you further, or correct any mistakes of mine!

[Mandy Clinch]

I have no personal experience of breeding but the one thing i do know is to feed her up very well before you introduce him. If she is full it is far less likely that he will end up as dinner!

Other than that i have no idea...has he produced a sperm sac?

[Mert TURKOGLU]

Mandy thanks, during my care he has not I bought them a week ago. The owner told me that they were ready but felt a little suspicious and wanted to ask first. Some say that they were probably WC and the female could already be gravid. The male has his hooks and the boxing glove like pedipalps, the pedipalps were the reason I may think his ready cause they look full ... I'll inform you as soon as I advance. Best Regards...

[Mert TURKOGLU]

James I posted a reply but cant see it now. Thanks for the answer. I a real newbie to recognize those subtle diffeences I guess he will have to wait for awhile thanks alot..

[Stanley A. Schultz]

First, welcome to the hobby and welcome to this forum!

... I really cant seem to find a detail dscription on how to mate them. ...

[WARNING! INCOMING, UNABASHED, SELF-SERVING RECOMMENDATION. If you're the least bit sensitive to this sort of thing please move to the next posting in this thread, or on to the next thread.]

Normally I don't actively push my own book (others are usually good enough about that), but since you asked...

First, read "Chapter 9: The Well-Bred Tarantula" in The Tarantula Keeper's Guide, beginning on page 259. Note that you don't have to run out and buy a copy of the book. Most larger public libraries have copies on their shelves. Just make sure you get the newest edition. You can tell the difference by visiting http://people.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/g0.html and closely comparing the covers.

[END: INCOMING, UNABASHED, SELF-SERVING RECOMMENDATION.]

Then read http://people.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/roses.html, The Care and Husbandry of the Chilean Rose Tarantula.

Their peculiar response to being switched from a southern to a northern hemisphere timetable interferes with their breeding in captivity. You must be careful to either breed two individuals that have not yet made the adjustment, or two individuals who have completed that adjustment. Mix and match doesn't work. When he's ready she has a headache, and vice versa. Or, they often mate like bunnies, but with no production.

Also, whichever situation yours fall into, you need to breed them during their normal breeding season. That would be our spring for the unacclimated ones and our fall for the acclimated ones.

You should also know that breeding these tarantulas in captivity is a fairly difficult proposition. Most of the babies that are available in the hobby and pet industry are acquired from newly captured females that produced an eggsac shortly after arriving in someone's collection. Dealers who import them have learned to watch carefully their newly arrived females from the end of September through the end of January for that purpose.

... I'm a noobie in the hobby ...

Then also read http://people.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/stansrant.html, Stan's Rant, and save yourself heap of trouble and expense.

Best of luck, and enjoy your newfound little buddies!

[Mert TURKOGLU]

Stan thanks for the answer. I found your book and ordered it..