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First breeding attempt
After keeping tarantulas for nearly 10 years, last week I made my first attempt at breeding them with a pair of Grammostola porteri. I acquired an adult female from a friend free of charge and bought a WC male from an online seller. He was a little scraggly when he arrived so I fed him up a bit while I waited to see if he would make a sperm web as I suspected that he may have already been paired with another female the seller had. A couple of weeks and a few cockroachs later this suspicion seemed to be confirmed when I observed him in his sperm web and so the following week I introduced him to her enclosure. I had heard drumming through the night for the 3 weeks their tanks had been side by side and it looked to me, although I have no experience, that she was expecting him....
So, I'm fairly confident after watching other videos on YouTube that things went according to plan, her behaviour has changed, not drastically, but she has set about digging in the corner under the cork bark which she hadn't done previously and she spends a lot more time hiding than she did. The male looked to have made a sperm web the very next day only this time I only saw what looked to be the remains of it so I'm not so sure, especially as I thought it would take much longer.
Then plan is to give 2 weeks since the first pairing and then give it a second go, as per the advice I was given on RFUK and what I have read of others doing on the arachnoboards. I posted here seeking confirmation that this would be the best way to proceed and any advice or comment on the behaviour I have seen from experienced breeders.
Thanks for reading, Paul.
So, I'm fairly confident after watching other videos on YouTube that things went according to plan, her behaviour has changed, not drastically, but she has set about digging in the corner under the cork bark which she hadn't done previously and she spends a lot more time hiding than she did. The male looked to have made a sperm web the very next day only this time I only saw what looked to be the remains of it so I'm not so sure, especially as I thought it would take much longer.
Then plan is to give 2 weeks since the first pairing and then give it a second go, as per the advice I was given on RFUK and what I have read of others doing on the arachnoboards. I posted here seeking confirmation that this would be the best way to proceed and any advice or comment on the behaviour I have seen from experienced breeders.
Thanks for reading, Paul.
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