(Template courtesy Magnificent Duke)

Genus: Poecilotheria
Species: metallica
Date female moulted last: Can't remember.
Date male matured: 2011.
Last mating date: Not known, co habitation.
Mating behaviour: Just leave them together for as long as you can.
Tank conditions and temperatures before mating: The enclosure is kept above twenty degrees, with no water bowl. (I never use one anyway). The enclosure is allowed to dry out somewhat. Food is provided once a week.
Tank conditions and temperatures after mating: The male died inside the females enclosure. I only noticed this when I noticed a colony of Isopods walking all over him. I thought this was odd, so I picked out his remains. Thanks Isopods, you cleaned up well. Mating was never witnessed.
Feeding schedule after mating: They are fed once a week with a hand full of crickets.
Date egg sac produced: Monday 23 April 2012.
Date egg sac removed: Wednesday 2 May 2012.
Development time of nymphs: Unknown.
Total number of spiderlings: Yet unknown
Additional notes: Contrary to popular belief, these spiders are full of shit when it comes to breeding. The male and female lived together for most part of December 2011 up to the day he died inside her enclosure somewhere in April of 2012. I placed the enclosure next to a heat source during 2011 already and provided a thermostat that kept the temperature between 28 and 30 degrees. During December 2011 and January 2012, the temperature in her enclosure sometimes went above 34 degrees, but I left it there and just sprayed some water. This I did once a week, sometimes twice a week. Heavy droplets seem to simulate rain, so I never "mist" as such. Something else I did, and don't think anybody else does, during a thunderstorm, I would open my spider room door and windows, then open this females enclosure and leave like that for about an hour. During this time, the fresh scent of rain engulfs everything. I then close the enclosure and feed heavily. No idea if this has any influence, I just like the idea.

She started webbing her egg case during the night of 22 April and completed it during the morning.

Female with egg case.


After many a consultation with my trusted friends Ceratogyrus and Hendrijs and some serious weighing of risks, I decided to pull the egg case today. I figured that the eggs would be well sealed and hopefully fertilized. I also did not want her to screw it up, that I can do myself, so I pulled it from her in one hell of a battle. I was afraid she might tear it, but fortunately, it came out all good. The egg case has a beautiful and healthy yellow glow under torch light.


To maintain similar conditions, I decided to invent a safe resting place for the egg case because I will only open it in two weeks or so. I used tooth picks and placed them at about the same level the female was when I took the egg case from her. This is to keep it away from the substrate and allow air flow around the sac which I will rotate three times a day. The conditions where the egg case is resting now is exactly like it was before I pulled it.


Because the egg case is very susceptible to all sorts of crap, I placed a paper towel on the tooth pics to absorb any unwanted dew and/or water droplets.


To summarize, in actual fact, I did not pull the egg case, I pulled the mother. I will update this thread with whatever news or development there is in two weeks from now. Holding thumbs, thus far the Gooty gods have been kind. They better keep it up...

scarab@tarantulas.co.za ;)

Scarab wrote: Something else I did, and don't think anybody else does, during a thunderstorm, I would open my spider room door and windows, then open this females enclosure and leave like that for about an hour. During this time, the fresh scent of rain engulfs everything. I then close the enclosure and feed heavily.

I realise Scarab said he doesn't know if this has an effect on the tarantula or not, But does anybody have any proof of this actually working or affecting the tarantula in any way? It would be quite interesting if it did in fact provoke a tarantula to lay an egg case...

Vinzy wrote:

Scarab wrote: Something else I did, and don't think anybody else does, during a thunderstorm, I would open my spider room door and windows, then open this females enclosure and leave like that for about an hour. During this time, the fresh scent of rain engulfs everything. I then close the enclosure and feed heavily.

I realise Scarab said he doesn't know if this has an effect on the tarantula or not, But does anybody have any proof of this actually working or affecting the tarantula in any way? It would be quite interesting if it did in fact provoke a tarantula to lay an egg case...

I wouldn't be surprised if it does have an affect.
When my spiders use to live in my garage, they would often come out of hiding a few hours before a thundershower hit. Way before I could even see clouds on the horizon.
They are a lot more sensitive to conditions (Heard theories of atmospheric pressure affecting moults/sacs, etc) so who knows, maybe it does convince them?

That incubation technique will work. I have a saved document of a UK/German member also doing the same thing. He removed the female then placed the eggsack on a hammock in side the enclosure.

Back to the rain topic. A person can easily build a ion / ozone generator and just place a few foggers / misters high on a stand and see what happens, the ion generator will give you the clean fresh smell of rain and the foggers well.. humidity.

So now we are waiting on the other females Scarab

PS: would you be able to construct a hammock inside the hide via cutting off the rim of a plastic container and hot gluing the mesh / material over the rim and then add a few hot glue blobs to hold the hammock in place? Maybe some discussion and views from other members?

I am working on a project to simulate eggsack rotation like that of a female, but will first start a thread about this idea and send the patent to RobC to test in his Mechmom if everything works then they will be cheaply available to all.

But let me not get side tracked right now. Congratulations Scarab we have all been waiting on you and your P.metallica's
Will definitely start saving as I know alot of members will be buying all the slings as soon as they are ready for the market

I still get a feeling atmospheric pressure could play a part, which would be very difficult to simulate.

I shall have pretty blue maidens waiting mate... are those from my first batch?

I is turning my sac three to four times a day at the moment, then I turn the P metallica sac as well. The eggs are still loose and egg yolk yellow. I do find Isopods on or around the egg case every time, but that is a good thing I think. They obviously nibble at all sorts of debris. I shall bliksem them if I find one running off with a spider egg...