wive's tale

Reynolds wrote: I have read a article saying that some Ts can breed before they are full mature(The report was on a H.lividum).

can anyone confirm this or is it just a wise tale? They were saying that it is easier to breed smaller females, even though they produce less eggs. Can any one confirm this with any genus?

I think what they were trying to say is that you can breed a female before it is full grown.
The spider obviously has to be mature to breed. Think people don't always realise that most species mature much earlier than people think. Have heard that its around 70% of fully grown size, but sure there are lots of other guesses as to what percentage this is.
As long as the spiders spermatecae have darkened, they should be good to go.
All of this is regarding the female of course.
Heard of an ex member of the site who had a look at a moult from a P.subfusca and the spermatecae were schlerotized at around 9cm I think. Most people would wait till around 12-13 cm before thinking that the spider was mature.

Ceratogyrus wrote: I think what they were trying to say is that you can breed a female before it is full grown.
The spider obviously has to be mature to breed. Think people don't always realise that most species mature much earlier than people think. Have heard that its around 70% of fully grown size, but sure there are lots of other guesses as to what percentage this is.
As long as the spiders spermatecae have darkened, they should be good to go.
All of this is regarding the female of course.
Heard of an ex member of the site who had a look at a moult from a P.subfusca and the spermatecae were schlerotized at around 9cm I think. Most people would wait till around 12-13 cm before thinking that the spider was mature.

So as a point of reference.
If you look at my latest pictures here:
www.tarantulas.co.za/forum/show-and-tell...it=12&start=24#22576
The second set could be ready to breed?

SynergyZA wrote:

Ceratogyrus wrote: I think what they were trying to say is that you can breed a female before it is full grown.
The spider obviously has to be mature to breed. Think people don't always realise that most species mature much earlier than people think. Have heard that its around 70% of fully grown size, but sure there are lots of other guesses as to what percentage this is.
As long as the spiders spermatecae have darkened, they should be good to go.
All of this is regarding the female of course.
Heard of an ex member of the site who had a look at a moult from a P.subfusca and the spermatecae were schlerotized at around 9cm I think. Most people would wait till around 12-13 cm before thinking that the spider was mature.

So as a point of reference.
If you look at my latest pictures here:
www.tarantulas.co.za/forum/show-and-tell...it=12&start=24#22576
The second set could be ready to breed?

What size is she?
But she looks good for a first attempt.

Hi guys,

How important is the night cycle? Do the T's need certain amount of darkness for them to breed succesfull?
How bad is it for your T's if you would go into the room were they are kept in the middle of the night and switch on the light. Would this influence the female negatively to the point that she will not produce a eggsack or maybe influence her health negatively?

Thanks

Thanks guys, the info is much appreciated! Even if its just to increase my knowledge of T's in general!

now another question would be, how do take care of 500 plus slings? I cant imagine having 500 pill bottles lying around in my house hehe.