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Birth of a Tarantula

patrick

patrick

Tarantulas start as eggs but they don't hatch out of them like other animals. What they do is emerge from the egg. First their fangs/chelicerae will emerge from the egg followed by the two small legs up front that are called pedipalps. After those the carapace and all eight legs will appear. The egg will become their abdomen.

Here's a photo of a few eggs that I've been incubating.

IMG_5484re.jpg


They are about the size of a BB.
 
creepy. Hey I found some praying mantis sacs, ever kept them? I want to hatch some out and feed crickets too them..
 
Stillz I have kept mantids before but they're the exotic kind. Didn't do too well with them either.

I do know a couple of people who do keep them, be happy to contact them for you. Maybe introduce you to them? Just let me know.

Keeping inverts is an addictive hobby, much much worse than collecting peppers. I think.;)

They'll become what is called "eggs with legs" very soon. Not very mobile but looking more like a spider. Then they will molt again, I'll try to get some pics of that and post them up here. They will still be white/translucent.

One more molt then they will be considered tarantulas. They'll get the blue coloring and a blue and white striped abdomen and covered in hair.
 
Captain Murphy said:
They are awesome pets. Here's a pic of my Zorak. He was cool as hell.
Click to expand...

I suppose he was (past tense) until you introduced him to the gal & then she ripped his head off & ate him :lol:
 
Cool Pic Pat. Looking forward to seeing the next stages......How long till they are the normal colour and shape we are used to seeing?
 
Nice pics Patrick. I think we have some wild tarantulas around inour canyons but haven't found one yet. How many do you have?

And Capt. Murphy- cool mantis. What's the lifespan of one of those guys?
 
Mick, looks like you've found a website to help you with the ootheca's cool. If that one isn't as helpful as you need let me know. I've bred about eight different species so far and been successful with six. I have a couple of females now that I'm waiting to see if the mating worked. Some species can mate and wait up to two years plus before making an egg sac. The babies get sold, traded, given away and some are kept for future breeding. The prices vary from just a couple of bucks to over $300. Yes, $300 for one teeny tiny tarantula. Crazy I know. The most I've ever spent on one is $145. Got lucky with it too. It is now a three inch female that I could easily sell for over $350. I'm hoping to let her become a mommy over and over and over again.



Cap Murphy, cool on keep mantids! Like I said earlier I tried with a couple of the more exotic ones, Ghost and Orchid mantids.

Moyboy, It varies on species. This particular one if kept in the 26-28C range will go from this stage to a full fledged tarantula, although very small, in about six weeks or so.

Boutros there are several different species of T's in your neck of the woods. They all belong to the Aphonopelma genus. Some good looking T's for sure. If you grew up around there I'm kind of surprised that you don't have a couple as pets.

There are about 120 of the eggs pictured that I'm waiting on to grow up some. I'll add photos as the reach each stage. I had a sac of the same species emerge about two months ago. They are in their first color/hair stage called third instar. I'll post a photo or two of those here in a second. Too cute believe me.
 
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