# p. metallica breeding (how long until i shoot myself?)



## dragon's den (Oct 6, 2010)

my wife and i had been after giving the metallicas a go at breeding, so we purchased a 5.5" female and a fresh mm from 2 different sellers at hamm last december, i was told by the seller of the female that she was in pre-moult and will be mature enough and ready for breeding afterwards. she moulted shortly after christmas so i fed her up and put the mm in. 
he would drum and build sperm webs but i never saw any mating or even receptive behaviour from the female. i let them co-hab for a month and then out he came. she moulted about 3 months ago :bash: so anyway, i fed her up again and, seeing as he was still making sperm webs iput him back in for a co-hab period and just a month ago i took him out, same old stuff happened and no matings were witnessed although, i was once over the other side of the room and heard a loud knock, i thought 'what just made that noise?' i looked and the female was facing the mm (who was in a corner) then turned and went back in her hide, very odd, whether they mated or whether she hit him i dont know.
now she is fat, but i dont really know if she is gravid or not, iv tried candle lighting and i dont think the torch is powerful enough to do it correctly. im just a bit :hmm:as to the next course of action, if they did mate, when? and if she is gravid im stuck as to when i should warm her up, she wont eat anymore and i dont know if that is due to her just being full. 
i have heard of people having success warming them up when presumed gravid, she is at room temp now. whats everyones thoughts? iv had sacs from p. striata and even subfusca (low) but im sure the metallica just sits in her hide going 'amuhahahaaa!' to my attempts :devil:


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

have a read of this if you haven't already
Poecilotheria mettallica Mating to EWL's


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## Danhalen (Jun 6, 2008)

My advice would be to try and find a couple of females. Most people who have success tend to have more than one.

I tried with a single female for about 3 years or so with no luck - came close last year, to the point where she "fluffy" webbed her tube up (usually a very good sign) but then the weather went nuclear within a matter of a day or two, lasting for a number of weeks and completely screwing up the years worth of conditioning I gave her before hand and resulting in a rapid moult out.

You can read about my catalog of failures here: Tarantula Forum • View topic - P. metallica breeding attempt

Some people tell me it's the female I was using, others suggested I was too "hands on". Either way, after the amount of research I did I'm quite confident of the technique I listed, although I did decide not to keep the female and take a break for a while. 

In the mean time 3 or so sacs popped up in the UK - 2 of which I know were successful. This is a sudden and vast increase and hopefully a continuing trend.

I've got a few quid to play around with so I may pick up another couple at some point. Not sure right now.

I wish you all the luck in the world, but be prepared for much frustration.


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## dragon's den (Oct 6, 2010)

thanks for the replies, i read that report too very interesting stuff! it took that female errrrrr nearly 11 months to drop!!! :gasp::gasp: i thought our striata took ages, she took 6 months. our female metallica is just hovering around the 5.7 inch mark, so would i be correct to assume her gestation period will be shorter due to her metabolism being faster than a larger specimen? i would imagine like said above, i need several females with which to cycle a male, research, more research, trial and error and if i get a sac, record keeping and if i get a sac, note the method was successful. i have another sub-adult female and male, we got them as small juvies at the same time as the adults, the female needs i would say at the very least 2 more moults before her spermatheca becomes scelorated, by which time i reckon the mm may be no good (even though she is growing faster than him at this time) thats not to say we cant intro him with our mature female and get another mm later when the younger female matures. i will do it, one way or another, and if i die trying i want this thread on my headstone! and beneath it: son, husband and failed metallica breeder! :lol2:


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