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Tarantula Breeding
deceased specimen donations for private research?
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<blockquote data-quote="Thistles" data-source="post: 104263" data-attributes="member: 3949"><p>Hey, I saw your post on AB and was going to comment, but it went where dramafests inevitably end up.</p><p></p><p>Good news: female reproductive organs are among what is shed when she molts. That's how using an exuvia to sex a tarantula works. You don't need dead specimens to examine all the parts that deal with fertilization, although she does not shed the deeper structures like ovaries. Basically, she stores sperm in her spermathecae until she lays her eggs, at which time they are fertilized. If I'm not mistaken, it still is unknown if they are fertilized as they are laid or if she ejects some of the sperm into the jelly surrounding freshly laid eggs and they are fertilized as they absorb the fluid.</p><p></p><p>I highly doubt you will find sperm available on sperm webs. The males generally destroy them when they're done with them. I have tons of shreds, but have only occasionally caught a male in the act (maybe a dozen times, tops).</p><p></p><p>I believe that artificial insemination is possible, but that it won't benefit breeding significantly. With the exception of *****y GBBs and their ilk, pairing is the easy part of tarantula breeding. Inducing a female to drop a sac is the hard part!</p><p></p><p>Anecdotally (and oh man, will I be judged for this!) I have a female OBT that ate a male and tried to eat a second one. When she was crunching the first male, one of his pedipalps came off. "Hmm," says I, "this is the important part." She was occupied with a mouthful of unfortunate suitor, so I used a spoon to put her on her back (still with her mouth full, or she would never have let me get away with it) and inserted the tip of the embolus. Then I realized that I couldn't forcibly inject the sperm, and gave up. That's my story of dallying with tarantula rape. In my defense, she only told HIM no, and she was definitely asking for it at first. It ended up not being necessary because MM #2 is a total stud and got the job done. He's also 1 year mature today, so happy birthday to grumpy gramps.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Thistles, post: 104263, member: 3949"] Hey, I saw your post on AB and was going to comment, but it went where dramafests inevitably end up. Good news: female reproductive organs are among what is shed when she molts. That's how using an exuvia to sex a tarantula works. You don't need dead specimens to examine all the parts that deal with fertilization, although she does not shed the deeper structures like ovaries. Basically, she stores sperm in her spermathecae until she lays her eggs, at which time they are fertilized. If I'm not mistaken, it still is unknown if they are fertilized as they are laid or if she ejects some of the sperm into the jelly surrounding freshly laid eggs and they are fertilized as they absorb the fluid. I highly doubt you will find sperm available on sperm webs. The males generally destroy them when they're done with them. I have tons of shreds, but have only occasionally caught a male in the act (maybe a dozen times, tops). I believe that artificial insemination is possible, but that it won't benefit breeding significantly. With the exception of *****y GBBs and their ilk, pairing is the easy part of tarantula breeding. Inducing a female to drop a sac is the hard part! Anecdotally (and oh man, will I be judged for this!) I have a female OBT that ate a male and tried to eat a second one. When she was crunching the first male, one of his pedipalps came off. "Hmm," says I, "this is the important part." She was occupied with a mouthful of unfortunate suitor, so I used a spoon to put her on her back (still with her mouth full, or she would never have let me get away with it) and inserted the tip of the embolus. Then I realized that I couldn't forcibly inject the sperm, and gave up. That's my story of dallying with tarantula rape. In my defense, she only told HIM no, and she was definitely asking for it at first. It ended up not being necessary because MM #2 is a total stud and got the job done. He's also 1 year mature today, so happy birthday to grumpy gramps. [/QUOTE]
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