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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stan Schultz" data-source="post: 226462" data-attributes="member: 28438">But has anybody published accurate specific counts per eggsac to verify this "accepted" cottage wisdom? If so, where can I get a copy of the publication (even if it's only in a hobbyist magazine or forum report)?As a bit of a scientist, I'm much more interested in facts and numbers than casual observations. Please don't misunderstand me, I value such casual observations almost as much as I do reports in the scientific literature, principally because they point us to new avenues of investigation. But since we're answering a troublesome question, and implying, if not inferring, that a segment of our hobby may be conducting business in an ignorant or unfair manner, we should have some solid facts to go on. Plus, anyone reading my former dissertation might be convinced to change their buying habits as a result. I'd like to be able to give them hard facts on which to base their decisions, rather than the "word on the street." Hence, my call for any, even faintly believable, published data.Secondly, even if a given kind of tarantula produced significantly more males per eggsac then females, that fact wouldn't negate the deeper meaning of my story: For whatever reason, it is possible that the probability of getting the tarantula of your hoped for sex may be disadvantageously altered by the dealer's business practices, whether the dealer is being dishonest or merely ignorant.No, no, no! A question (some might accuse me of making an allegation) has been made. The next stage is a "Proof of Concept." All that would be required is for one hobbyist who may already be breeding tarantulas (not necessarily the most difficult kinds on the  market today) to set aside the offspring of one or two eggsacs (not necessarily those producing "hatches" of several thousand at a time). Once these babies reached a size where visually determining their sex by examining their shed exuvia with a dissecting microscope became practical, the collection of such data would be almost boring. And, if a little intelligence were used in picking the kind of tarantula, that stage might be reached in two to five years. So far, none of this is terribly out of the ordinary or terribly difficult.The  third stage involves using the data from stage two to apply for support from some granting entity. This would require our budding researcher to write up a research proposal and submit it for consideration. Partially because I believe that our crusade is more likely to be of interest to academia (as you suggest), and partially because I am more familiar with the academic process, I'll confine my further comments to that milieu, leaving someone else to discuss applying for grants to the other agencies such as charitable or business entities.Some research biologist (e.g., an arachnologist or animal behaviorist) might be interested in answering our questions by setting up a small breeding attempt in the corner of a much larger lab. At first, the care and  breeding of one or two kinds of tarantulas would only require a few hours of technician time every week to bring the adults into breeding condition, initiate the breeding, hatch the eggs, and care for the babies. (After all is said and done, how much time do you spend actually caring for a half dozen or dozen tarantulas?) At sometime before sex determination becomes possible, a prospective graduate student might be identified to use this stage for the acquisition of a masters degree, thus freeing up the technician's time for other matters. The counts would be made, statistical analyses performed, the results written up and published, and submitted as part of the masters dissertation. But, take note: If you think it's all going to be that simple, cut, and dried, do I ever have a shock for you!All the other aspects of the case that you discussed are PHD level or higher matters that would use the data developed above to go on to further study. Ideally they would eventually consume a senior scientist's entire life's efforts to answer. (If any of you are interested, start perusing the arachnological research publications to identify those research scientists who might be interested in such a project.)And while these researches would doubtlessly produce very interesting results, they would not necessarily answer our seminal questions, "Did either or both of the one or several kinds of tarantulas that were first considered produce offspring of approximately equal numbers, or not?" And, "Does that suggest an answer to the question of, 'What strategy or strategies would be best for an enthusiast to use when purchasing new tarantulas for their collection?' "May all the holes in your path hold large fuzzy spiders!Stan</blockquote>

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