This is gonna get crazy....

[Jkelly]

Tarantaholics Anonymous here I come. This seems like a very friendly and informative site so I'm excited to join! My first T, a 2" female GBB, did not survive her first molt in my care ( I was partway through reading Schultz and Schultz and I'm pretty certain if I had read it entirely beforehand, my Vanessa would still be with me. So now I'm obsessed with doing research! Just wish there were more books out there but forums are great.
I now have an immature pair of A. metallicas to hopefully breed some day (Brad and Angelina), and a fabulous A. genic (Contessa). I'm absolutely in love! (Plus I have 4 dogs, 2 guinea pigs, and 8 hermit crabs
If anyone has any experience with Vitalius paranaensis, please please please let me know! May be next on my list.
Thanks to everyone interested in sharing and learning!

 

[Thivo]

Hi and welcome Jkelly... I am sorry to hear about your Vanessa... And about your pair of A.Metallica... I am afraid that your male will get mature first than your female and I hope when that time comes your female is ready... Anyway, I know you will receive more advice and tips from the other Masters...

 

[Jkelly]

Hi and welcome Jkelly... I am sorry to hear about your Vanessa... And about your pair of A.Metallica... I am afraid that your male will get mature first than your female and I hope when that time comes your female is ready... Anyway, I know you will receive more advice and tips from the other Masters...

Thank you!

 

[Enn49]

Hi, you're right about it being a friendly site and there is plenty good advice around too. If you can't find what you need in the search then just ask and someone will be there to help.

 

[Jkelly]

Hi, you're right about it being a friendly site and there is plenty good advice around too. If you can't find what you need in the search then just ask and someone will be there to help.

Thank you

 

[Ghost]

Hi and welcome to the forum and your right things could get crazy as this hobby is very addictive.
Regarding V.paranaensis you keep them the same as you would Acanthoscurria,Nhandu and they will be fine,I had 3 slings of them back in 2007 and it took just over 3 years for 1 to mature male so their not the fastest growers but this depends on temps and feeding schedule,I kept mine around the 75 temp mark and feed twice a week so if you bump the temps and feed more they might grow a bit quicker,their not the biggest T either my adult female maxed out at about 4 1/2 inches (DLS) on another note they don't seem to be as aggressive as A.genics as mine would always run and hide rather than stand and fight,in fact I can't remember even seeing a threat posture from mine,if you have a chance to get some of these then I would go for it as they don't come around too often and their a beautiful looking T,if you have anymore questions about them then just ask.

On another note I'm afraid Thivo is right about your A.metallicas if they are the same size then your male will mature way before your female will,you will either have to get a mature female or send him out on a 50/50 breeding loan when he matures......

 

[Jkelly]

Hi and welcome to the forum and your right things could get crazy as this hobby is very addictive.
Regarding V.paranaensis you keep them the same as you would Acanthoscurria,Nhandu and they will be fine,I had 3 slings of them back in 2007 and it took just over 3 years for 1 to mature male so their not the fastest growers but this depends on temps and feeding schedule,I kept mine around the 75 temp mark and feed twice a week so if you bump the temps and feed more they might grow a bit quicker,their not the biggest T either my adult female maxed out at about 4 1/2 inches (DLS) on another note they don't seem to be as aggressive as A.genics as mine would always run and hide rather than stand and fight,in fact I can't remember even seeing a threat posture from mine,if you have a chance to get some of these then I would go for it as they don't come around too often and their a beautiful looking T,if you have anymore questions about them then just ask.

On another note I'm afraid Thivo is right about your A.metallicas if they are the same size then your male will mature way before your female will,you will either have to get a mature female or send him out on a 50/50 breeding loan when he matures......

Thanks for all the info on V. para! I may have to take the plunge...would be fun to compare to Contessa.
The A. metallicas were sold as a breeding pair with the male larger than the female, but even so...should I try to power feed/raise temp for the female? Any chance that would help?
Thanks again!

 

[Ghost]

Thanks for all the info on V. para! I may have to take the plunge...would be fun to compare to Contessa.
The A. metallicas were sold as a breeding pair with the male larger than the female, but even so...should I try to power feed/raise temp for the female? Any chance that would help?
Thanks again!

If you male is already larger than the female then he's going to mature before the female is ready,even if you were to lower his temps and not feed as much and up the females temps and power feed her he would probably still mature before her,they really shouldn't have been sold as a breeding pair,when a female T matures it doesn't always mean they will breed right away you sometimes have to wait for the molt after they mature before they are receptive to a male.

I always give my female T's another molt after they mature before I try breeding them,I'm sort of in the same postion as you with my H.maculatas as I got 2 slings and when they were big enough for me to sex I found I had a male and female so what I'm going to do is when the male matures is send Him out on a breeding loan that way I get some slings for him,then when my female is ready for breeding I will get another mature male for her, this is probably what you should consider doing with your A.mets.....

 

[Jkelly]

If you male is already larger than the female then he's going to mature before the female is ready,even if you were to lower his temps and not feed as much and up the females temps and power feed her he would probably still mature before her,they really shouldn't have been sold as a breeding pair,when a female T matures it doesn't always mean they will breed right away you sometimes have to wait for the molt after they mature before they are receptive to a male.

I always give my female T's another molt after they mature before I try breeding them,I'm sort of in the same postion as you with my H.maculatas as I got 2 slings and when they were big enough for me to sex I found I had a male and female so what I'm going to do is when the male matures is send Him out on a breeding loan that way I get some slings for him,then when my female is ready for breeding I will get another mature male for her, this is probably what you should consider doing with your A.mets.....

Okay thanks, I appreciate the advice. I must need more coffee--meant to say the female is larger but it sounds like that may not be enough even if I rev up the female and slow down the male. I will still try, but may have to chalk this up to another learning experience unless I can find someone local for the breeding loan since I wouldn't want to stress the poor guy by shipping him somewhere...? Or should I not be so worried about that? I guess my stance on breeding is if/when it's a success I would be overjoyed and try to do my absolute best by the slings, but I would never take an eggsac from a mama as she may never forgive me and I would want to give her a chance to do her part naturally.
So is it better to risk stressing the guy in order to give him a chance to get his groove on and contribute to the population?
Thanks again.

 

[Ghost]

Okay thanks, I appreciate the advice. I must need more coffee--meant to say the female is larger but it sounds like that may not be enough even if I rev up the female and slow down the male. I will still try, but may have to chalk this up to another learning experience unless I can find someone local for the breeding loan since I wouldn't want to stress the poor guy by shipping him somewhere...? Or should I not be so worried about that? I guess my stance on breeding is if/when it's a success I would be overjoyed and try to do my absolute best by the slings, but I would never take an eggsac from a mama as she may never forgive me and I would want to give her a chance to do her part naturally.
So is it better to risk stressing the guy in order to give him a chance to get his groove on and contribute to the population?
Thanks again.

When the time comes and he matures if you can find someone local then that would be better but if not then shipping him shouldn't be a problem as long as he's package properly,I live in the UK and have had T's shipped across Europe without problems....

 

[Jkelly]

Okay thanks again!