How to Breed a Pet Tarantula

By eHow Pets Editor

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Breeding a pet tarantula is not as easy as putting two spiders together. You must take certain precautions to ensure that one of the spiders does not eat the other. You will also have to protect and care for the egg sac under the right conditions. Prepare yourself to care for hundreds of spiderlings, if the tarantulas' breed successfully! Read on to learn more.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

Mature male tarantula
Mature female tarantula
Coconut shell

Step1

Ensure that you have a mature male and a mature female. Most adult imported tarantulas are female, but you cannot assume that all of them are female. Most types of mature male tarantulas have spurs or hooks on the underside of their front legs. All mature males have enlarged pedipalps, or a fifth pair of legs.

Step2

Wait until after the female sheds her skin, or molts. If you do not wait, she may lose the sperm along with the molt.

Step3

Place the male inside the female's cage, never the other way around since the female might otherwise become aggressive. Watch carefully to ensure that the female does not attack the male. Prepare to place a jar over the female to protect him if she does.

Step4

Wait. It might take 10 seconds or three hours, but the male will eventually approach the female, lift her as she rears up, and deposit his sperm into her epigastric furrow. Before mating, the two spiders might "drum" the soil, rub legs, and otherwise behave oddly; this is a normal part of the process.

Step5

Remove the male from the tank as soon as possible after breeding so the female does not eat him. You may have to allow the spiders to breed once a week for several weeks to ensure that they have mated properly.

Step6

Wait for an egg sac to appear in about 35 days. Spiderlings will hatch in 45 to 90 days if the female properly cares for the sac and left relatively undisturbed. However, do not be surprised if she eats it. Many tarantulas devour the egg sac if disturbed in the slightest.

Tips & Warnings

Place a half coconut shell into the female's tank before mating. The shell is a good place for her to spin her web for the egg sac.
Breed tarantulas at night, the time they would mate in the wild.
When placing two tarantulas together always stand by to be able to quickly remove one spider if they begin fighting.