A. avicularia Breeding Notes
(photos at bottom)


 
 
 
WC Father paired with CB mother, 2001

June, 2001:
Female molted to approx. 4 1/2" legspan 

July 7th, 2001:
Male's maturing molt. 
He too is approx. 
4 1/2" 

Jul 26th, 2001:   Introduced CB mother+WC father 

26 July- 28 Aug, 2001: Couple cohabiting 

Aug 28th, 2001:
 Eggsac created 33 days after introduction; male removed 

Oct 8th, 2001:
Fully developed spiderlings emerged. 
97 spiderlings mobile and feeding 40 days after eggsac creation 
 GO-01-A 

Notes on this breeding:
This seemed to be a fairly large brood, given other people's accounts of their success with this species.  Also, the quick development time of the offspring in relation to other accounts may be due to temperature ranging from 85-89 degrees F in the vivarium. 
As an interesting aside, the mother created the eggsac with the male still in the vivarium.

WC Father (a) paired with WC Mother (a), 2002

Oct 20th, 2002:
Couple introduced 

Oct 20th- 20 Nov, 2002:
Couple cohabiting 

Nov 20th, 2002:
Male removed 

Nov 24th, 2002:
Eggsac created 36 days after introduction 

Jan 8th, 2003:
Nymphs begin molting into setae-having spiderlings 
45 days after eggsac creation. 

Jan 9th, 2003:
All spiderlings molted. 
50 in total 46 days after eggsac production. 
GO-03-B 

Temps were approx. 75-85 degrees F, and humidity at approx 80% 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

WC Father (b) paired with WC Mother (b), 2002

Oct 20th, 2002:
Couple introduced 

Oct 20th- 20 Nov, 2002:
Couple cohabiting 

Nov 20th, 2002:
Male removed 

Nov 27th, 2002:
Eggsac created 39 days after introduction 

Jan 5th, 2003:
Nymphs all molted into setae-having spiderlings 
39 days after eggsac creation. 
29 Spiderlings total. 
GO-03-A 
 

Notes on this breeding:
This female was equal in size to the female that produced GO-03-B. 
Likewise, the males and the females of both pairs were originally captured in the same reptile shed in Guyana. 
While in captivity, they were fed crickets from the same source and kept at the same temps, living inches from one another.  The only difference is this one had a slightly larger enclosure, but I doubt accomodations were a factor. 
Also, note the shorter incubation period. 
Why the much smaller number of spiderlings? 
Weakness of male's sperm? 
 

 

WC males (c) and (d) paired with CB female, 2002-3 

March, 2001:
Female "born" 

Nov 18th, 2002:
Couple (WC male c) introduced 
 

 Nov 18th- Dec 13th, 2002:
Couple cohabiting 

Dec 13th, 2002:
Male (c) removed 

2 Feb, 2003:
Female Molted :( 
Apparently, she was too far along in her molt cycle to breed. 

28 May, 2003:
Another wild-caught male (d) introduced. 
Couple mated readily and are cohabiting. 
Temps range from 76 to 88 degrees F. 

12 June, 2003:
Male consumed (not killed, but CONSUMED). 

Notes:
This female was paired with several other males during various points in her molt cycle since 2003. 
None resulted in offspring. 
The female had pasted fecal matter on her anus and spinnerets in December of 2004. She died in February of 2005.  It is assumed that she had some sort of internal dysfunction that affected her ability to lay eggs. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

After the pairings outlined above, I bred numerous clutches of A. avicularia. The average time from pairing to sac production for subsequent pairs averaged 38 days.  The time from sac production to 2nd instar spiderlings averaged 44 days. The average amount of spiderlings produced per sac is 73.
 


 


This is how I normally keep breeding pairs together for a month or so at a time.   There is plenty of room, and plenty of hiding space.

This girl just put the finishing touches on  her new eggsac 

Here you can see the 1st instar spiderlings have become brown, and some are molting into "fluffy", pink 2nd instar spiderlings that will soon feed. 
 

These babies aren't ready for the world yet.  They're only slightly mobile and colored a tawny yellow.

In my experience, A. avicularia are normally outstanding mothers that take great care of their eggsacs.  However, I sometimes construct incubators to better monitor environmental conditions. 

The incubator is a simple arrangement of two food storage devices.  A larger bowl has a few small holes in the side and moistened paper towel placed at the bottom.  A smaller bowl has copious vent holes cut in the sides and dry paper towel for the sac to rest on.  The small bowl goes in the big one, and a lid with NO HOLES in it is placed over the top.  There is approximately a 1" gap between the top of the small bowl and the top lid. There is no lid for the smaller bowl.  Thus, the environment is humid, but the eggs do not get wet.

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