Grammostola pulchra, Brazilian Black Tarantula

Grammostola pulchra, known as the Brazilian Black Tarantula, is prized for its long life, reputation as a docile tarantula, a reduced tendency to kick urticating hairs, and the deep black color of adult specimen.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Update

Here are some recent shots of the first group, Fab Four. They are all about 2.5" leg span now; they were about 1.5" when they arrived on 15Dec2009. It has been about two months since their last molt, and they are showing no signs of preparing to molt again any time soon. I will post pictures of the Three Musketeers (the three that arrived in March) when I get some better shots. They have molted twice since March. I think the two groups are far enough apart in age that the females Eclipse and Shadow will mature before the males (if there are any) of the Three Musketeers.
On another note, I have switched to feeding them Gromphadorhina portensa (Madagascar Hissing Cockroach). I was using crickets until my roach colony was strong enough to handle regular feeding. I recently bumped my colony with 5 males, 15 females, and about 60-70 nymphs of various sizes. I already had 4 males, 7 females, and i don't know how many nymphs. The colony can now support predation without adverse effects on the population. Hissers take six months to reach maturity, gestation is about two months, they birth 20-60 nymphs at a time, and they live up to five years maximum (three years average). If you do the math, 20 gravid females can produce 400-1200 nymphs every two months. In six months those females will have produced 1200-3600 nymphs, and the first batch of nymphs (400-1200) will be mature and breeding; each producing 20-60 nymphs. They are easy to keep and breed. The one bonus I like best, the roaches do not smell bad; crickets are just down right stinky.
But I digress, here are the photos of the Fab Four

Eclipse(001) 3May2010
















Phantom(002) 3May2010
 
Shadow(003) 3May2010

















Midnight(004) 3May2010

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