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B. giganteus


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Thank you! I was nervous to start breeding these because I have heard so many horror stories about them dropping dead all over the place for no reason. I haven't had any problems with them though and they are popping out babies like no one's business. They're actually getting a tank upgrade today because they are over crowding.

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Thank you! I was nervous to start breeding these because I have heard so many horror stories about them dropping dead all over the place for no reason. I haven't had any problems with them though and they are popping out babies like no one's business. They're actually getting a tank upgrade today because they are over crowding.

They seem to get "weaker" as they get older... the littlest ones are full of vigor, but almost every other week I find a random dead 1.5"-2" nymph or adult. Granted there are a couple hundred in the colony, but still... they are a weird species with the die-offs. I've had really sensitive A. tesselatas too... maybe the larger species are just a bit less hardy due to their size.

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They seem to get "weaker" as they get older... the littlest ones are full of vigor, but almost every other week I find a random dead 1.5"-2" nymph or adult. Granted there are a couple hundred in the colony, but still... they are a weird species with the die-offs. I've had really sensitive A. tesselatas too... maybe the larger species are just a bit less hardy due to their size.

Last instar nymphs get strange die offs like really bloated but never shed or have unsuccessful shed, starvation when before they were healthy nymphs, and healthy one day dead the next.

Pretty sure they need rotten wood and oak leaves as part of their diet and high protein amounts with some fruits and veggies.

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Last instar nymphs get strange die offs like really bloated but never shed or have unsuccessful shed, starvation when before they were healthy nymphs, and healthy one day dead the next.

Pretty sure they need rotten wood and oak leaves as part of their diet and high protein amounts with some fruits and veggies.

Yep, I've got actual rotting logs and plenty of rotting wood chips and dried oak leaves in there with them... still get the odd die off. I plan to start adding game fish chow in small amounts to try to support them "bulking up" a bit more...

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Interesting, maybe because my experience is with so few that I'll run into this in the future, hopefully not. I have no problem at all with A. tesselatas though, I have two huge display tanks and I even gave away a bunch for free because of over crowding.

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Interesting, maybe because my experience is with so few that I'll run into this in the future, hopefully not. I have no problem at all with A. tesselatas though, I have two huge display tanks and I even gave away a bunch for free because of over crowding.

Yup just seems to be B Giganteus with these issues. Perhaps they weren't meant for captive breeding, with their expensive price and common die offs I see this fading in culture quickly unless someone figures out what's killing them.

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Interesting, maybe because my experience is with so few that I'll run into this in the future, hopefully not. I have no problem at all with A. tesselatas though, I have two huge display tanks and I even gave away a bunch for free because of over crowding.

You should consider joining http://argiope.se/test/ to trade species. :-)

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  • 4 weeks later...

I hope no one minds that I am hijacking this thread for a picture of my B. giganteus. I didn't want to start a whole new thread...

Here's a photo of 3 of my B. giganteous from last week. My colony is currently 6 adults and at least 2 large nymphs. I started with 17 medium nymphs from 2 sources (Jordan L. and Kurt N.). I know that I had one adult die shortly after his final molt (mis-molted).

I am hoping that they are breeding now, but there is so much substrate and hiding places in the tank that I don't have high hopes of seeing the nymphs if they do breed.

DSCN0928_picmonkeyed.jpg

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I hope no one minds that I am hijacking this thread for a picture of my B. giganteus. I didn't want to start a whole new thread...

Here's a photo of 3 of my B. giganteous from last week. My colony is currently 6 adults and at least 2 large nymphs. I started with 17 medium nymphs from 2 sources (Jordan L. and Kurt N.). I know that I had one adult die shortly after his final molt (mis-molted).

I am hoping that they are breeding now, but there is so much substrate and hiding places in the tank that I don't have high hopes of seeing the nymphs if they do breed.

Cool colony! One thing I have noticed is the sheer BULK of food they eat in comparison to other species... I mean, of course it will be "more" since they are "bigger", but it seems like it is MUCH more, way outside the proportion of how much larger they are than other species (tesselata, fusca, colloseus, etc)

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Bulk of food? I don't think I feed these guys very much at all! I guess they could be eating all of the other organic matter in the tank (leaves, bank, etc) but at this point, I put maybe 4 cheerios(or other cereal), 4 pieces of dog kibble, a few leaves of romaine, and a small slide of apple in the tank each week. Perhaps they will consume more when there are little ones hiding in the substrate. I guess I have noted that the food has been disappearing more rapidly lately, but still it takes a few days for the dog kibble to disappear.

My first adult emerged in September (6+ months ago!) but I have had a surge of adults in the past couple of months. I keep an eye out for nymphs, but thus far have not seen a single baby.

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Bulk of food? I don't think I feed these guys very much at all! I guess they could be eating all of the other organic matter in the tank (leaves, bank, etc) but at this point, I put maybe 4 cheerios(or other cereal), 4 pieces of dog kibble, a few leaves of romaine, and a small slide of apple in the tank each week. Perhaps they will consume more when there are little ones hiding in the substrate. I guess I have noted that the food has been disappearing more rapidly lately, but still it takes a few days for the dog kibble to disappear.

My first adult emerged in September (6+ months ago!) but I have had a surge of adults in the past couple of months. I keep an eye out for nymphs, but thus far have not seen a single baby.

Ah... well, I have about 300 so it seems like if I wait once a week to feed them they practically eat each other getting at it. I have dry food out all the time and it's usually gone...

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  • 4 weeks later...

Ah... well, I have about 300 so it seems like if I wait once a week to feed them they practically eat each other getting at it. I have dry food out all the time and it's usually gone...

I would love to have some B. Giganteus. Please pm me if you are interested in selling some or trading for some tarantulas!

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  • 5 months later...

Thank you! I was nervous to start breeding these because I have heard so many horror stories about them dropping dead all over the place for no reason. I haven't had any problems with them though and they are popping out babies like no one's business. They're actually getting a tank upgrade today because they are over crowding.

Could you describe the tank configuration (size, temp, humidity, food, etc.)? Thanks

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