Hey there,

I'm getting a lot of enquiries lately from newbies in the hobby that are looking to start breeding T's... this sentence in itself is worrying. Newbies & Breeding are not two words that should go together in a sentence... especially if the sole purpose of the breeding exercise is to make money.

For example, I get a person writing to me saying "Hi, I'm new to the hobby and I'd like to start breeding tarantulas. I want to buy some slings that I can grow so I can breed them, but can you tell me which tarantulas are worth a decent amount of money that will sell easily? I don't want to raise and breed a spider and then nobody wants to buy them... i'm thinking to start with Psalmopoeus regalis, what do you think?"

This request screams "I'M ONLY DOING IT FOR THE MONEY!!" - These type of people don't even know how to pronounce or spell species names correctly let alone realise that there is no such thing as Psalmopeus regalis... on top of which you can be sure that they have absolutely no idea about anything that has to do with breeding or the amount of work or responsibilities surrounding it. And they all believe that they will just sell some spiders and make some lekker pocket money!

The Brachypelma smithi just two years ago was rather hard to get hold of, and their prices ranged from R300 to R350 a sling around that time. Now, people are battling to sell them off at R100. You might think a spider is worth a lot of cash now, but in a year's time another breeder gets two or three successful egg cases and suddenly their prices drop like crazy. Same with Monocentropus balfouri, they were in excess of R1500 a sling and now they sell closer to R600 each.

If your sole purpose of buying a spider is to breed it and make money, prepare to be disappointed because it might not all go as planned. Yes, you might make a few bucks, but you will just be adding to a market that is slowly flooding with the species available to us in SA. Like beginners that all want to breed B.albopilosum, L.Parahybana, G.rosea and a few others (in the hope of gaining breeding experience), they lay hundreds of - and in the case of L.parahybana 1000's of eggs and there are simply far too many out there, they are becoming hard to give away let alone sell - (and then some total noobs start releasing their excess slings into the veld because the don't know what to do with them.) - This has been said before on many other posts.

This is also the reason why we keep getting posts on the forum saying "HELP!!! - BREEDING MY TARANTULAI!!" asking the most rudimentary questions surrounding breeding and making it clear that this person has done NO research into the species they want to breed. Like that fool in the US who was keeping his G.rosea MM and MF communally / together in the enclosure so they would breed and refused to listen to any veterans telling him/her that this is stressing the spiders out terribly!!

BEGINNERS... The tarantula hobby is not some quick passing fad for you to jump on and make a quick buck. If you see dollar signs when you look at a Tarantula, please walk away and rather get in to some other hobby. Or at the very least, buy tarantulas that you like, so that if any breeding attempts fail, you are at least left with a spider that enjoy having.

Leave breeding to the breeders and the more experienced keepers - which is to say - at least wait until you have a fair amount of experience before you embark on any journey's in to breeding.

Nice post and I agree fully, but just like the person trying to keep rosea communally, the people that you are referring to, won't listen to you or anyone for that matter.
People think that breeding spiders is an easy recipe and that all the people who have done research for months/years are just trying to keep all the profit to themselves.
For lots of people this is just a passing fad which they try get into to make some quick bucks and then leave when they realise its not so easy. Look at the members count. Sure there were close to 1000 already of which maybe 75 come on to the site.

I hear you Cerat, it's a losing battle most of the time.

I'm gonna make this a sticky so that at the very least it saves us time in telling these noobs the same things over and over again.

HeteroScuderia wrote: I hear you Cerat, it's a losing battle most of the time.

I'm gonna make this a sticky so that at the very least it saves us time in telling these noobs the same things over and over again.

Well, its a good idea and I love your enthusiasm, but it unfortunately just comes with the hobby.
Been happening for years and will continue. I just sit back and quietly laugh inside when I see the people coming and going (And swear quietly under my breath when some fly by night picks up a 4 leaf clover and manages to breed rarer spiders by just looking at them)

Indeed.

There has been and always will be a financial incentive. Commercial Tarantula breeders do what they do to make money and sustain their hobby. There is a very fine balance between keeping spiders for the love of it and breeding spiders for money. In my experience and opinion, the two MUST NOT be separated. There are true enthusiasts (and I know a few) who would not care much for the financial gain. Then there are some who could not give a shit about anything BUT money.

If you truly care for the animals you breed, whether Budgie or Blue Whale, and you gain financially, all is funky. If the priority shifts to money alone, get out while you still have some "face" left.

We must never forget that ALL breeders were Newbies once. Just be honest with yourself and ask why you want to start keeping spiders.

I agree. If you make money out of the spiders you breed, there is no problem. I won't turn my nose up at a few extra bucks from selling slings that I bred.
There are definately people that started this hobby for the love of it and didn't want to make cash from it. If they make some bucks later on from breeding their spiders, then all the better to them.