Hey folks,
I earlier came across a Xenesthis immanis looking through a gallery. I haven't noticed anyone saying anything about this species, so I wonder: how available is this species in South Africa? This being the tarantula i saw with purple colouration.

Secondly, most of the more 'colourful' species seem to be more expensive to purchase. What the sort of going rate on a species like this? The same questions apply to: Megaphobema robustum.

I dont know about the X. immanis, but the M. robustum should go for around R 1000.00 to R 1 500.00, depending on the seller.

From what I have heard they are hard to breed and not allot of them around. so that will meen a higher price tag.

If i can remmember correctly, one of the breeders i know has X. immanis that he has done some pairings with, if he will get a egg sac is a different story.

The last time I have seen these for sale was on the previous forum. But it was expensive.

There are some other factors that play a larger role on price than coloration. For example, rarity, popularity and most importantly (this drives the first two i.m.o) the ease of breeding and size of the clutch.

There is another thread on here going into all the nitty gritty on this, but it boils down to: an L parahybana eggsac can easily contain 1500 eggs. Thus, there are much more available for selling and future breeding.
But eventually there should be a tipping point on breeding a specific species and they will become cheaper.

Some "cheap" colorful species are C fasciatum, H lividum, A versicolor, B auratum, Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens.
Many pokies have a blueish purple tinge to their appearance under natural light.

A little silly of me using colouration as a guideline. Lol.

Yeah, it would depend largely on the difficulty of breeding a species, as well as the eggsack size. I think as im fairly new in this hobby, a sling costing R400 is still expensive for me. :laugh:

Glad there are still some I consider colourful in that price range.

Lol, You will find allot of t's that you wil consider colourfull. just keep on checking the classifieds.

NightFang wrote:

A little silly of me using colouration as a guideline. Lol.

Yeah, it would depend largely on the difficulty of breeding a species, as well as the eggsack size. I think as im fairly new in this hobby, a sling costing R400 is still expensive for me. :laugh:

Glad there are still some I consider colourful in that price range.

You know what they say about his hobby. It is like a drug. The longer you are in it, the more rare the T you actually are willing to buy and the more you are willing to spend on it

My first sling was R50 each, which was a fair price. I would have liked some discount back then. Now spending R300 on a single sling like it's nothing (wife not always impressed though).
But getting a freebie now and then is always welcome.

One thing I can say is that I do not value my T based on it's price... I care for all of them, from my P metallica and versicolor to my 3 curlies They are all special.