On a different note, just had perfect inserts from my P.pederseni pair and the P.metallica pair!

Curt wrote:

Ceratogyrus wrote: On a different note, just had perfect inserts from my P.pederseni pair and the P.metallica pair!

Great to hear man!

Thanks.
Both males were extremely nervous and there was actually more interest from the ladies than the guys.
Once the guys saw they were in for a good time though, they loosened up and did their thing. Took them about 15 attempts each to get a good insert, but they managed.

Quick update.
Had more successful pairings last night with me P.pederseni and P.metallica pairs.
Tried to mate my P.ornata, but the boy didn't show much interest in the female that was tapping away like crazy. Put him back in his enclosure and this morning there were remnants of a fresh sperm web, so will try him this weekend again.

Hysterocrates sp. moulted out yesterday.

Another quick update:

So far I have mated a few spiders, so hoping for a good year.

P.pederseni - Started heating her yesterday. Looking very fat and hoping for something from her soon.
P.ornata - Same as above
P.fasciata - Same as above (If I have some successful sacs - including this one - these will have to be freebies )
P.metallica - Pair on loan - mated - Still looking good.
P.subfusca - Female still looking good. Fattened up a bit, so hoping for something soon. As these are a mix of 2 "colour forms" I will be keeping all the babies if this is successful.
P.miranda - My female mated with Hendrik's male. Also put her a bit closer to the heat. Still has some eating to do though.
P.striata - My female mated with Hendriks male.
P.regalis x 2 - Both mated and busy feeding up at the moment.
P.ornata - 2nd female mated last night.
P.rufilata - 2 females ready. Waiting for a male from another member once he has given him a go with his female.
P.formosa - Tried mating my pair last night, but the female kept trying to make a meal of him. Might try sharking him for a few nights and then give him another go.
M.balfouri - Mated with scarab's male. Will see what she does in the months to come.
P.muticus - Moulted out unfortunately, so waiting for one of the 2 males to mature.

And then have a few local males ready, so hoping that something happens with the permits soon to give them a go. Otherwise it will be another few males that die as virgins like last year.

Tried my male P.muticus with the smallest of my females tonight.
After a very nervous start he managed to lure her out of the burrow, lift her, and get atleast 3 good inserts.
He then made a dash for it as the female tried to turn him into a meal. She bit the side of the enclosure instead of him.
Obviously still miles away from a sac, but a good start so far.

Some updates on my mated females.

P.muticus. Still nothing from the mated female. The male was passed on to my other female and lived with her for a bout a week. Then found bits and pieces of him in the enclosure, so hope he did his thing. Currently warming the mated female.
M.balfouri. My female that was mated with Scarab's male doesn't seem to be really fattening up. Might try rehouse her away from the slings, as everytime I feed her, she seems to give her food away to the babies and ends up with nothing.
P.ornata. I have warmed and flooded her enclosure, so will see what she does. She has started webbing a bit, so might just get a sac out of her (Although the market is so flooded with these at the moment, they will probably go cheap if there is any success)
P.fasciata. Also warmed and flooded her. She has started heavily webbing, so looks good for a sac (Although these would probably also go for cheap if it were to be successful)
P.regalis. Rehoused, warmed and flooded her tonight. She has stopped eating, but not really webbing yet, so still waiting for her to decide what she is going to do.
P.striata. Also rehoused tonight. She is looking very fat, but not quite ready to warm and flood yet. Will give her another few weeks.
P.metallica. She has webbed herself up totally, hopefully preparing to drop. She has been warmed and flooded, but from Scarab's advice, these seem to be a bit on the slow side, so its a waiting game.
P.formosa. Also been warmed and flooded. And also started webbing. Will keep an eye on her.
P.subfusca. Looks like she won't be dropping a sac. She hasn't really picked up weight and will probably moult out. Atleast Scarab was successful, so some subfusca slings will hit the market.
P.rufilata. After numerous unsuccessful attempts with my female, I pretty much gave up mating them this year. Spoke to the owner of the male, and he agreed to let me cohabit them together. Had them together for a week and have now removed the male for the next person to use. Hopefully he got a mating in while living with her.

Now the good news.
Came home on Monday to my P.miranda sitting on a nice sac. The male was Hendriks. Will be pulling the sac in 2 weeks time and put up an official breeding report hopefully with some good news.

And then, when watering my spiders on Tuesday night I peeked into my P.pederseni's enclosure and she is sitting on a huge sac. She was extremely fat before dropping, so hoping for a good number of slings if the sac is successful. Will pull her sac on the same day as the miranda, so will put a breeding report up for her as well then. Hopefully successful as I don't know of anyone else who has bred these in SA before.