Grammastola sexual maturity

Hi-

My wife and I were thinking about trying our hand at breeding some t's. We wanted to start perhaps w/ G. aureostiata, G. rosea, and/or perhaps G. pulchra (her favorite). We were also planning on raising several up from slings to ensure a decent sex ratio.

Here's the question: Does either sex mature more quickly than the other? I understand that males typically do not live very long past the onset of sexual maturity, so I don't want to have males die before the females are ready.

Any advice is appreciated!

In the long lived species (Grammastola being one of those ) the males will mature several years before the females. This prevents inbreeding in the wild. It will take females about 5 years to mature, males about 3.

I've bred perhaps 100 different species of tarantula, and tell everyone who asks the same thing - start with a pink toe. Very gentle breeders, hardy slings, and easy to get rid of the babies. Some of the bigger terrestrial females can be quite the handful when getting to know a male, and when pulling an eggsack for hatching. Kind of difficult for the first timer trying to get everything right.

Good luck with whatever you end up trying, and keep us all posted. And as always, feel free to ask any questions. I loves it when one comes along I can answer

I'll second that...try the easier avic's...they usually yield about 100 slings per sac give or take...All the Grammy's that you are talking about have hundreds of babies and that means many long nights feeding slings.
As far as species I only have about 45-50 species under my belt with a couple of hundred sacs. Hell I am with my 7th sac of holothele sp tachira norte de santer complex.
Pterinochilus is easy enough...they are just super aggressive .

Cool! Thanks for the helpful advice, guys!