Updated: July 29, 2007.

What is a "breeding loan"? When a tarantula-keeping hobbyist has a mature male and can locate a person with a mature female, the normal procedure is to put the male out on "breeding loan" to the person that has the female.

Do you ever send the female out? This is not an acceptable or normal procedure for several good reasons. The person who has the female has the most to forfeit, as many female tarantulas can live 12 to 34 years or more. Mature males are generally fertile for 4-6 months and will die, usually, in less than one year after its maturing molt. Shipping a mature female out and having a "shipping accident" happen from injury or heat/cold, is more of a disaster than losing the male who was going to die anyway. The female needs time and a large tank to acclimate in anticipation of the male's attempt to breed her. It delays the whole breeding project if you ship out the female and she has to be acclimated in a new environment/tank enclosure. Female tarantulas are generally worth more in value than males and therefore, it is not smart to ship a valuable female out on breeding loan and take a chance on a shipping accident happening.

What are the typical terms of this loan? The most popular terms that most of the hobby as learned to accept is the keeper with the mature male pays for shipping the male to the owner of the female and that person in returns promises 50% of the "potential" hatchout or offspring (commonly referred to as the "50/50" split") and pays for shipping those spiderlings to the keeper who sent the male. "If" the male survives the breeding with this female, the keeper of the male will inform the keeper of the female if he wants the male back or just let him die of natural causes OR if they want to preserved body. In any case, the keeper of the female pays for shipping the male back. IF the owner of the mature male wants the first breeder to forward the male to another breeder, the breeder with the female should pay for that. The breeder with a female being bred with that mature male will owe the owner of the mature male 50% of any potential hatchout (unless different terms are agreed upon). In recent years, some breeders are selling mature males of rare species (to recoup their original purchase of him) and only asking for 25% of any potential hatchout. This seems popular for high value species. Consider it a "stud fee".

What guarantees are there? Breeding tarantulas successfully can be easy or difficult. There are a lot of situations that will arise that make a breeding project go up in smoke. Some problems that can happen:

1. Male arrives dead from shipping. (Owner of the male has to "eat" the loss in this case. The owner of the female should ship back the preserved body of the male or email a photo of the dead male to the owner though.)
2. Male dies shortly after arriving and was never bred to the female. (Same action as above.)
3. Female dies before the male is introduced. (Owner of the female pays for shipping the male back.)
4. Male is killed in the process of mating. (The owner of the female should ship back the preserved body of the male or email a photo of the dead male to the owner though.)
5. The female produces a sac, but then eats it. (Owner of the female ships the male back to the his owner.)
6. The egg sac goes bad. (Same action as above.)
7. The sac is incubated, but many eggs go bad. A low hatchout number happens. (A "50/50" split still applies here. Honesty and reputation comes into play at this point.) *** Hopefully, all goes well as a sac is produced and the owner of the female ships 50% of the hatchout to the owner of the male.
8. Spiderlings are produced and shipped to the owner of the male, but some, many or all arrive dead because of a shipping problem. (If this can be proven and shown, the owner of the female should re-ship some of his/her offspring, but not pay for shipping twice. The 2nd shipment cost should be split by the two hobbyists.

What communications should I expect from the owner of the female breeding these tarantulas? They should tell you when the male arrives, when the male is introduced and if any successful matings take place, when the female shows that she is gravid, when a sac is produced, when the spiderlings emerge from the sac, how many are there and the status/health on the male.

What agreement on pricing is made about the resulting hatchout? It is a good idea that both parties decide on an agreement (verbal or writen) about how much they will sell the spiderlings for of this potentialy successful breeding project. Some hobbyists that don't plan on selling their captive-born stock will not care about this and this will not apply to them, but for many others, this agreement should be worked out before the male is shipped out on loan. My recommendation is the following:

1. Research "average" market price for new-born (1st or 2nd instar) spiderlings of that species. Decide on retail and wholesale pricing. If the specie has never been for sale commerically before, take your cost of the adults and divide by four for a retail price on the spiderlings. Example: Brachypelma smithi 1st-2nd instar piderlings currently sell for between $17-25. A good average is $22. For your breeding loan and project, you decide to sell the potential hatchout for $22, $17 or $25. It is up to you and the loan partner. For a rare species, challenging to breed and never or rarely seen as captive born like Pamphobeteus antinous, you have to figure, as example, if your female costs you $125, then you should the spiderlings for around 1/4 of that price, $31.25 or let's say $30 each.This pricing guide isn't perfect, but gives you some idea how and what to sell your stock for. In the U.S. hobby, the following pricing guides apply to captive-born spiderlings in our current market:
   1. $3-$12 = "Cheap or Beginner's market. Commonly imported, overly prolific or easily-produced species that "newbies" and small pet stores buy. These species also get "traded" around a lot in the hobby because there isn't a lot of demand for them and there is too much supply.
   2. $12-$25 = "Mainstream" market. Species that have a good demand and average supply. Most hobbyists buy spiderlings at this price that are beginners and intermediate keepers along with most dealers, pet stores and educators. My rule of thumb, as a breeder, is that if you are breeding a species that can sell for at least $25 retail, you can pay for your overhead in time, pill bottles, food and shipping materials. If you are producing species that can't sell for at least $25, you are losing money and/or you must be retired, financially not dependent on your breeding activities and/or are doing it just for the fun of it.
   3. $25-$45 = Begining of the "specialist" market. These are often new species or rarely produced in captivity, or species that have a lot of demand, but there is little supply for. Mainly for advanced keepers with some experience in keeping lots of different species and appreciate something new and different. There are fewer buyers in this market than the "mainstream" one.
   4. $45-$150+ = "Specialist" market. These are species that are extremely challenging to produce in captivity, have a very low number of eggs produced and/or are first-time offered/imported/captive-born in the market. Example: Pamphobeteus insignis or Xenesthis immanis. There is a lot of demand and little/or no supply for. Captive-born spiderlings are seen in small numbers every few years. This market is for serious collectors, advanced hobbyists and educational institutions that keep the rarest species on exhibit. Very few buyers in this market, BUT these buyers usually have the money and price doesn't limit them on what they want. World-wide, there is usually only a very few breeders that even have adults of this species in captivity to work with.
2. Agree on a price that is higher, lower or the average, current one and keep that price on these spiderlings for the first 60 days. After that, each party may change their price as their stock grows at different rates and then all price agreements are null and void.
3. Try not to grossly "undercut" one another on price as this devalues the species, creates bad blood between the parties and makes it not in each other's interest to work together on future breeding projects. "Artificially" causes a species to devalue by undercutting each other just to get your stock sold does the hobby a huge injustice in my opinion as it causes hobbyists to think a species is common or not special or could be appreciated just because its price declines or is offered cheap. I've seen this bad practice happen several times in recent years and the result is the same. It takes several years before that particular species regains its popularity and is in high demand again. *** The bottom line is don't get "greedy", have all this worked out before the loan happens and remember you want to build a reputation for success and working well to produce captive-born stock in the future, not just on this one breeding project.

What information should the owner of the female be provided with? The males maturing date, if he has been mated with any females before, his last sperm web dates if noticed and if he is currently eating well and in good health. Do NOT send out old males (maturing dates over six months +, ones that have been mating with multiple females numerous times or males that are weak, not feeding weekly or haven't made a sperm web in months.

Are record-keeping of "blood lines" important? Yes! Studies have shown that in-breeding tarantulas can have bad results on the first generation. Typical problems in in-bred stock will be: fertility problems, slow growth rates, missing vivid colors and patterns, early, unexplained deaths and not growing to its normal, maximum size. I recommend upon acquition of any new stock labeling your tarantula's tank with the following "blood line" example: "TG-01-A" = The first two letters are either the breeder's initials or the dealer's. The two numbers in the middle is either the year born (if known) or the year acquired. The letter/letters at the end mean the actual blood line of that year starting with "A" that means that is the first stock produced of that species from that breeder OR the first stock acquired for that dealer of that species. If I mate a male designated "TG-01-A" with a female "MH-98-B", the resulting offspring are designated "GH-01-AB" combining the last name initials of the two breeders/dealers and the combination of the two blood lines. This designation systems is perfect and has some flaws (especially when not using the actual year of birth or not knowing who was the original breeder), but it gives you some history of blood lines on your stock.

Who do I send my male out to on loan if there are several owners of females of my male's species? Go with experience and reputation, especially when dealing with rare or challenging species.

O.k. You have all the basic information now to do a breeding loan with your male or receive a male for your female. Good luck! :)