Vanessa_ArachnoVegan

Good afternoon Mr.Cooper and thank you so much for making yourself available to the community this afternoon. I have a few questions, please.

Going forward, do you anticipate that other countries will put a similar model, to the Mexican program, in place to protect their native tarantulas? Is that even an option at this point? Do you feel that other countries would be willing to work with hobbyists at this stage?

Also, in your time as a wildlife inspector, how often would you see tarantulas specifically being imported illegally into Canada and what was the most common export country to see them come from? I am assuming that they would most often come from a European source and not from the original country of origin. Also, did you see an increase, or decrease, in the number of those instances involving tarantulas during your time as inspector?

And one more, just strictly for curiosity... what animal/type of animal is most frequently imported illegally into Canada today?

The species that I was trying to breed experience a drop in temperature to around 10C, or even lower at some altitudes, and that has to be constant for weeks. I managed to get a few weeks of cooling to about 15C, but it didn't do the trick. I followed that with a warm up, which is easier, but still nothing.

I can't control natural light and barometric pressure, both of which could play a role. I will continue to try, when I have the males available, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Yes! I have two Brachypelma auratum spiderlings from Tarantula Canada. I have ten different Brachypelma species, but most were bred locally and are older now. Although they are often difficult to breed, they aren't impossible.

Unfortunately, I don't really have the ability to provide the cool down that they require. I recently tried breeding a couple of Chilean species, one Euathlus and one Homoeomma, but it wasn't successful. Keeping them in environments that they can thrive in is easy compared to emulating the conditions that result in successful egg sacs.