Are these male Pedipalps on my P. scrofa? (Photo)

[scrible]

My fairly recently acquired P. scrofa is only about 2 inches in diameter, so I am hoping it is not a mature male. I have taken a photo of the front pedipalps, and it appears that there are very small black bulbous appendages on the ends, that can only be seen when it has its legs up in the air. Since I am a newbie, I am not familiar with what a female (or immature male) front legs look like, so I am trying to grasp what i am looking at. Sorry for the poor photo, this is the best I could get of its front legs when it was up in the corner of its enclosure.

 

[Martin Oosthuysen]

My fairly recently acquired P. scrofa is only about 2 inches in diameter, so I am hoping it is not a mature male. I have taken a photo of the front pedipalps, and it appears that there are very small black bulbous appendages on the ends, that can only be seen when it has its legs up in the air. Since I am a newbie, I am not familiar with what a female (or immature male) front legs look like, so I am trying to grasp what i am looking at. Sorry for the poor photo, this is the best I could get of its front legs when it was up in the corner of its enclosure.

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Hello
If I am seeing correctly,I see the tibial hooks as well so indeed it is a male specimen.

 

[Martin Oosthuysen]

The encircled areas are the tibial hooks,so 100% male so it will have bulbous pedipalps.

 

[TheJuicyFruit]

I'm sorry to hear that. :\ Mines leggy but I dont see any other signs of it being a male so I'm hoping it's just a leggy female.

 

[scrible]

I swear Petco is going to hear from me. I was sold this as a young G. rosea, which obviously it is not. How long do you think it will live since it is a mature male? It doesn't sound like it is going to get any bigger either. It is pretty damn small. I did my research for weeks, but obviously not enough to distinguish everything I needed to. Now I know.

 

[Martin Oosthuysen]

I swear Petco is going to hear from me. I was sold this as a young G. rosea, which obviously it is not. How long do you think it will live since it is a mature male? It doesn't sound like it is going to get any bigger either. It is pretty damn small. I did my research for weeks, but obviously not enough to distinguish everything I needed to. Now I know.

Hello
You can confirm what I have said,there where I've marked the tibial hooks or spurs just double check it. If I am right about the bulbs and hooks,it is a mature male no more molting.

 

[DVirginiana]

If you wanted to give the spider back, you could probably get a refund. I've seen petco selling frogs as the wrong species before, I def. wouldn't trust them to get spiders right.

 

[Ceratogyrus]

It is definately a mature male

 

[scrible]

Hello
You can confirm what I have said,there where I've marked the tibial hooks or spurs just double check it. If I am right about the bulbs and hooks,it is a mature male no more molting.

I just checked and it absolutely has the tibial hooks. Based on the amount of hair that is missing from his abdomen I imagine he is pretty old.

 

[Martin Oosthuysen]

I just checked and it absolutely has the tibial hooks. Based on the amount of hair that is missing from his abdomen I imagine he is pretty old.

Sorry to have been the one to tell you,hope you can sort it out sadly the tarantula pays for it yet it was not its mistake.

 

[scrible]

Sorry to have been the one to tell you,hope you can sort it out sadly the tarantula pays for it yet it was not its mistake.

No problem man I appreciate the info. I plan on keeping the spider, and taking it up with Petco just to vent or maybe get an actual G. rosea discounted. He hasn't eaten in the weeks since I got him despite several attempts, and based on the info I have now I wouldn't be surprised if he was near end of life.

 

[Martin Oosthuysen]

No problem man I appreciate the info. I plan on keeping the spider, and taking it up with Petco just to vent or maybe get an actual G. rosea discounted. He hasn't eaten in the weeks since I got him despite several attempts, and based on the info I have now I wouldn't be surprised if he was near end of life.

Sadly T pays for others incompetence,I don't sell my males I offer them as breeding loans. At least I know he will do what he was meant for,and get something back an offspring from him which I will keep in remembrance.

 

[Tomoran]

Petco strikes again. I think it's fantastic that you plan to keep him, as at least he'll have proper care as he ends his days.

Instead of buying another one from Petco, have you thought about purchasing one from an online vendor? At least then, you would know that you're getting the right species and sex. Jamie's Tarantulas currently has two 4'5" inch G. rosea females in stock for $45 at the moment. I've bought from her dozens of times, and every transaction has been perfect. Although it's great to save a specimen from a local pet store, I think the majority of us end up buying our animals from online vendors.

 

[Morgan94]

Its deffinetly a mature male and i'm pretty sure thats p. parvula not p. scrofa i wont know for sure unless you can get me a picture of the abdomen by the spinnerettes

 

[FaaFaa]

Just thought that I would add, for those that don't know Paraphysa is no longer a valid species and Paraphysa parvula is now Euathlus parvulus. The P in P. scrofa is now Phrixotrichus.

I had a shock when my P. scrofa molted into a MM. I was shocked at how tiny he was.

Please don't buy anymore Ts from PetCo. There are a TON of great online dealers that can get you exactly what you want, no surprises.

I'm happy that you are planning on keeping the little fellow. Are you going to try and send it off to breed?

 

[Morgan94]

Just thought that I would add, for those that don't know Paraphysa is no longer a valid species and Paraphysa parvula is now Euathlus parvulus. The P in P. scrofa is now Phrixotrichus.

I had a shock when my P. scrofa molted into a MM. I was shocked at how tiny he was.

Please don't buy anymore Ts from PetCo. There are a TON of great online dealers that can get you exactly what you want, no surprises.

I'm happy that you are planning on keeping the little fellow. Are you going to try and send it off to breed?

I know that they changed it i just wasnt sure if anybody else knew yet & i also didnt feel like going into a ton of detail on a simple late night post lol.

and buying Ts from petCo and such can really be a double edged sword.. you might not always get what you payed for but sometimes you get something wicked awesome... and your most likely helping an animal in need.. half the people working in pet stores dont know anything about the animals they are selling.. your lucky if they know the difference between a gold fish and a turtle haha.

 

[Rick Stallard]

I know you wanted a G rosea, but have you thought about getting a female to mate with him, or find someone local that has a female and offer your male for breeding. I have a G porteri male that is 20+ months passed his ultimate molt and he is still making sperm webs and breeding (just yesterday) so yours may still have some fun left in him.

 

[FaaFaa]

buying Ts from petCo and such can really be a double edged sword.. you might not always get what you payed for but sometimes you get something wicked awesome... and your most likely helping an animal in need.. half the people working in pet stores dont know anything about the animals they are selling.. your lucky if they know the difference between a gold fish and a turtle haha.

Yes, you may get something neat AND you are helping an animal in need. BUT when you buy one poorly cared for T from the pet stores they just replace it with another one. It's a viscous circle. The only way to get it to stop is to stop buying them. Not an easy feat when you walk into a pet store and see a T with a sponge in their water dish. I do my best to avoid the pet stores that sell Ts, unless they know what they are doing. I am within driving distance to two LLL Reptile and I won't hesitate to buy from them.

 

[scrible]

Its deffinetly a mature male and i'm pretty sure thats p. parvula not p. scrofa i wont know for sure unless you can get me a picture of the abdomen by the spinnerettes

It is definitely P. scrofa, P. parvula looks much different in tall the pics I see.

 

[Morgan94]

It is definitely P. scrofa, P. parvula looks much different in tall the pics I see.

Those aren't the greatest pictures but that carapace looks way to coppery to be P. Scrofa.. Does your T happen to look anything like this???