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- 3
Heya guys,
I got my first T a couple of months ago, an "unsexed" b. smithi spiderling about the size of a quarter, for a discounted price. This immediately made me think that it was just a male being sold to me as unsexed to increase the likelihood of the poor guy being purchased. I figured that somebody's gotta take care of him, so I bought him. He's now molted once and he's at about a 2.5" (6.4 cm) legspan. His terrarium sits on my desk and I'm always watching him go about his business. Spiders really are fascinating creatures.
I've done a little reading on tarantula husbandry, including Mark Hart's article at http://www.birdspiders.com/faq_sex.php. However, when I tried to examine the molt closely, I felt that it was too small to handle and it kind of just crumpled into this soapy, wet, revolting mess of possibly some of the most disgusting physical matter I've encountered in this universe. I felt that even though I had a decent microscope to use, it would be difficult to accurately determine which part of the mangled spider molt I was even looking at anymore.
The other day though, my buddy decided to post up on the side of his terrarium for an hour or so. I took the opportunity to get some shots with my phone: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hnsmae3axvsd5d5/5QKMFoJ5Pr#/
In Mark's article, the pictures showing males have a little dark spot, which you can almost see in some of my pictures. However, one of my pictures shows what looks like it could potentially be a flap. He could be a she.
I know examining ventral shots of an immature spider isn't an accurate means of sexing this guy, but I'm interested in hearing some expert guesses and opinions.
I got my first T a couple of months ago, an "unsexed" b. smithi spiderling about the size of a quarter, for a discounted price. This immediately made me think that it was just a male being sold to me as unsexed to increase the likelihood of the poor guy being purchased. I figured that somebody's gotta take care of him, so I bought him. He's now molted once and he's at about a 2.5" (6.4 cm) legspan. His terrarium sits on my desk and I'm always watching him go about his business. Spiders really are fascinating creatures.
I've done a little reading on tarantula husbandry, including Mark Hart's article at http://www.birdspiders.com/faq_sex.php. However, when I tried to examine the molt closely, I felt that it was too small to handle and it kind of just crumpled into this soapy, wet, revolting mess of possibly some of the most disgusting physical matter I've encountered in this universe. I felt that even though I had a decent microscope to use, it would be difficult to accurately determine which part of the mangled spider molt I was even looking at anymore.
The other day though, my buddy decided to post up on the side of his terrarium for an hour or so. I took the opportunity to get some shots with my phone: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hnsmae3axvsd5d5/5QKMFoJ5Pr#/
In Mark's article, the pictures showing males have a little dark spot, which you can almost see in some of my pictures. However, one of my pictures shows what looks like it could potentially be a flap. He could be a she.
I know examining ventral shots of an immature spider isn't an accurate means of sexing this guy, but I'm interested in hearing some expert guesses and opinions.
