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Prey protective?
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<blockquote data-quote="Stan Schultz" data-source="post: 229053" data-attributes="member: 28438"><p>They are gorgeous creatures. And get quite large. Can you possibly use your cell phone to get a really good photo of it's "belly" (technically called a venter, which is defined as the ventral side of its abdomen or opsthosoma)? I'm attaching two photos to show you what I mean. These photos are from another distantly related species (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphonopelma_seemanni" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color: rgb(85, 57, 130)">Aphonopelma seemani</span></strong></a>, the Costa Rican zebra tarantula, from Central America), but the principle is the same for what I'm going to tell you. If you're afraid to handle it, perhaps you can get it into a clear/transparent, plastic, deli cup to get a good photo. Be sure to use a new, unused one from a delicatessen or grocery store. Used ones are almost always scratched up and disfigured, thus ruining the image.</p><p></p><p>This may sound silly, but it works. Once you get the tarantula safely into the deli cup, and the lid secured, have a friend hold it in such a way that the cup is positioned on its side with the tarantula laying flat against what is now the (gently curved) bottom side. Sometimes, gently shaking the cup will help reorient the spider. Have your partner hold it some distance off the floor (half a meter to a meter, depending on circumstances). If they can brace their elbows on the seat of a solid chair or coffee table, that would help avoid shaking the cup and blurring the images.</p><p></p><p>Then you lay on your back, on the floor, underneath the suspended deli cup with its tarantula, with the cell phone/camera aimed upward at the spider's belly, and start taking pictures. (Your partner should try to stay out of the picture as much as possible. But, maybe one or two photo-bombs would be allowable as a joke. One can't get too serious about this sort of thing. ) Change the positions of the deli cup and its captive so that you get a number of different photos from a variety of different orientations and angles. It may help to turn off the flash on your camera and lay a desk lamp on the floor next to you, and moving it around with each photo so as to illuminate the cup from various side angles. Take lots of photos. When I'm doing such a photo shoot, I plan on a dozen or more shots to get one just the way I want it. If you're not accustomed to this sort of thing, several dozen shots are strongly recommended.</p><p></p><p><strong>BE ABSOLUTELY CAREFUL NOT TO DROP OR RATTLE THE DELI CUP DURING THIS PROCESS! </strong>Tarantulas don't survive earthquakes and crash landings very well.</p><p></p><p>Also, be sure you remember to put the tarantula back into its cage when you're finished!</p><p></p><p>Then, using whatever method suits you, attach one or two of the very clearest, best focused pictures of the bunch that you took, to another posting in this thread. We'll do our best to help you predict your little buddy's sex.</p><p></p><p>Remember that I mentioned <strong>ATTACHED PHOTOS</strong> above? Here they are. One is of the Zebra's venter without any of my markings on it so you can get a clear, unobstructed view for what comes next. On the other photo I've circled in colored marker some of the spider's organs. Those circled in blue are the tarantula's rear booklungs. Those circled in green are the pair of forward booklungs that are often almost invisibly tucked under the bases of the rear pair of legs. In the middle, between all four booklungs, there should be another structure, a plate of the exoskeleton called the epigynum. In most tarantulas, especially the New World species, if the side to side dimension (its width) is visibly greater than the forward to rearward dimension (its length), and especially if there is a prominent bulge in it (i.e., your tarantula has a little "pot belly"), you've almost certainly get a female. If the length and width are about the same, or if the length is greater than the width, there's a good probability that it's a male. The individual in my photos is definitely a female!</p><p></p><p>Test on Friday! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>Stan</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Stan Schultz, post: 229053, member: 28438"] They are gorgeous creatures. And get quite large. Can you possibly use your cell phone to get a really good photo of it's "belly" (technically called a venter, which is defined as the ventral side of its abdomen or opsthosoma)? I'm attaching two photos to show you what I mean. These photos are from another distantly related species ([URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphonopelma_seemanni'][B][COLOR=rgb(85, 57, 130)]Aphonopelma seemani[/COLOR][/B][/URL], the Costa Rican zebra tarantula,[B] [/B]from Central America), but the principle is the same for what I'm going to tell you. If you're afraid to handle it, perhaps you can get it into a clear/transparent, plastic, deli cup to get a good photo. Be sure to use a new, unused one from a delicatessen or grocery store. Used ones are almost always scratched up and disfigured, thus ruining the image. This may sound silly, but it works. Once you get the tarantula safely into the deli cup, and the lid secured, have a friend hold it in such a way that the cup is positioned on its side with the tarantula laying flat against what is now the (gently curved) bottom side. Sometimes, gently shaking the cup will help reorient the spider. Have your partner hold it some distance off the floor (half a meter to a meter, depending on circumstances). If they can brace their elbows on the seat of a solid chair or coffee table, that would help avoid shaking the cup and blurring the images. Then you lay on your back, on the floor, underneath the suspended deli cup with its tarantula, with the cell phone/camera aimed upward at the spider's belly, and start taking pictures. (Your partner should try to stay out of the picture as much as possible. But, maybe one or two photo-bombs would be allowable as a joke. One can't get too serious about this sort of thing. ) Change the positions of the deli cup and its captive so that you get a number of different photos from a variety of different orientations and angles. It may help to turn off the flash on your camera and lay a desk lamp on the floor next to you, and moving it around with each photo so as to illuminate the cup from various side angles. Take lots of photos. When I'm doing such a photo shoot, I plan on a dozen or more shots to get one just the way I want it. If you're not accustomed to this sort of thing, several dozen shots are strongly recommended. [B]BE ABSOLUTELY CAREFUL NOT TO DROP OR RATTLE THE DELI CUP DURING THIS PROCESS! [/B]Tarantulas don't survive earthquakes and crash landings very well. Also, be sure you remember to put the tarantula back into its cage when you're finished! Then, using whatever method suits you, attach one or two of the very clearest, best focused pictures of the bunch that you took, to another posting in this thread. We'll do our best to help you predict your little buddy's sex. Remember that I mentioned [B]ATTACHED PHOTOS[/B] above? Here they are. One is of the Zebra's venter without any of my markings on it so you can get a clear, unobstructed view for what comes next. On the other photo I've circled in colored marker some of the spider's organs. Those circled in blue are the tarantula's rear booklungs. Those circled in green are the pair of forward booklungs that are often almost invisibly tucked under the bases of the rear pair of legs. In the middle, between all four booklungs, there should be another structure, a plate of the exoskeleton called the epigynum. In most tarantulas, especially the New World species, if the side to side dimension (its width) is visibly greater than the forward to rearward dimension (its length), and especially if there is a prominent bulge in it (i.e., your tarantula has a little "pot belly"), you've almost certainly get a female. If the length and width are about the same, or if the length is greater than the width, there's a good probability that it's a male. The individual in my photos is definitely a female! Test on Friday! ;) Stan [/QUOTE]
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