Really confused about the sex of my Avic.

[CmdrVimes]

When I first got my avic, I posted pics of her "undercarriage" on a different t forum and the guys were 99% adamant that she was a she.

She has not moulted since January 2012, I don't know whether this is normal, or whether it shows she is actually a he.

She defies "normal avic" according to my Fiancé. She moves quite slowly, is not at all jumpy and is fine being handled, I can even breathe on her and she doesn't mind. EDITED: she also likes being out in the open, she NEVER hides away, she only webs a funnel when she moults.

I have taken about four shots of her whilst she is on the front of her terrarium, so hopefully the more experienced of you will be able to confirm whether or not she is a she, or a he. I am hoping she is a she so that I get more years out of her.

Here is one image, if this is not clear enough, give me a shout and I will get more.

Hope the size is OK, I don't know if there are any restrictions on photo sizes.

 

[Kurt Nelson]

Looks female to me.

 

[Kurt Nelson]

This here is a Male. You can clearly see the difference. You can see what people will call a dot. Also yours hasn't molted in over a year? It's more than likely mature, and if you notice in your picture, the pedipalps do not have boxing gloves like a male would have. Another thing you may look at to see if it has is hooks. Not all genus have hooks but in this case your Avic will have hooks if it was male.

Yours does not have any of these things, so I deduce female.

 

[Nada]

that is a female all day, no doubt about it. If she hasn't molted in a year you should be expecting one soon.

 

[CmdrVimes]

Thank you both that will explain why she's still not eating the locust I put in a few weeks ago!

I will take it out in the morning (well, later on this morning!) so that it doesn't stress her out.

How often does an adult female moult?

Will take pics of her other side later, she was sold as an avic. metallica, but someone before had doubts that she was.

The very tips of her toes are more often than not white looking, it depends on how she's positioned.

I am not really bothered if she is metallica or otherwise, I still adore her and find her so interesting to watch when she's on the move.

I called her Penelope, before I was active on any T forums, now I know "Penelope Pink Toe" is really quite common!. heheh

 

[Kurt Nelson]

I'd honestly take the prey out 24 hours after giving it to her.

But molts get longer and longer apart with each molt. So you're looking at over a year again for the next molt, probably. It really all depends on feeding schedule, temperature, humidity. Nobody can really pinpoint it to a science because there are so many variables.