Brachypelma Vagans

• 

  Arachnophoric

• Sep 17, 2019

You should never touch that freshly molted of a T! It doesn't matter how gentle you think you're being, one wrong slip and you're going to injure your sling, especially seeing how small it still is. Just be patient and let the T harden if you're so desperate to find out the sex. Besides, ventral sexing freshly molted Ts is even more inaccurate than normal. They'll tend to look more feminine until they harden.

It looks like it could be female from this picture.

 

• 

  MrGhostMantis

• Sep 17, 2019

Can't tell to well but I may see a developing spermethocae. By the way how is this species?

 

• 

  Arachnophoric

• Sep 17, 2019

@MrGhostMantis you wouldn't see developing spermathecae on a ventral image of a t... spermathecae develop internally, which is why you can only check for them in molts...

 

• 

  MrGhostMantis

• Sep 17, 2019

Once again new to the hobby. ;(

 

• 

  MrGhostMantis

• Sep 17, 2019

I'm tired of being corrected. I thought this was a molt because I rushed through the description.

 

• 

  MrGhostMantis

• Sep 17, 2019

I also need some tutoring on this.

 

• 

  Arachnophoric

• Sep 17, 2019

@MrGhostMantis you're good, it's all a part of learning. In ventral images you're looking at a few different factors; length/ shape of the furrow, the shape and spacing of the area between the upper set of booklungs, and most importantly, looking for the presence of epiandrous fusillae - a ton of microscopic spinerets that aid in the creation of sperm webs, and thus only present on males. It varies from species to species on how obvious they are to see, but usually present as a dark patch or "dot" above the center of the furrow. On freshly molted specimens though, such as this one, the patch of epiandrous fusillae can be much harder to spot.

 

• 

  MrGhostMantis

• Sep 18, 2019

Thanks for the tip. I need to learn more. Thought I was good off for someone without a spider.

 

• 

  Arachnophoric

• Sep 18, 2019

@MrGhostMantis it's tough at first, and even after some time there will still be specimens that'll leave you stumped. And of course, always bear in mind that ventral sexing is an educated guess at best and the only way to be 100% certain of the sex of a T is to sex the molt.

 

L

• L

  Leo Del Campo

• Sep 18, 2019

@Arachnophoric I know but don't worry, he/she is doing pretty good after the touches