I just caught this guy the other day. Very Docile. He is solid black with just a few brown hairs on his abdomen. His legs are about 3 inches long which makes him about 7" overall length. Looks like a Aphonopelma but curious as to which one. He looks just like the Johnny cashi. But I'm here in W. Tex
It would be a little weird and cruel if I release my South American species into the wild of Idaho. I’m from Texas and I personally wouldn’t keep a MM I found. He might die by cat or car or whatever but either way he will die, giving him a constant supply of food only shortens his life and he won’t have to opportunity to make hella babies. Obviously this is America, do what you want but maybe consider finding him a girlfriend and get into breeding.
A MM will die soon anyway, and all that you're doing for him is keeping him from finding a female. It would be better to get a sling, female, or juvenile instead. Or try breeding.
The argument of not collecting sexually mature males so they can have a chance to mate is just as valid a reason for not collecting sexually mature females or any other life stage. When one removes a mature female from the wild, one is preventing it from being found by a male in order to produce offspring. Collecting any tarantula from the wild, regardless of the sex of the spider, adds to the potential of depleting the natural population, even if it is just a little bit. I think there is some bias here when someone jumps on another for collecting males. Just because one person can't appreciate having a mature male tarantula in their collection doesn't mean it is wrong for another too.
@MintyWood826 males do not live very long anyway, regardless if in the wild or captivity. Heck, no one knows if this guy is on his last legs anyway! Instead of him dying from the cat and the chance him breeding and me having 1,000 baby ones running under my house, I like him right where he's at.
@bsshog40 Ok. It's a free country. You do whatever. It's your choice.
What I meant was that if you have an adult T that's a male, he won't live as long as if you had raised him from a young age. I realize that their lives are short.
We shouldn't try to tell you not to have a T just because he's older. You know he won't live years and years, and not everyone breeds every sexually mature T they have.
@AphonopelmaTX I agree... Though, my 2 cents on this matter has less to do with depletion of wild specimens and more to do with the fact someone maybe stopping the spider from doing what it was born to do, no matter the size or sex. The only reason I see taking a MM being worse is because of the much shorter time frame you have to ID, find a mate, and try to breed them. If one is not willing to at least attempt breeding then leave them be or relocate them in a less hazardous place if that's really a problem. Collecting wild caught (or even captive bred) specimens for just the appreciation with no effort at all to allow the opportunity to reproduce seems quite selfish to me unless the species is overpopulated and causing an imbalance, which I doubt they are...
That's another good thing about America. We have freedom of speech! I'm on a few forums with other hobbies. There are always those 10% that have their ways and always trying to inflict them on others and make others see things their way. Luckily I have the choice to ignore them also.
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