My new Ephebopus murinus arrived

[biomarine2000]

My new Ephebopus murinus arrived. I'm not sure of the sex but it is a beauty.

 

[Moltar]

One of my favorites. I have a big, fat female who is surprisingly mellow and fearless. They like it deep and wet, BTW.

With their webby trumpet mounds and relaxed yet accurate ambush attacks they are high on the "creepiness factor" for non-arachnopeople. I love showing off my girl O-ren Ishi'i to my friends, she usually gives a good show.

 

[biomarine2000]

I have always liked your avatar. Ever since I saw that this species has been high on the list. Finally I got one! I will hopefully be able to sex him/her with the next molt. I've got my fingures crossed for a female.

 

[Everyexcuse4me]

Awesome spider. I'd love one . Congrats!

 

[biomarine2000]

I went in to check on her today and discovered that her hide was very much webbed up. I thought that much web this early was odd. I looked down in the hide and there she was, freshly molted. Very cool. I have to get the exo skeleton re-wet because it was hard. I will know for sure hopefully really soon if its a he/she.

 

[Moltar]

To soften up exo's I put them in what is basically a very moist ICU overnight. It softens up the exo nicely without making it too wet of messing up the structural integrity of the thing.

That pic for my avatar was the same situation. She had only been in the enclosure a few days before molting. Note the lack of webbing. I always consider it a compliment when a T molts immediately after moving in. They like the house!

You'll enjoy your new skeleton, I expect. They're pretty shy but not as bad as say haplopelma or something.

What I see of mine most often is this...

But every so often I'll get to see this...

And then once in a blue moon (actually twice in almost 3 years) I'll see THIS!

 

[biomarine2000]

male or female?

They are the coolest looking species. I have mine housed almost exactly the same way as yours. I put two pieces of bark together with hot glue and barried it in the eco earth. He/she moved right in. Here are some molt pics. Let me know what you guys think. Male or female?

 

[Moltar]

I can't really see the most important bit. Is there a flap there between the forward book lungs? Males will have a berely noticeable groove there while females will have more of a flap. Peel that flap back and look for two little tidbits in there. Those are the spermathecae indicating female. It looks a little male here but that may be just because that flap is smoothed down.

 

[biomarine2000]

I was thinking the same thing. I soaked the molt in water for about 30 mins so its pretty wet. It was sold to me as female but I'm sure it wasn't sexed by molt. Its pretty hard to tell. I didn't see the flap either, just want some other opinions. I will try and get some better pics when it drys a bit.

 

[biomarine2000]

I just looked at it again and it looks male to me. Its pretty small. The molt from let to leg is only 4 inches or just under. I may have to wait until the next molt to tell for sure. I'm guessing male for now though.

 

[UrbanJungles]

Looks like a male.

I keep my murinus in a clear container with only about an inch or so of substrate. She made an enormous hammock spanning the entire size of the enclosure and basically keeps on top of it all day long. When she gets spooked she will dash under the giant hammock but she generally just chills out on top and I see her all the time. I make sure to keep her moisture up and she has been in this setup for a bit over a year now and has molted a couple of times...I have a second female in a similar setup and she's been doing fine, you just have to make sure they have plenty of water in a dish and the substrate stays slightly moist.