# How and when to sex green bottle blues?



## mike89 (May 23, 2006)

Hi i just bought a green bottle blue along with a chilean rose today, they are my first T's. The rose is a subadult but i dont know how to sex it? The green bottle blue is small like an inch long? When can i sex the blue bottle green and how lnog do they live for? I bought it for 40$ was that a good price? Also when you measure ur t's is it the leg span going side to side or head to abdomen?


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## MindUtopia (May 23, 2006)

When you measure T's it's their legspan from head to abdomen.  Look in the thread called Sexing for Dummies under the Tarantula Announcements section to see what it is you need to be able to clearly see in order to sex it.  As soon as it's big enough that you can see this either ventrally or on a molt (better in my opinion) either with plain sight or a magnifying glass, it's big enough to sex.  In general this is somewhere around 2-3 inches if you are doing by the naked eye.


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## Hwydrone (May 23, 2006)

There are a couple of ways to sex a T. All it takes is knowing what to look for. If you're going to sex a sling however you'll also need some sort of magnification device such as a microscope or an eye loupe. 

There's the external method and the internal method. The downside to this is if you've never used the external method before your first try at it will be a guess at best.
Rick West explains the external method here: 

http://www.birdspiders.com/faq_sex.html

The internal method is more reliable but the downer is you'll have to wait until the T molts. When it's finished molting, snag the exuvium and look for a little 'purse/leaf/lip' looking thing between the booklungs just above the epigastric furrow on the inside of the abdomen. This is called the spermathicae and means it is a female. 

"...when you measure ur t's is it the leg span going side to side or head to abdomen?"

Head to toe/Front to back. Although there's an ongoing debate on whether you should measure your T while it's standing in a normal position or if it should be stretched out first.


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## Fierce Deity (May 23, 2006)

mike89 said:
			
		

> Hi i just bought a green bottle blue along with a chilean rose today, they are my first T's. The rose is a subadult but i dont know how to sex it?


http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=54718



			
				mike89 said:
			
		

> The green bottle blue is small like an inch long? When can i sex the blue bottle green and how lnog do they live for? I bought it for 40$ was that a good price?


I could flip a coin for you;P .  At 1", it is very difficult, if not impossible to sex it ventrally.  I would wait until 2-3 inches, and also use a molt to be sure.  For the lifespan, I've heard around 15 years for females, and 2-3 for males. 



			
				mike89 said:
			
		

> Also when you measure ur t's is it the leg span going side to side or head to abdomen?


Most people measure legspan diagonally from the tip of leg I on one side to the end of leg IV on the other side.

Reactions: Like 1


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## bonesmama (May 23, 2006)

Hi Mike, and welcome! GBB's are beautiful T's, unfortunately they mature really quickly. I have a male that just had it's ultimate molt, and I only had him for a year. I got him as a sling,too. Females take longer to mature, though and live longer.....so hope for a girl!


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## mike89 (May 23, 2006)

lol hmm i still find all that sexing stuff difficult. I never even thought about keeping T's, the oppertunity just arose today cuz some guy wanted to trade his t's for my mantids, so i thought it would be cool to keep them. How much does the average 1.5" BBG go for? How much do they go for as adults or subadults?

Do they live that long from when they are spiderlings or when they reach maturity? If i feed my spiderling alot will it grow faster? 

How dangerous are thoes hairs they flick? sorry about all the questions just that dont know squat about T's, been reading up on the net that the hairs can really hurt you?


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## Hwydrone (May 23, 2006)

I've never had any serious trouble from urticulating hairs other than mild discomfort much like the itch from fiberglass insulation but some people are more sensitive to them than others. I personally don't see any REAL danger unless the T kicks a cloud of them straight into your eyes!   lol


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## Hwydrone (May 23, 2006)

mike89 said:
			
		

> Do they live that long from when they are spiderlings or when they reach maturity? If i feed my spiderling alot will it grow faster?


Feeding a sling more often will increase growth rate although I think you can overfeed if you're not careful. Also, keeping a sling in a warmer environment (say, mid-upper 80'sF or so) I believe increases their metabolism as well as growth rate but when keeping them this warm you have to be _*real* _careful about dehydration so I'd be sure not to go above 85F(30C) and keep em on plenty of moist substrate; about a couple inches. Try to induce burrowing by providing some sort of hide or poke a hole in the sub and see if he climbs in in a few days. If they burrow they're less likely to dry out.
As far as lifespan goes I consider a potential 15 year female to include the hatch date but most T's will mature within the first 3-5 years depending on the species. I'm not 100% on this but I think Greenbottles are slow growers like Brachys.:wall:


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## Vys (May 23, 2006)

Moist substrate and burrows, for GBBs? They're on 'scrubland' in nature I think, and mine certainly doesn't seem to dig humidity alot. Fairly dry to entirely dry substrate with a waterdish seems more reasonable. And don't let it go above say 27C.


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## Windchaser (May 23, 2006)

Hwydrone said:
			
		

> As far as lifespan goes I consider a potential 15 year female to include the hatch date but most T's will mature within the first 3-5 years depending on the species. I'm not 100% on this but I think Greenbottles are slow growers like Brachys.:wall:


_Brachypelmas_ in general grow slower than GBB. The hobby is still young enough that the life span of captive females for many species is not known yet. It should be noted that the life span is influenced by feeding, temperature and other external factors.


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## Hwydrone (May 23, 2006)

Okay, ya got me, I admit I've never kept a GBB that small but overall sling care is generally the same isn't it? 
Ooops! Sorry guys. I misread.   I thought Mike89 said his GBB was _less_ than an inch. :?  In that case I'd go with Vys on the temp and humidity!


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## Mushroom Spore (May 23, 2006)

Hwydrone said:
			
		

> In that case I'd go with Vys on the temp and humidity!


But definitely, when it's big enough for a bottlecap waterdish or something, stop misting and keep the tank bone dry. They dislike moisture after a certain age, and it can make them sick.

It's not likely to burrow even as a sling, though. I've always seen them web like mad, even as babies. I got mine as a 2.5" sexed female ($65, since the OP wanted to know pricing), though, so I have no GBB sling experience personally.


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## mike89 (May 24, 2006)

What other T's are good for beginers but move around alot and are very active hunters? I find the Chilean rose very boring?? The GBB is alot more active than the chilean rose for sure, i can see him making his webs and stuff and whenever i throw in a bug he snags it right away. I had a sorta pet Wolfspider in my back yard before he lived in a hole, and i fed him everyother day, until he was huge and he was more interesting than the chilean i got. Im lucky to even see it move, so when i geeet bored i squirt it with water to make it move

Reactions: Dislike 1


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## Mushroom Spore (May 24, 2006)

mike89 said:
			
		

> What other T's are good for beginers but move around alot and are very active hunters?


There's no such thing as an active T, except for an unhappy one kept in a bad environment, or a mature male. Once the GBB is done building its web, it will generally sit in or near it and do nothing else. That's what tarantulas DO. If you're looking for constant entertainment, give your Ts to someone else and go buy some hamsters.



			
				mike89 said:
			
		

> Im lucky to even see it move, so when i geeet bored i squirt it with water to make it move


Congrats, you're abusing your pet.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Windchaser (May 24, 2006)

mike89 said:
			
		

> What other T's are good for beginers but move around alot and are very active hunters? I find the Chilean rose very boring?? The GBB is alot more active than the chilean rose for sure, i can see him making his webs and stuff and whenever i throw in a bug he snags it right away. I had a sorta pet Wolfspider in my back yard before he lived in a hole, and i fed him everyother day, until he was huge and he was more interesting than the chilean i got. Im lucky to even see it move, so when i geeet bored i squirt it with water to make it move


Perhaps tarantulas are not the right pet for you. They are not very active animals. Also, please stop abusing the ones you have. You certainly will not win over many/any people here with you are treating them.


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## Juraki (May 25, 2006)

Next time your tarantula is boring you to tears, do it a favor and go find something else to do.


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