# Arizona blonde growth



## Ratmosphere (Jan 2, 2017)

Is it worth it to get this species at a 1" sling? Do they really take that long to grow?


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## Walker253 (Jan 2, 2017)

Aphonopelma take forever. You might see 3" in about 3-4 years.


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## dopamine (Jan 2, 2017)

Find an adult if you can.


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## Najakeeper (Jan 2, 2017)

Blondes in Arizona take about 18 years to mature give or take a few. That's physical though, psychological maturity is a whole different thing.

Reactions: Agree 2 | Funny 12


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## eldondominicano (Jan 2, 2017)

They're a very pretty species and are on the lower side of maintenance. I love them, but yes any aphonopelma species takes a long time to mature.


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## viper69 (Jan 3, 2017)

Ratmosphere said:


> Is it worth it to get this species at a 1" sling? Do they really take that long to grow?


Their rate is glacial.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Kayis (Jan 3, 2017)

Write that thing into your will if you end up with it.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 4


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## Andrea82 (Jan 3, 2017)

Najakeeper said:


> Blondes in Arizona take about 18 years to mature give or take a few. That's physical though, psychological maturity is a whole different thing.


It sucks that we're only allowed one rating per post. For this one i wanted to hit the funny, award and creativity...i'll go for the funny, but just so you know, this post

Reactions: Agree 4 | Informative 1 | Funny 1


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## MrsHaas (Jan 3, 2017)

lol I have had a sub adult male A. chalcodes since late 2012 and it STILL hasn't molted once!  I guess he's in no hurry to mature and die...

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 1


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## lanny (Jan 4, 2017)

Females can live for 40 years. If your impatient Ts aren't for you!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## johnny quango (Jan 4, 2017)

MrsHaas said:


> lol I have had a sub adult male A. chalcodes since late 2012 and it STILL hasn't molted once!  I guess he's in no hurry to mature and die...


It's funny you should say that I have a Aphonopelma gabeli juvenile male who as been with me since 2013 and he's moulted once he eats once out of ever 10 feeders I offer him. Yet I've got an Aphonopelma serratum adult male that matured in just 2.5 years and maxed out at 3.5" so go figure these Aphonopelma are a strange bunch

Reactions: Agree 2


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## MrsHaas (Jan 4, 2017)

johnny quango said:


> It's funny you should say that I have a Aphonopelma gabeli juvenile male who as been with me since 2013 and he's moulted once he eats once out of ever 10 feeders I offer him. Yet I've got an Aphonopelma serratum adult male that matured in just 2.5 years and maxed out at 3.5" so go figure these Aphonopelma are a strange bunch


Quite so!  Don't want him to molt ever either... He's just the cutest thing, when he hooks out he will be all uggo!!

Reactions: Like 1


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## Envoirment (Jan 5, 2017)

Very slow - I got a ~3-3.5" one as my first T. almost a year ago and it's still yet to molt in my care! Get  subadult/adult if you don't like waiting - their colouration is beautiful and they can be quite the "characters" (well mine is at least!).


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## z32upgrader (Jan 5, 2017)

MrsHaas said:


> Quite so!  Don't want him to molt ever either... He's just the cutest thing, when he hooks out he will be all uggo!!


A. chalcodes never look uggo!  My mature male "Ricky" who I caught as penultimate.

Reactions: Like 4 | Funny 1 | Love 1


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## johnny quango (Jan 5, 2017)

MrsHaas said:


> Quite so!  Don't want him to molt ever either... He's just the cutest thing, when he hooks out he will be all uggo!!


That's the thing although my A serratum is still a beautiful species even though he hooked out, I still get what you mean about them being cute I think it works with some other species of slow growers like Brachypelma,Grammostola and I think for me it's because they don't hit that leggy stage like lp,phormic,Pamphobeteus etc. Aphonopelma,Brachypelma and Grammostola just look like shrunk down versions of their adults


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## MrsHaas (Jan 6, 2017)

z32upgrader said:


> A. chalcodes never look uggo!  My mature male "Ricky" who I caught as penultimate.
> View attachment 228411


He IS quite handsome... I take it back (with this species - others still kinda do ugg out, like pokies and psalmops)

Reactions: Like 1


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## Spidermolt (Jan 6, 2017)

Only Aphonopelma I have was a .5" hentzi. Four years later and it's only about 2 1/4" 

...just saying the next time I get any Aphonopelma I'll pay extra for an adult.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## volcanopele (Jan 7, 2017)

We'll see how my chalcodes goes.  She's at 4" DLS right now (I've had her for about 2 months now).  Yet, despite their slow growth, she matches my LK and my GBB in feeding response and she's yet to turn down a feeder.  She's also my most active spider (at least of the ones who aren't slings)... go figure


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## Jeff23 (Jan 8, 2017)

I just got my 1/4" chalcodes recently to go with my 1/4" Hentzi's and 1/3" Marxi's.   The race is on. Ready Set Go!


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## Jgboeser (Apr 13, 2021)

I just got a 3" chalcodes - I was having these same debates with myself! The one I got is really the only one I managed to find that was any bigger than a sling, I really didn't think they would be so tricky to find! Since all these replies are about 4 years old now, any updates?? How are everyone's babies doin now?


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## Jgboeser (Apr 13, 2021)

Walker253 said:


> Aphonopelma take forever. You might see 3" in about 3-4 years.


This is 100% the info I was looking for! I just got a 3" babe and was wondering how old she might be haha


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## emartinm28 (Apr 13, 2021)

Jgboeser said:


> This is 100% the info I was looking for! I just got a 3" babe and was wondering how old she might be haha


Keep in mind that a 3” specimen that’s wild caught _may_ be older than a 3” specimen that’s captive bred (or one that was caught at 1”) due to more regular feeding in captivity

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Arachnophobphile (Apr 13, 2021)

Ratmosphere said:


> Is it worth it to get this species at a 1" sling? Do they really take that long to grow?


Well that all depends on how old you are. If you're older like me start with a 3 inch dls one. If you start with a spiderling you'll be long dead before it matures out.

1 inch is great to start off with if you're younger.

They are totally worth having in a collection. Mine is quite entertaining to watch. If I do cage maintenance, refilling water dish or feeding she will come out of her burrow to see what was going on after 5 minutes when I finish.

Mine is 3.5 inches also does oddball things. Look at my profile pic. She was doing that for a week. I thought I was going to get lucky and get a molt but NOOOOOOOO! she decided against it.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## CommanderBacon (Apr 13, 2021)

Ratmosphere said:


> Is it worth it to get this species at a 1" sling? Do they really take that long to grow?


Yes.

I got a .25" sling in January 2019. It is currently barely two inches.

Could be worse though. I got a .25" Aphonopelma mooreae one month later. It is currently just under 1 inch.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Sterls (Apr 13, 2021)

dopamine said:


> Find an adult if you can.


Disagree - we shouldn't be encouraging wild caught specimens, even if the slings take forever to grow. Especially for Aphonopelma that are so available as CB slings.

It's frustrating OP, no doubt, but I'd say it's worth it. They're fun to watch even as slings/juvies. My 1/4" (maybe less) hentzi and catalina are already bulldozers. I had a (suspect) hentzi that was maybe 2.5" and they were a certified backhoe operator.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## RabbitGal89 (Aug 3, 2021)

This thread is such a relief. My boyfriend got me the tiniest of slings in July 2019. The little twerp has gone on multiple hunger strikes and I've only seen it molt once. It's happy, climbing and borrowing and such. I fret over it though, and wondered if I was doing something wrong.
It grows slower than me G. rosea that I brought home in a tiny sauce cup.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Arachnophobphile (Aug 4, 2021)

Waiting for someone to post they have an adult female A. chalcodes. So I can push my mature gigolo male A. chalcodes on them while he still lives.

However.....it's always the same, my small T won't grow....*sigh*

Reactions: Like 2 | Funny 1


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## VaporRyder (Aug 4, 2021)

#MOTGA


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