Would you consider this darkened enough to be mature? Im kinda confused because of her size. Any thoughts on this? My other female was a lot bigger before she darkened. I heard this species mature at different sizes but thats just hearsay.
My Thrixopelma ockerti also has very dark, prominent spermatheca, which were dark at about 2"DLS, before she had even molted into her full adult colors. I'm pretty sure she's not even close to mature, so sometimes they might just be extra dark on some females?
My Thrixopelma ockerti also has very dark, prominent spermatheca, which were dark at about 2"DLS, before she had even molted into her full adult colors. I'm pretty sure she's not even close to mature, so sometimes they might just be extra dark on some females?
she is 3” now, i have a 4.5” female that is mature. I was kinda surprised when the molt was this dark already. She has adult coloring already. I still have a while to go because my male is 3” and not mature yet. Hopefully they both molt together and I end up with 2 breed-able females for the male.
Species of the genus Thrixopelma are a good example of how the darkening, or sclerotization, of the spermathecae is not a good indicator of when a female tarantula is sexually mature. Females of all species of tarantula have varying degrees of hardening as adult making it impossible to tell maturity based on the vague notion darkening/ hardening is a good indicator. Not to mention the hardening develops over time and can appear early in development in some species while later in others. It takes experience examining the structure of the spermathecae of large and small females alike in order to make a good guess as to when they are mature.
Species of the genus Thrixopelma are a good example of how the darkening, or sclerotization, of the spermathecae is not a good indicator of when a female tarantula is sexually mature. Females of all species of tarantula have varying degrees of hardening as adult making it impossible to tell maturity based on the vague notion darkening/ hardening is a good indicator. Not to mention the hardening develops over time and can appear early in development in some species while later in others. It takes experience examining the structure of the spermathecae of large and small females alike in order to make a good guess as to when they are mature.
Thanks for the response. I agree totally, as I am starting to see this with some of the NW terrestrial species I keep, I haven’t noticed it as much with OW or arboreal species. All of my OW have been spot on with size/darkened spermathecae.
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