Age for accurate sexing?

[micahgartman]

At what age is it appropriate to accurately determine a tarantula's sex?

Is the molt from a two-and-a-half year Grammostola pulchripes too immature to use for sexing?

 

[lalberts9310]

Age has nothing to do with when you can sex a T, what's important is the size. How big is your specimen?

Tarantulas can be sexed ventrally at around 2.5", and can be sexed via molt at a smaller size under a microscope.

 

[sdsnybny]

No its not, you should be able to see the sexual organs on the inside of the exo at that age/size.You might need a magnifying glass but they should be present.

 

[micahgartman]

Thanks for the replies

Looks like my little girl Sydney is actually my little boy Sidney!

 

[Poec54]

Thanks for the replies

Looks like my little girl Sydney is actually my little boy Sidney!

Best to know early, and then you can plan accordingly. If you raise them for years, then have surprise males pop up, you've wasted a lot of time with that species. The sooner you know, the sooner you can start on getting a female (if needed).

 

[micahgartman]

I like the way you think, Poec54

 

[Poec54]

Thanks. I've been doing this a long time, and some lessons were learned the hard way. I remember a guy that had 100 slings, each a different species. He was pretty proud...for a while. Then as they gradually matured, he wound up with about 30 females out of that. Back then there wasn't nearly the network of people to trade males to. For what he spent, he could have bought 30 adult females and saved himself a few years.

When I get slings, I want a minimum of 3, preferably 5 to 10. I want to ensure a female or two. Tarantula sex ratios are unknown and probably will be for a long time to come, as raising complete sacs for each species is a daunting task. Sex ratios will vary due to habitats and predators, how far the females are spread out, etc. If females live miles apart with heavy predation, there may be two or three males needed per female. If females live close by, in a concentrated area, one male may be able to breed with several or more. That's why some species seem heavy on males, and in others, males are scarce. Homo sapiens, BTW does not have a 50/50 sex ratio at birth. There are 3 percentage points more males born, but with attrition due to young males fighting and competing over territory and females, by the time humans mature, the ratios have become equal. That's the work of hundreds of thousands of years of evolution.