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- Jan 17, 2020
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- 5,451
Definitely pull that molt if you can! Cause I just looked at the photos again to see if I could determine a tentative sex ID and I don’t think it’s clear enough or close enough and there zero reason to guess.
The T's in question came from a breeder / distributor. Said they were all female A Metallicas. As that is second hand info from the guy who works there, I'm trying to trust but verify.Ah I'm not too certain if that avic you posted is an M6, or Metallica! If the animal was wild caught is there any idea about which location?
One of the jewels of my collection, about a decade back was a gorgeous 6.5 inch A.metallica (A.avic M6). They are usually very liberally speckled with those white setae (hairs), look like a frosted blueberry!
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My experience is that most larger pet stores buy from wholesalers, and those wholesalers almost exclusively send males and wild caught species to pet stores. There are always exceptions of course, but the last time I went to a local chain pet store to buy a labelled Theraphosa at a great price, one look at the spider told me that it was a Lasiodora for a ridiculous price. Likely depends if its a smaller, independent shop, or a large store or chain.The T's in question came from a breeder / distributor. Said they were all female A Metallicas. As that is second hand info from the guy who works there, I'm trying to trust but verify.
I'm going to ask Tuesday if he can pull the molt for the one that has it, but the others there is no telling. I checked Jamie's site and Tom Moran's to see if I could do a visual method and almost looked male from the photos I took.
As for Metallica / morph type 6 or not, all the setae looked silver in person. The bluish grey abdomen also made me think it was a morphtype 6. All the Avic avic pics I've seen in my searching had a reddish abdomen.
All that said, for the price, the T is beautiful and as long as its a female I can swallow the cost. If it turns out male then I guess I'm back to the waiting list for something to come up.
This is a small exotic pet shop. They breed their own snakes and geckos but prices on items are high - including their animals. Not a chain store, but based on looking at care of their T's I don't think they know a ton about them so probably taking the wholesaler at their word.My experience is that most larger pet stores buy from wholesalers, and those wholesalers almost exclusively send males and wild caught species to pet stores. There are always exceptions of course, but the last time I went to a local chain pet store to buy a labelled Theraphosa at a great price, one look at the spider told me that it was a Lasiodora for a ridiculous price. Likely depends if its a smaller, independent shop, or a large store or chain.
If you're in the U.S., you can probably find one directly from an online T dealer somewhere, and probably cheaper, and then you know exactly what you're getting.