B. gigas reaching maturity?

[JesseD]

I am reading the biography by Michiel. What is the maximum instar a B. gigas can reach? Is it 5 or 6. I'm pretty sure mine are at 5th instar, but they're not as big as I expected. I will post a size comparison photo tonight. I'm trying to determine what my chances are ending up with a male.

 

[Koh_]

i remember they are same as jacksonis.
so, male 5th female 6th!

 

[Envyizm]

There are also exceptions to the rule like with all buthids. I've personally had a Babycurus gigas male mature at 6th instar. There may also be cases where Babycurus gigas matures at 7th instar "probably rare though". Buthids can be tricky at times.

 

[Michiel]

I am reading the biography by Michiel. What is the maximum instar a B. gigas can reach? Is it 5 or 6. I'm pretty sure mine are at 5th instar, but they're not as big as I expected. I will post a size comparison photo tonight. I'm trying to determine what my chances are ending up with a male.

instar 5 is indeed immature. Females: instar 6, males: instar 5 or 6. The male- female ratio is not very unfavourable, so it depends on the number of specimens you have. But since you say: you are pretty sure, meaning I don't know exactly, they are instar 5, maybe you should post a pic.
If you have 5-6 specimens, the chanches are you have a male amongst them.

cheers, Michiel

 

[JesseD]

I think you get the idea of the size of them with a comparison to a US quarter.

This one is the larger and older of the two.

This one just moulted.

Here is the freshly moulted one close up. I got them as 3rd instar November 09. I'm pretty sure they have only moulted twice since then. If you all think they're already 6 instar then maybe I'm wrong. I'm an idiot for not keeping track. . . There is always next time!