Buying Advice: Age & Sex

[Barons]

Hello,


I'm about to make my first Tarantula purchase and I'm not really sure what I should do to ensure that I get a female. I've been looking at slings and I know that you can't tell what sex they are for sometime. The website I'm looking at buying from doesn't guarantee the sex. My guess is that none will since there isn't any way to know.

So what age/size do they normally have to get up to before they can be sexed?

Are there any pro's or con's to getting a sling instead of buying one that's old enough to have been sexed?

The ones I've been looking at have ranged from 1in - 2in and I've seen the price any where from $30 - $120. Oddly enough there seems to be a good number of them for sale even though most of the info I've read made it sound like they were kinda rare.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Thegloryfades]

A good deal of tarantulas are sexable at the 2"+ range from what ive seen on here

 

[Bill S]

A good deal of tarantulas are sexable at the 2"+ range from what ive seen on here

But sexing from molts is far better than just looking at the ventral side, and commercial dealers can't always sit around waiting for a young tarantula to molt before they sell it. Slings are generally much cheaper than adults, so maybe you could afford to get a few slings instead of a sexed adult? I personally prefer getting slings and watching them grow up anyway - just adds that much more to the experience. If you're nervous about starting with tiny slings, get them at a size you do feel comfortable with.

 

[Thegloryfades]

Yes i do agree 100% and i never said those 2" slings were ventrally sexed that's just usually the size people start selling them sexed. I myself prefer slings unless I'm looking to breed then I buy sub adults so I can base breeding off of the females molt pattern