can a tarantula be dwarfed?

johnny quango

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Hi there, I got myself a female (I believe) b. albopilosum. The previous owner says he has her for 6 yrs, but she is very small, like 5 cm in body cca. I read some articles and they all pretty much say this species becomes adult after 2- 3 years. Can it be dwarfed or is it just not adult yet?
Hi jakub
Firstly nice tarantula such a great species.
Some tarantulas can be smaller when they mature most are male but it isn't because of dwarfism in the human sense it's because of a variation of things like warmer temps and abundance of food etc. I've seen a few African baboon male species mature pretty small but never a new world but that's me personally other members may differ. An prime example of this is my very own mature male B verdezi I'd only had him around 2.5 years before he hooked out but he's still around 5-5.5" in that short period.

Your tarantula which if it is 6 years old is probably female as most male B albopilosum mature around 6 years old ( I'm not saying 100% as thats for another thread). If your tarantula as a body length of 5cm that's around 2" so given that B albopilosum max body length is about 2.5" or 7cm I'd say it's fine and looks pretty good for future reference it's better to measure a tarantula using dls as their size as it gives a more accurate idea of size. At 6 years old if you're tarantula is in fact female it's got a few years ahead of it yet they say B albopilosum females can live 15-20 years.
 

Rob1985

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This isn't a dwarf species and I would be suspicious of 6 years. That thing should be way bigger than 3 inches by now. The growth rate depends on how much they are fed, the temperature and the sex.
 

Andrea82

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It sure has kicked a lot of hairs off...i've never seen it so bald with my B.albopilosum. Not sure if it is stress or just the disposition of the spider.
If she is 6 years old, she has been fed really sparingly and kept on the cool side. But it is more likely she is just younger than seller says.
 

Jakub

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Firstly, thanks for the responses. Secondly, I have a female B. vagans and she is much bigger. I got her for free from a guy, it's long story. He just didn't want her so the things about her being scarcely fed, being kept in low temps etc might very well be true. As for the hairs, she is quite a kicker, and also very nervous and skittish for a brachypelma.
I am sorry for not exact measurements but the spider has been through some lately (all the rehousing and replacements) and I don't want to stress it further.
I will try to provide some photos for you guys to get the idea of size, but she is even more shy than some of my arboreals.
 
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KezyGLA

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You can get specimens that are larger than the average and specimens that are smaller than the average for the species. I have seen old monster Brachys and smaller old Brachys. It may just be a mix of the individual, the genetics or the husbandry.
 

gypsy cola

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Males can be dwarfed depending on the temps on the feeding. Had a N.chromatus hook out at 3 inch DLS. Tiny and mean. This a was years ago though
 

Jakub

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Well, the question is, is there a possibility for it to not reach adult state after 5 yrs?
 

Paiige

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Well, the question is, is there a possibility for it to not reach adult state after 5 yrs?
Again that has to do with how much (and how frequently) it was fed, as well as the temperature it was kept at. It's certainly not impossible if it was not cared for correctly.
 

Jakub

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Yeah, that could pretty much be the case, the guy told me himself he doesnt feed it much. Anyway, thanks everyone for responses.
 

johnny quango

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Well, the question is, is there a possibility for it to not reach adult state after 5 yrs?
Jakub the simple answer is yes there's a possibility that even at 5 years it's not adult sized. As @Paiige as already said there's variable from human interaction like temps, feeding etc.
Also look at this way if it's being kept incorrectly then instead of moulting 2-3 times a year as a growing juvenile which it should do it will slow down growth rate if there's a shortage of food which you've described.

I don't know for certain but I would be very surprised if any female Brachypelma species was fully matured or fully grown in 3-5 years without being powerfed if it was male then sure that's possible.
My advice sex it if you xan then it should ease your mind also if it's now being kept correctly it should start to grow and thrive
 

Red Eunice

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Previous owner had it for 6 years, was it received as a sling? There are too many variables to consider as to why its the size it is. Bottom line, aside from the bald patch (hair kicking), it looks to be healthy. Unless you are planning on a breeding attempt, size shouldn't be a big concern. I'm sure you'll have many years of enjoyment keeping it. Hopefully a female, molt sex is the best way to determine.

@johnny quango, 15-20 years? In that case my 19+ y.o. AF has 4 legs in the grave. Lol! She shows no signs of slowing down, at times can be quite tenacious. ;)
 

johnny quango

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Previous owner had it for 6 years, was it received as a sling? There are too many variables to consider as to why its the size it is. Bottom line, aside from the bald patch (hair kicking), it looks to be healthy. Unless you are planning on a breeding attempt, size shouldn't be a big concern. I'm sure you'll have many years of enjoyment keeping it. Hopefully a female, molt sex is the best way to determine.

@johnny quango, 15-20 years? In that case my 19+ y.o. AF has 4 legs in the grave. Lol! She shows no signs of slowing down, at times can be quite tenacious. ;)
That's good to know or is it bad as my female is only 3.5-4 years looks like I need a bigger room in the retirement home I better get on the phone.

All joking aside I was airing on the side of caution as I was told to expect at least 15-20 for a female albo but this was way back when I got my 1st ever tarantula which was an albo that was in a previous life though
 

viper69

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@Jakub This is a family friendly forum, we do have kids reading this forum, there is no cursing allowed (your post #5) according to the Terms of Service of the forum. Just a friendly piece of advice, nothing more.

Doubt your T is 6 years, but cannot say for sure. There's always variation across specimens.
 

Andrea82

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Well, the question is, is there a possibility for it to not reach adult state after 5 yrs?
Jup, that is possible.
Unless it is terribly important that you know the sex, i'd just give it a nice fat dubia or superworm, and let it come to its senses in a quiet dark and warm spot.
Males of Brachypelma usually get older than other species, even the MM males.
It will be the same sex in a week, so no hurry right?
 

Jakub

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@Jakub This is a family friendly forum, we do have kids reading this forum, there is no cursing allowed (your post #5) according to the Terms of Service of the forum. Just a friendly piece of advice, nothing more.

Doubt your T is 6 years, but cannot say for sure. There's always variation across specimens.
okay, sorry
As I said, im pretty sure its a female, though i am no expert on sexing Ts
I just wanted to say how much I am glad that there is so many answers
Anyway, I will wait for the molt and then we shall see
 

Jakub

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hello there after a long time guys, i kinda forgot about this thread
so, the tarantula moulted two times and has grown in size, but not considerably, will measure her soon to make sure, but after comparing the 1st and 2nd moult, she definitely grew, mystery solved then, low temp and not enough food can actually slow growth by years
 

elportoed

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I read it somewhere, but can't find the article now, that there are so many molts in a life of a T. So if they molt less often, which could mean that they will live longer than the ones that molt more often. I wonder if that can has been proven though.
 

Andrea82

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I read it somewhere, but can't find the article now, that there are so many molts in a life of a T. So if they molt less often, which could mean that they will live longer than the ones that molt more often. I wonder if that can has been proven though.
From what I've gathered, this is one of the myths that go around in the hobby.
 
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