Curly (B. albopilosum) ready to mate?

[EricSJCA]

I have three Brachypelma albopilosum, bought as slings all from the same vendor on September 2015, presumably the same brood.
Two have the tibial hooks and have been climbing the walls.
The third I haven't had a good look at all year because it sealed itself into a 7" tunnel, but I know it's alive because when I chase crickets and mealworms down into a small hole (that comes and goes) near the glass, it usually eats them.

The males have been refusing food for weeks and one of the males fell while frantically crawling the walls. I put him in the "unsexed" tank, and he rushed to the far wall and threw his arms against the glass like he was attacking or defending against it. Then he started tapping the subtrate around the small hole at the entrance of the tunnel, and he has been guarding that entrance since last night.

The T inside has come to the entrance and even poked a foot through hole, the furthest I've seen it come out in months. It may have been playing footsie with the male while I wasn't watching. I dropped a worm and two cricket into the hole to see if it was hungry enough to want to eat the male, but the occupant hasn't taken them.

Am I risking too much, keeping him in the cage?
What are the chances I have a mature female?

Male Brachypelma Albopilosum

• EricSJCA
• Mar 12, 2017
• 4

Male Brachypelma albopilosum guarding female? tunnel entrance.

Now the other male is climbing again. It often hangs from the lid right under a red-blue LED light.

 

[cold blood]

First, never ever put prey down the hole of a t, especially one you haven't seen out for a while...should it be in the molting phase, you just introduced things that will kill it. And mealworms should always have their heads crushed prior to feeding if you can't retrieve them quickly...a worm that burrows eventually becomes a beetle...which will also eat your molting t.

Wait for the t to emerge, then feed it....be patient.

Refusing food is common for mature males, as is roaming and climbing...their mind is on one thing, finding a female. Tapping is also normal.

You have 2 mature males, the other cannot be identified just by the fact that its siblings matured. Could be female, could just be a penultimate male.

MMs need to be fed less often, but need constant hydration.....I'd dampen an area of the sub (for the MMs) if its currently dry.

 

[EricSJCA]

First, never ever put prey down the hole of a t, especially one you haven't seen out for a while...should it be in the molting phase, you just introduced things that will kill it. And mealworms should always have their heads crushed prior to feeding if you can't retrieve them quickly...a worm that burrows eventually becomes a beetle...which will also eat your molting t.
Wait for the t to emerge, then feed it....be patient.
[...]
MMs need to be fed less often, but need constant hydration.....I'd dampen an area of the sub (for the MMs) if its currently dry.

Yes, I at least look to see whether I can see it is right side up before putting anything in. I see now that do have to be more careful with the worms.

If it is a female, iss it just going to keep using its bunker like that?

 

[cold blood]

If it is a female, iss it just going to keep using its bunker like that?

Its just being a tarantula...what its doing has no bearing on its sex. Sometimes they burrow, other times they don't...some just prefer a life of solitude more than others.

 

[EulersK]

What CB said, but if the third one is indeed a female, then it's certainly not sexually mature. You've only had her for two years. Only fast growing species mature in two years, and this is not a fast growing species. Putting your male in there is a good way to turn him into a lunch.

 

[EricSJCA]

Thanks for all the advice.
Questions, though:
1. His focused persistence at guarding and tapping at that hole—what was that? T-on-T aggression? Notice they are both responding to each other through the hole, but both of them have ignored crickets and mealworms.
2. If it's a female from the same brood, are the males going to die before she matures?

 

[EulersK]

Thanks for all the advice.
Questions, though:
1. His focused persistence at guarding and tapping at that hole—what was that? T-on-T aggression? Notice they are both responding to each other through the hole, but both of them have ignored crickets and mealworms.
2. If it's a female from the same brood, are the males going to die before she matures?

1. I don't think that what you saw was tapping. I could be wrong of course, but I think it was something else.

2. Not necessarily, but most likely. Especially with this species.

 

[cold blood]

Thanks for all the advice.
Questions, though:
1. His focused persistence at guarding and tapping at that hole—what was that? T-on-T aggression? Notice they are both responding to each other through the hole, but both of them have ignored crickets and mealworms.
2. If it's a female from the same brood, are the males going to die before she matures?

1. Its basic courtship

2. Yes, the males will almost certainly be long gone by the time she matured.

 

[cold blood]

Its not sad though, its natures way of preventing siblings from maturing at the same time and breeding.

 

[ediblepain]

If that is a 10 gal, you might want to add some more dirt.

 

[EricSJCA]

If that is a 10 gal, you might want to add some more dirt.

It slopes upward to over quadruple that amount of substate on the other side of the tank, but the one in the tunnel decided to do things the hard way. Its using the narrow end of a palm branch as the roof to its tunnel.