Here is the first pic I took of my T. I am not sure what kind it is. Some kids had captured it in a coffee jar a month or so ago and in the process amputated one of her? legs with the lid. I decided to keep it, got a 10 gal. aquarium and made it a nice little home. I have read article after article trying to figure out just what kind it is, and thought it might be a desert blond. I also have no idea on the sex. If anyone can tell me so that I may take better care of it, I would certainly appreciate it. If you need more pix let me know and I will do what I can.
First pic of my T
- Thread starter T_sitter
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Could you tell us where you are, or give us a better idea on where it was caught? That would help a little bit. What do you have it set up in now?
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First off, it looks like there are two missing legs.
If it is wild-caught, it is probably a male, since they wander in search of a female (who doesn't roam far from her burrow).
What kind of substrate are you currently using? 100% peat moss (cheap at Home Depot or Lowe's) is highly recommend, along with a hide of some sort and a water dish (shallow). A 10 gallon aquarium should be fine.
If you can take a closer picture of the pedipalps, what looks like two front "legs" that are smaller than the others, and the first pair of legs, then it will be easier to tell if it is a mature male or not. A mature male will have "boxing gloves" on the ends of the palps and will have hooks on the front pair of legs. Unfortunately, mature males don't live too terribly long after maturing (I've heard anywhere, depending on species, from 6 months to 2 years or so).
Can you take shots from different angles?
Congrats on the new T. Welcome to HIGHLY addictive hobby.
If it is wild-caught, it is probably a male, since they wander in search of a female (who doesn't roam far from her burrow).
What kind of substrate are you currently using? 100% peat moss (cheap at Home Depot or Lowe's) is highly recommend, along with a hide of some sort and a water dish (shallow). A 10 gallon aquarium should be fine.
If you can take a closer picture of the pedipalps, what looks like two front "legs" that are smaller than the others, and the first pair of legs, then it will be easier to tell if it is a mature male or not. A mature male will have "boxing gloves" on the ends of the palps and will have hooks on the front pair of legs. Unfortunately, mature males don't live too terribly long after maturing (I've heard anywhere, depending on species, from 6 months to 2 years or so).
Can you take shots from different angles?
Congrats on the new T. Welcome to HIGHLY addictive hobby.
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You've got yourself a mature male there. If I were you, I would release it where-ever it was found and buy myself a female of some sort to put into the tank, since males don't live very long after their maturing molt.
Good luck!
Jake
Good luck!
Jake
oops, oh yea
I guess more info would be good.
I live in Needles, CA -in the mohave desert
I have it in a 10 gallon glass aquarium with a screen top nice little watering dish, and a small clay pot halfway buried turned on its side to give it someplace to hide like a burrow. I also am trying to maintain a small creosote bush in there to give some greenery to the scenery but I appear to be losing that battle.
I guess more info would be good.
I live in Needles, CA -in the mohave desert
I have it in a 10 gallon glass aquarium with a screen top nice little watering dish, and a small clay pot halfway buried turned on its side to give it someplace to hide like a burrow. I also am trying to maintain a small creosote bush in there to give some greenery to the scenery but I appear to be losing that battle.
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I thought the palps looked enlarged, is that what you're seeing, Jake?Jake H. said:
more more info
I was actually thinking the more research I did that it must be male. I originally thought it was a female. I can get some more pics here in a little bit. I am actually using sand, small stones, etc. in the tank since that is the prevalent natural ground cover in this area and he seems to be ok with it. He wanders all around and doesn't seem to mind. I did use some softer sand in the floor of the burrow though.
Give me a little bit and I will try to get a good picture of the entire tank, or at least in parts so I can upload them.
Thanks for all the quick replies.
Edit: Oh and if you look really really close, you can see the 7th leg is actually behind him resting on the ground.
I was actually thinking the more research I did that it must be male. I originally thought it was a female. I can get some more pics here in a little bit. I am actually using sand, small stones, etc. in the tank since that is the prevalent natural ground cover in this area and he seems to be ok with it. He wanders all around and doesn't seem to mind. I did use some softer sand in the floor of the burrow though.
Give me a little bit and I will try to get a good picture of the entire tank, or at least in parts so I can upload them.
Thanks for all the quick replies.
Edit: Oh and if you look really really close, you can see the 7th leg is actually behind him resting on the ground.
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Although there is sand in their natural environment, it's not really recommend as a substrate, although your T may be fine with it.
Many times when Ts hang out in the walls, they are uncomfortable with the substrate or the like, but mature males will also wander around, searching for a mate. You may see him tapping.
Oh, I just realized that there is only 1 leg missing. I didn't see the one that was behind the abdomen.
Many times when Ts hang out in the walls, they are uncomfortable with the substrate or the like, but mature males will also wander around, searching for a mate. You may see him tapping.
Oh, I just realized that there is only 1 leg missing. I didn't see the one that was behind the abdomen.
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becca81 said:
If you look at the red-circled area, you can clearly see the swollen red/black palpal bulbs. The blue-circled, while a little blurry in this picture, is just further evidence of this being a male specimen.
Later,
Jake
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Jake H. said:
If you look at the red-circled area, you can clearly see the swollen red/black palpal bulbs. The blue-circled, while a little blurry in this picture, is just further evidence of this being a male specimen.
Later,
Jake
No doubt...and is that a spur I see on the left leg ??
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male male male...
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T sitter I would release him like Jake said. He does not have much time left to live and it would be ashame for him not to have the chance to pass on his genes. Your best bet would be to buy a T sexed as a female or start off with a spiderling.
Mike
Mike
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You definitely have a mature male there.
As far as your setup goes, it looks very nice. However, it is not the best for keeping a T. As Becca mentioned, sand is not a very good substrate to use. In addition, it looks like you have lots of small rocks in there. At least from the pictures, these look like they have some sharp edges to them. Again, this is not recommended. Get a copy of The Tarantula Keeper's Guide by Schultz and Schultz for more inforomation regarding substrates. You could also look at the ATS general care sheet, found <<HERE>> .
As far as your setup goes, it looks very nice. However, it is not the best for keeping a T. As Becca mentioned, sand is not a very good substrate to use. In addition, it looks like you have lots of small rocks in there. At least from the pictures, these look like they have some sharp edges to them. Again, this is not recommended. Get a copy of The Tarantula Keeper's Guide by Schultz and Schultz for more inforomation regarding substrates. You could also look at the ATS general care sheet, found <<HERE>> .