G. Rosea questions in regards to strange behavior

[MSobczak]

prior to a male maturing, they are indistinguishable from females.

Post a ventral pic if/when its on the glass.

Here is what I got

 

[EulersK]

Holy oversaturation Batman!

That's just a book lung. If you could see on the other side of it, you'd find an identical one in the same relative spot. Perfectly normal, nothing wrong at all. Tarantulas actually have two pairs of book lungs, you're looking at a member of the bigger pair. For the record, no, tarantulas do not develop scar tissue.

 

[MSobczak]

Holy oversaturation Batman!

That's just a book lung. If you could see on the other side of it, you'd find an identical one in the same relative spot. Perfectly normal, nothing wrong at all. Tarantulas actually have two pairs of book lungs, you're looking at a member of the bigger pair. For the record, no, tarantulas do not develop scar tissue.

Ive noticed that. Shortly after I made that post I realised it had another bump in the same area on the other side, which pretty much proved it was part of its biology. This is my first T and I got it recently, it is also most likely WC so I grew too paranoid.

 

[EulersK]

Ive noticed that. Shortly after I made that post I realised it had another bump in the same area on the other side, which pretty much proved it was part of its biology. This is my first T and I got it recently, it is also most likely WC so I grew too paranoid.

No need to worry, most G. rosea and G. porteri of that size are WC if bought through a pet store. My first was almost certainly WC, but that's not a bad thing. She's still a proud member of my collection these years later. Stick around these forums, you'll learn a lot

 

[Vanessa]

This is the underside of one of my group. You can see both the upper and lower pairs of booklungs. The area that needs to be visible, in order to determine sex, is the area between the upper pair of booklungs. You'll notice that the lower pair of booklungs are more covered in hair than the upper pair.
This is a male B. smithi.

 

[MSobczak]

No need to worry, most G. rosea and G. porteri of that size are WC if bought through a pet store. My first was almost certainly WC, but that's not a bad thing. She's still a proud member of my collection these years later. Stick around these forums, you'll learn a lot

Ya, I did buy it at a pet store, it was pretty expensive for a G. Rosea too (34$) so I am hoping for a female. I also updated my older post with much better picture of the under side.

 

[EulersK]

Ya, I did buy it at a pet store, it was pretty expensive for a G. Rosea too (34$) so I am hoping for a female. I also updated my older post with much better picture of the under side.

Unfortunately, it's still not a good picture. I can't even begin to guess. But really, at the end of the day, does it matter? Enjoy him/her, learn from it, and go from there. My poor girl - she was a guinea pig for my husbandry, thankfully this is a hardy genus. This won't be your last T, I promise

 

[ratluvr76]

A few months? Try upwards and in excess of a year They're also much longer lived than P. murinus.



An abdomen shriveling is not a sign of the tarantula starving. It's a sign of severe dehydration, which can't happen if you always keep a full water dish. Trust me, this pet is easier to keep than most houseplants. This spider won't starve, I promise you that. Adults can happily live off one cricket per month, much less if they're already plump.

it's worth noting at this point that shriveled and shrunken are different in this case. Eulersk is absolutely correct, shriveled abdomen is a sign of dyhdration. A starving T will have a shrunken appearance meaning, the abdomen may be small. I believe a healthy spiders abdomen will normally be about the same size or a little bit bigger than the carapace. Is that correct @EulersK ? Please correct me if I am mistaken.

Welp, never mind. That's what I get for leaving a thread for an hour Nice to see the spider probably won't hurt itself by falling now. The OP is now stuck with it

I don't think I'd ever complain of being stuck with a spider hahaha.

Sexing via molt is the most accurate, yes. Take a look in the picture gallery for examples and what to look for. Another method, although not as correct as molt sexing is to look at the ventral (underside) side of the T. Between the first pair of booklungs there is a little oval shaped flap if it's a femal, and nothing if it's a male. You can also take a clear picture of this area and post it on here, so others can help you with that. You can take a picture like that when she's climbing or when she is in a clear catchcup.

There is even a whole section devoted to sexing pics you can put your picture in and people can help you determine sex that way. http://arachnoboards.com/gallery/

 

[EulersK]

it's worth noting at this point that shriveled and shrunken are different in this case. Eulersk is absolutely correct, shriveled abdomen is a sign of dyhdration. A starving T will have a shrunken appearance meaning, the abdomen may be small. I believe a healthy spiders abdomen will normally be about the same size or a little bit bigger than the carapace. Is that correct @EulersK ? Please correct me if I am mistaken.

In general, yeah. The size delta is much larger on terrestrials than for arboreals, though. The exception to this comes with MM's - in their case, they're always skinny.