GBB Male or Female! Help

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The Grym Reaper

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I want to say female but this species is a pain in the bunghole to sex ventrally, your best bet is to wait for a moult.
 

Nixphat

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About what size can you reliably sex a C cyaneopubescens by molt? I know vent sex can be a crap shoot, but I assume vent sexing gets a little easier to guess around the same age as well? But I'm still learning so I don't actually know :rolleyes:
 

JoshDM020

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About what size can you reliably sex a C cyaneopubescens by molt? I know vent sex can be a crap shoot, but I assume vent sexing gets a little easier to guess around the same age as well? But I'm still learning so I don't actually know :rolleyes:
Usually about when its big enough for the spermethecae (sorry about that probable crap job on spelling) to be clearly visible. Get a microscope and you dont have to wait as long. I have no idea what to look for, though.
 

The Grym Reaper

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About what size can you reliably sex a C cyaneopubescens by molt? I know vent sex can be a crap shoot, but I assume vent sexing gets a little easier to guess around the same age as well? But I'm still learning so I don't actually know :rolleyes:
From 1.5" up for moult sexing (smaller if you have a good microscope and know what you're doing but the main obstacle is untangling the abdomen to get a look without tearing it), vent sexing can be done by eye from 2" up if you know what to look for (depending on species, some are notoriously difficult to sex this way).

Vent sexing isn't as horribly inaccurate as people make out, it's just not perfect (even for experienced keepers) so it's less hassle to tell people to wait for a moult to be 100% sure.

**EDIT** Half asleep, this is in general, not specifically for C. cyaneopubescens as asked.
 

Ungoliant

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Trenor

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If you have a decent microscope and you are good at untangling molts you can do it pretty small. Smallest one I've done to date is 1" DLS. @EulersK has done a .5" if I remember right.

I did both my GBB males at 1.5" with a magnifier for my camera phone before I got a usb microscope. I would be pretty confident I could do them at an inch now if the molt is in good shape.
 

Trenor

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Usually about when its big enough for the spermethecae (sorry about that probable crap job on spelling) to be clearly visible. Get a microscope and you dont have to wait as long. I have no idea what to look for, though.
It's not hard once you do a few.

Look in the red half circle zone. This one is a male because it doesn't have a spermathecae.


Here is that same half circle zone. This one is female because it has a spermathecae (the golden looking shape). Different species of Ts have different shaped spermathecae so if you look up your T you'll know what shape to look for. Once it get some size it's pretty easy to pick out if it's there.
 
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Ungoliant

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One of the best tips I ever read for preparing exuviae came from
this video by @z32upgrader: cut away the parts you don't need.

When the abdomen is attached to the rest of the exuviae, it is difficult to unfold, and it has a tendency to fold right back up unless you keep pressure on each side.

So what I did after my Psalmopoeus cambridgei molted was cut off the abdomen at the pedicel (the narrow section between the carapace and the abdomen). Then I cut off the part of the abdomen below the second pair of book lungs. After that, it was easy to unfold with a bit of water and a delicate wire, and it stayed open with no extra pressure.

Also, putting a drop of dish liquid in the water makes it a lot easier to rehydrate the exuviae (do this before cutting), as it reduces the water's surface tension enough to submerge the exuviae. (Otherwise, it just floats on top of the water.)
 
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