How can you tell if a tarantula is old

[Ijk24]

I bought a rose hair from a petstore and I just wanted to know how I can tell if she's old or not because she moves pretty slow

 

[Flexzone]

Moving slow shouldn't be a determination of if your specimen is old as that sp. are considered pet rocks. G. rosea/porteri grow very slowly taking a good amount of time to mature especially female's so assuming its an adult f already then its safe to assume it's already up their in age, Will it keel over tomorrow we'll never know. Older T's generally have a harder time going through molts then there younger counterparts or could even die in the process and generally have difficulty catching their food as-well.

 

[14pokies]

Lift its hide and check for prune juice and a walker...

Seriously though its impossible to know the exact age.. It could be walking slow because it's close to molting or it's just the normal speed for that particular T.

Some rosea/porteri move like mud and some move like a Ferrari when disturbed. Some flip flop slow and docile one day and skittish and defensive the next..

 

[Beary Strange]

There's really no reliable way to tell, even basing it on size is basically just a guessing game, since so many factors affect growth, even among slow-growing species. I have a group of 4 adult females and the largest I've always assumed was very old. And yet she's still on a yearly molting schedule; every December like clockwork. Now, the fact that she's not on a 4-year molting cycle could mean she's not as old as I'd assumed; or it could simply be connected to the fact that she doesn't fast. ((None of my Gramms do for that matter. I have freaks of nature.)) Your girl could die tomorrow, she could live for another couple of decades; "she" could turn out to be a he and that will cut life span down right quick. Just enjoy her and don't worry about how long she'll live. If you're very concerned about having a long-lived animal, I'd maybe get some spiderling G.rosea/porteri.

 

[Blue Jaye]

Try asking for his ID

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Ask the "employer of the month" of that pet shop to perform Radiocarbon dating on the exuvia.

Jok

 

[Haksilence]

age is a meaningless term in this hobby. tarantulas dont "age" like we do. size is how age is documented and how its determined.
that being said if you were to tell us the size of the tarantula we could give you a ballpark. not that it would mean anything.

 

[Leonardo the Mage]

An estimate of age based on size can be so inaccurate with grammostola that they might not even be worth it. Sometimes they molt once orn even twice a year as adults, and other times a sling can avoid molting for years (see here: http://arachnoboards.com/threads/nevermolt-the-tarantula.282173/ ) and continue in a pattern of slow growth that can result in twenty year old sub-adults or juviniles. So age is really impossible to estimate with most tarantulas. The speed they move at also isn't an indicator of age, as some tarantulas in their thirties will move at five times the speed of a young juvinile of the same species.

 

[viper69]

age is a meaningless term in this hobby. tarantulas dont "age" like we do. size is how age is documented and how its determined.

I get where you are coming at. However, size doesn't always allow one to zero in on age at times.

For example, I own 1 Avic who has been on the planet a few years, and I have another Avic locality that has been around for less than a year but is 2.5x as large as the former. Both raised as slings by me under the same conditions.

 

[Czech prime]

If you ever hear it complain about slings skateboarding on the sidewalks you have a pretty old T

 

[sschind]

I look for 8 tiny canes.

 

[Trenor]

I look for 8 tiny canes.

It's hard to see 4 of them at times because he is shaking them at the juveniles shouting "Get off my web!".