How many years does my sub-adult male have left?

[Benzen]

NGL, i was pretty bummed when i found out my first T is a male (B. Hamorii) - bought him in March as juvenile and i think i got scammed because i read somewhere here that breeders often sell "unsexed" juvenile males to get rid of them. Well, you live, you learn.
I just hope my G. Pulchripes sling turns out to be female. And in any case: my A. Geniculata is a confirmed female, so at least 1 T will stay with me for more than a few years. Anyway, the lil dude already molted twice in my care and now has a DLS of around 3 inches.
Can you predict life expectancy based on size on a male?

 

[ladyratri]

I'm sure the more experienced will weigh in but.... I expect it depends on way too many factors. Temps, feeding etc will affect how fast it grows and molts. Even after it has its ultimate molt, there's a wide range of how long they live. Impossible to say for sure how old it even is already unless you actually know when the egg sac hatched...

 

[NMTs]

Can you predict life expectancy based on size on a male?

Simply put: no.

 

[Moyzie]

Can you predict life expectancy based on size on a male?

You can probably narrow it down to 2022-2026

****

Joking aside, I am "new" to the hobby this year, but the first time I saw a unsexed juvenille XXXXXXX online and another on a rival site being sold as sexed - i thought to myself... hold on a minute, why is that one sites got a sexed male @ £40 and other has a bigger unsexed one, being sold at £50,,, surely the bigger one could of been sexed by now. I reckon its a Male and they being dishonest, trying to make £10 extra compared to the other one, exploiting peoples HOPE

It was just a thought I had. Maybe that is just be not being very trusting

BUT - it turns out to be commonplace

Personally I would rather buy 3 tiny slings and look after them and HOPE one turns out female. More rewarding for me

 

[Arachnophobphile]

NGL, i was pretty bummed when i found out my first T is a male (B. Hamorii) - bought him in March as juvenile and i think i got scammed because i read somewhere here that breeders often sell "unsexed" juvenile males to get rid of them. Well, you live, you learn.
I just hope my G. Pulchripes sling turns out to be female. And in any case: my A. Geniculata is a confirmed female, so at least 1 T will stay with me for more than a few years. Anyway, the lil dude already molted twice in my care and now has a DLS of around 3 inches.
Can you predict life expectancy based on size on a male?

Don't get bummed out on your T if it's male. Without males there wouldn't be anymore tarantulas.

Also don't think your mature male will die in a few months, it's not always the case.

Alot depends on genus and other conditions depend on husbandry.

I have two mature males atm. One is Aphonopelma chalcodes that matured April 2021 still going and he just ate yesterday. My other one Tliltocatl albopilosus that matured on June 11th. He just ate for the second time yesterday as well.

I'm not sure where you read that breeders sell unsexed juveniles knowing they are male. That is not completely true. Reputable breeders have maintained their reputation for a reason. I can't rule out never heard-of-before breeders that could be true for some of them.

Anyways just replying because males need to be defended. Seems alot of people get bummed out on their T maturing into a male, it's not the end. Mature males are needed and if not planning on pairing can still be very much enjoyed.

 

[DuneElliot]

Don't get bummed out on your T if it's male. Without males there wouldn't be anymore tarantulas.

Also don't think your mature male will die in a few months, it's not always the case.

Alot depends on genus and other conditions depend on husbandry.

I have two mature males atm. One is Aphonopelma chalcodes that matured April 2021 still going and he just ate yesterday. My other one Tliltocatl albopilosus that matured on June 11th. He just ate for the second time yesterday as well.

I'm not sure where you read that breeders sell unsexed juveniles knowing they are male. That is not completely true. Reputable breeders have maintained their reputation for a reason. I can't rule out never heard-of-before breeders that could be true for some of them.

Anyways just replying because males need to be defended. Seems alot of people get bummed out on their T maturing into a male, it's not the end. Mature males are needed and if not planning on pairing can still be very much enjoyed.

As a first time owner I'm actually okay with it if mine turns out to be a male (it's just a 1inch sling right now) as I'm not sure I can commit to 10+ years.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Can you predict life expectancy based on size on a male?

Nothing outside of rough ballpark guesses, too many factors affect growth, it could either mature large or small, and it could die weeks or years after actually maturing.

That said, they can live for anything up to 4 years after maturing and it could be at least another couple of years or so until he matures so I wouldn't be terribly surpised if he sees out the rest of this decade.

I'm not sure where you read that breeders sell unsexed juveniles knowing they are male. That is not completely true. Reputable breeders have maintained their reputation for a reason. I can't rule out never heard-of-before breeders that could be true for some of them.

It's actually pretty commonplace, even with some big name sellers, they'll keep the females for future breeding projects and then sell the males as unsexed to squeeze a few extra quid out of them, I've literally seen the biggest seller in the UK selling "unsexed" L. nigerrimum at a size where you should be able to tell the sex just by looking at it.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Nothing outside of rough ballpark guesses, too many factors affect growth, it could either mature large or small, and it could die weeks or years after actually maturing.

That said, they can live for anything up to 4 years after maturing and it could be at least another couple of years or so until he matures so I wouldn't be terribly surpised if he sees out the rest of this decade.



It's actually pretty commonplace, even with some big name sellers, they'll keep the females for future breeding projects and then sell the males as unsexed to squeeze a few extra quid out of them, I've literally seen the biggest seller in the UK selling "unsexed" L. nigerrimum at a size where you should be able to tell the sex just by looking at it.

Oh my, good thing I only buy slings. My A. chalcodes was a private sale though.

 

[Benzen]

As a first time owner I'm actually okay with it if mine turns out to be a male

I wouldn't be so bummed out about it if mature males wouldn't waste away so horribly towards the end of their life. I know i will dread the day seeing my cute Hamorii male wither slowly into death.

Don't get bummed out on your T if it's male. Without males there wouldn't be anymore tarantulas.

Sure. But i am not planning on breeding, or giving him away to breed. It's just a shady business practice selling males as unsexed because they know males aren't sought after. Keep the males for your breeding projects then and don't deceive people. If someone wants to keep Ts, he/she should pick the sex they want.

I wouldn't be terribly surpised if he sees out the rest of this decade.

Well, if that's the case, i wouldn't be terribly disappointed. That's more than enough years with the lil guy. But i am thinking getting another Hamorii or Smithi as "back-up"...a sling this time though and from a different seller/breeder. I just love the Mexican Red-Knee.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

Shady business indeed. Another reason to buy slings.

However at my age males are perfect for me. I can't say I have another 10 years left or 20 for that fact.

Keepers in my age group just getting into tarantulas need to seriously take that into consideration. Some of these NW female T's can live 20+ years.

 

[Marlana]

I wouldn’t assume all sellers with unsexed juvies are just scamming. Sellers often have hundreds, if not thousands of spiderlings. Would you sex 2k tarantulas? While also feeding and watering. Mating adults. Pulling egg sacs. Not to mention you’d need to pull the molt asap or they’re likely to ruin it. So you’ll need to continue to check on those hundreds- thousands of slings to see who molted, maybe a few times a day. Nah big sellers aren’t wasting time with sexing every single spider.

Now small sellers with a handful of bigger unsexed tarantulas for sale…that’s when I wonder. But big sellers I’ve never had an issue. Some turn out male but many are female.

 

[Arachnophobphile]

The bigger issue for me is sub-adult and adults that are wild caught not captive bred being sold. That's a bigger issue that some online dealers do.

Some will list if it's WC but majority of time the buyer needs to ask.

I really don't support WC unless that particular tarantula's habitat is being and will be completely destroyed. That, or adults are legally imported in for the sake of breeding projects to increase their numbers.

Just because a juvenile turns out male doesn't come close to that issue. If one wants a female either buy a confirmed female that is a minimum of 3 inches dls or buy slings.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Now small sellers with a handful of bigger unsexed tarantulas for sale…that’s when I wonder. But big sellers I’ve never had an issue.

Always been the opposite in my experience, every single "unsexed" juvie I've purchased from big sellers here has turned out to be male whereas the majority of unsexed juvies I've purchased from small sellers have been female.

 

[spideyspinneret78]

Males of some slower growing genera like Brachypelma and Grammostola can live a surprisingly long time after molting out mature. You'll likely have him around for several years more at the very least. Of course each individual is different and it's hard to predict at which size a male will mature.