Largest Geniculata I have ever seen

[Fran]

I bought this girl in November 2007 at 2.75". She was already really fat and a really aggressive feeder.
The previous owner ,a nice guy who had her for 6 months ,bought her at 2nd instar and he already knew the way this one was growing was a little abnormal.

She begun to gain tremendous amount of thickness and size with every molt, she never refused food..Ever!

Here is "Miia" today. Look at that body size ...Is the size of an adult Theraphosa blondi's body! Because of the position of it, the abdomen in fact look smaller since it wasn't parallel to the floor. Pictures never do justice

 

[Terry D]

Fran, Nice! I just lost my big girl, although certainly nowhere near the size of that one.



Terry

 

[Fran]

Sorry for your lost!!!

I have had maybe 20 diff Genicuata...And seen many more, of course but...
Miia is ridiculously big compared to the rest!

She has a great temperament, very entertaining

 

[jbm150]

Wow, she is stout! Hell, she's not that old, she might still have some growing to do!

 

[Suidakkra]

Wow Fran, you sharing protein shakes with her,lol? She's huge, very nice looking Genic!!!

 

[xchondrox]

Definately a big girl, This was my biggun!

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/attachment.php?attachmentid=68518&d=1200767587

Her abdomen was the size of a racket ball lol That little male was a brave one, was a site to see him push her back!!

 

[Fran]

Yeah, quite gorgous no doubt!

The abdomen of Miia is way fatter than it looks in that picture, but she was "standing" on her legs with her abdomen sort of inclined where the spineretts where touching the floor but the the oposite side was up in the air, so it looks half the size!

 

[DansDragons]

she couldn't hold that big heavy butt up huh, lol. nice monster there fran, i'm jealous.

 

[codykrr]

Wow! she is gorgeous! I love the diagram Fran. haha.

even in the picture she is pushing 6 plus inches! thats impressive, considering she isnt sprawled out, and her butt is down.

 

[Hobo]

The immature me (that is to say, me, I guess) is laughing at the naughty looking picture Fran drew and everyone saying how big she is.
6" plus indeed!

Seriosuly she's a bigg'un for sure. You should get into dwarfs, see how big they get in your care.:drool:

 

[Leviticus]

Wow that is one big A. geniculata. I am getting my first little one this week, I hope it turns out to be a nice giant like Mia.

---------- Post added at 08:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:18 PM ----------

The immature me (that is to say, me, I guess) is laughing at the naughty looking picture Fran drew and everyone saying how big she is.
6" plus indeed!

Seriosuly she's a bigg'un for sure. You should get into dwarfs, see how big they get in your care.:drool:

Hahaha, I was thinking the same thing. When I first looked at the picture he drew I was quite shocked actually.

 

[Johnny1320]

That's a big girl!

 

[Venom]

Truly impressive specimen, Fran. :clap:

Am I correct in estimating her max I-IV DLS at 8" ?

 

[VinceG]

Damn... beautiful female you got there, she looks huge!

 

[Newflvr]

Truly impressive specimen, Fran. :clap:

Am I correct in estimating her max I-IV DLS at 8" ?

Just out of curiosity how did you come up with that number? I come up with DLS of 6 1/2.

 

[tarantulagirl10]

Wow! She's beautiful!

 

[Terry D]

Just out of curiosity how did you come up with that number? I come up with DLS of 6 1/2.

:? How do you figure that? The body alone is 5" and legs 1 and 4 are almost entirely scrunched inward in the photo. I believe it is at least 8" if not slightly more with the legs fully extended- and darn well THICK to boot.

 

[Venom]

Just out of curiosity how did you come up with that number? I come up with DLS of 6 1/2.

Because, as TerryD said, her legs are scrunched up. Neither her front nor rearmost legs are fully extended. And, she isn't diagonal to the tape measure, but parallel. Placing her diagonally to it will lengthen the legspan, as also will fully extending her legs.

 

[Newflvr]

:? How do you figure that? The body alone is 5" and legs 1 and 4 are almost entirely scrunched inward in the photo. I believe it is at least 8" if not slightly more with the legs fully extended- and darn well THICK to boot.

Left front -Right rear normal stance. My opinion is stretching them out as some folks do is not natural, hell I'm 6'4" on my toes.

 

[Venom]

Left front -Right rear normal stance. My opinion is stretching them out as some folks do is not natural, hell I'm 6'4" on my toes.

Unfortunately, getting them to stretch to their maximum (safe) legspan is the only way to get a universal, stable measurement. Every other position for the legs is highly relative, and unreprodocable. The maximum extension of the legs, however, is standard per the size of the tarantula, so that is how we can estimate what a 6" or an 8" tarantula looks like visually--how big it is in real life--just by being given that number, because it corresponds to an established standard for sizing.

The way I size my tarantulas to Max DLS, is to get them to snag just their front claws onto my hand, while embedding their rear claws in a carpet or fabric surface. I then spread their legs out to their maximum natural extension, and use my tape measure on that position. Everyone has their own technique, but basically you need their legs to be at their full length to get a reliable number on their size. A "resting DLS," with legs not stretched to maximum, really isn't a stable, reliable measurement, because that position could imply a variety of positions and extensions for the legs.