Male B Albopilosum question

LunarB

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I recently bought my first T, a juvenile(they're about a year and a half old) Curly hair T, that is most likely male(still a little small for sexing). I'm curious how long B Albo's usually live? I've heard from various places 7 years, then 5 years, and then 3 years. Just wondering how long any of your B Albopilosum males have lived?
 

BobBarley

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It's highly variable and depends on the temps it is kept at, what it's fed, and frequency of feedings.
 

EulersK

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It is highly variable, yes, but expect at least a couple years out of this spider. They're not exactly known for their growth rate. You didn't mention the size in your post, but it doesn't really matter if it's below 3" diagonal leg span. Enjoy your spider, you've got quite some time with it.

If it is indeed a male, then treat it as a learning experience. See if you want to truly get into this hobby. You've got a great beginner there, very hardy and a decent eater at that. Take a look at this video to see a proper setup for this species (clicky).
 

Crowbi

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They're not exactly known for their growth rate. You didn't mention the size in your post, but it doesn't really matter if it's below 3" diagonal leg span. Enjoy your spider, you've got quite some time with it.
Sorry to hijack this post somewhat, but really? My little guy (or girl, idk for sure yet) has molted twice since I got him in November and doubled his size, at least. I'm not sure how big he is now, but probably around 4-5cm. He's a b. albo.
 

johnny quango

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My very 1st tarantula ever was a B albo that turned out male he was with me around 6.5 years from basically an egg with legs to a 5.5" gentle giant.
As others have said there's a lot of variation that can't 100% be accounted for.

@Crowbi B albo are 1 of the fastest growing amongst Brachypelma along with vagans and verdezi but that still doesn't make them fast growers as such they reach a couple of inch then tend to almost stop
 

LunarB

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It is highly variable, yes, but expect at least a couple years out of this spider. They're not exactly known for their growth rate. You didn't mention the size in your post, but it doesn't really matter if it's below 3" diagonal leg span. Enjoy your spider, you've got quite some time with it.

If it is indeed a male, then treat it as a learning experience. See if you want to truly get into this hobby. You've got a great beginner there, very hardy and a decent eater at that. Take a look at this video to see a proper setup for this species (clicky).
Glad you replied, i love all your Araneaid videos! Anyway, We have him in a not so good enclosure we thought we could fill up with substrate more than we actually could, and as we were about to move him out in a better enclosure, the little T burrowed. He's 100% about molt going by the size of his abdomen before he molted. so we can't really move him until he comes out.

Haven't figured out how big he is since he's been burrowed for basically since we got him, but I have this pic of him next to a katchup cup, he looks maybe 3.5 inches in diagonal leg span? (the picture is of what he was in before the new enclosure btw).
 

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EulersK

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Glad you replied, i love all your Araneaid videos! Anyway, We have him in a not so good enclosure we thought we could fill up with substrate more than we actually could, and as we were about to move him out in a better enclosure, the little T burrowed. He's 100% about molt going by the size of his abdomen before he molted. so we can't really move him until he comes out.

Haven't figured out how big he is since he's been burrowed for basically since we got him, but I have this pic of him next to a katchup cup, he looks maybe 3.5 inches in diagonal leg span? (the picture is of what he was in before the new enclosure btw).
Thanks mate :D But don't worry about too small of an enclosure. It's not ideal, but it won't kill the spider. My G. pulchripes slings were long overdue for a rehouse by the time I got to them. Good call on not moving him. To be clear though, if it were an emergency, you absolutely can rehouse a spider in premolt. I just did it last night. It's not ideal, but again, won't kill the spider. And I'd say that 3-3.5", yeah. After this molt, expect molt cycles to slow way, way, way down. This species hurries up to become a decently large spider, and then just kind of stops. According to my molt records, it took my B. albo just under a year to molt when it was that size.
 

cold blood

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Thanks mate :D But don't worry about too small of an enclosure. It's not ideal, but it won't kill the spider. My G. pulchripes slings were long overdue for a rehouse by the time I got to them. Good call on not moving him. To be clear though, if it were an emergency, you absolutely can rehouse a spider in premolt. I just did it last night. It's not ideal, but again, won't kill the spider. And I'd say that 3-3.5", yeah. After this molt, expect molt cycles to slow way, way, way down. This species hurries up to become a decently large spider, and then just kind of stops. According to my molt records, it took my B. albo just under a year to molt when it was that size.
I do a large percentage of my transfers while in the pre-molt stage...just not the final stage...if they're all shiny, I won't move them.

At that size I would say that spider could very well be a year and a half old....but at its size, its growth will start to slow as well as molt cycles become longer and longer.

Its also plenty big enough to get a pretty good idea of sex ventrally, and you can get 100% confirmation if you still have its last molt.
 

cold blood

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I'd say because of variances a male could live anywhere from 3 to 8 years...females will live 20ish.
 

LunarB

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I do a large percentage of my transfers while in the pre-molt stage...just not the final stage...if they're all shiny, I won't move them.

At that size I would say that spider could very well be a year and a half old....but at its size, its growth will start to slow as well as molt cycles become longer and longer.

Its also plenty big enough to get a pretty good idea of sex ventrally, and you can get 100% confirmation if you still have its last molt.
The last molt is with the previous owner, he said you cant check after a while, so I left it alone.
 

Trenor

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Do people really have problems with B.albopilosum hairs? I've never worn gloves when doing anything with the T or it's exo.
 

EulersK

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Do people really have problems with B.albopilosum hairs? I've never worn gloves when doing anything with the T or it's exo.
I wouldn't say that it's a problem, just that it does cause some irritating itching if I'm handling the exuvia. Easily avoided with gloves, so it's worth it to me.
 

Trenor

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Ah, I've seen several posts lately where people have said that B.albopilosum hairs were kinda bad. I've not had any problems though and was wondering if a lot of people did.
 
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