"Molt-sexed female" Poecilotheria metallica

[Ranitomeya]

Purchased a Poecilotheria metallica as a molt-sexed female late last year and it molted earlier today into a mature male... What do you do in such a situation and what should be expected of the person that sold it in the first place? It's molted twice now in my care, but although I started have doubts it was female, the previous molt was much too damaged for me to be sure that it was actually a male. I've already contacted the seller here, but he has not been active since January. Assuming the person had actually molt-sexed this individual, I find it highly unlikely they could have made a mistake finding spermathecae on a nearly mature Poecilotheria.


It was freshly molted and its fangs are still white with faint hints of pink, but the rest of its exoskeleton had hardened enough for very, very careful handling for this picture.

 

[viper69]

Ask for your money back or some agreed amount to be refunded to you. You shouldn't get a T for free (from a seller's point of view). If it was me, and I learned of an error, I'd give you 50% back of what you paid, not including shipping.

They are also sexually dimorphic. You can sex males via the dot method, at less than 2" at times if the "dot" is prominent as it was in my P. rufi.

 

[REEFSPIDER]

Ask for your money back.

Agree x100
Ask for your money back. If the seller sold it as confirmed female that should be a female no questions. This is not okay in the hobby or anywhere business is conducted.

 

[EulersK]

While I agree that the seller should do something for you, I'd be shocked if that ends up panning out. If I were you, I'd find a breeder to either buy or trade for him. That male is very valuable to someone out there. I'd suggest a trade, as you usually end up with better deals.

As a side note, never handle a freshly molted tarantula. It's always a bad idea.

 

[Abyss]

Advice has been well covered. Sorry to hear and plz put the spider back carefully as its not as hardened as you think lol

 

[Angel Minkov]

They are also sexually dimorphic.

They're not, along with P. rufilata, subfusca, formosa, miranda, tigrinawesseli etc They display sexual dimorphism only when they mature

 

[Poec54]

They're not, along with P. rufilata, subfusca, formosa, miranda, tigrinawesseli etc They display sexual dimorphism only when they mature

He was referring to their epiandrous fussilae. All tarantulas have this sexual difference long before maturity.

 

[Ranitomeya]

Agree x100
Ask for your money back. If the seller sold it as confirmed female that should be a female no questions. This is not okay in the hobby or anywhere business is conducted.

I agree that it should be a female since it was sold as a confirmed female, but a full refund would not feel correct without sending the spider back and that would open up the issue of who pays for the shipping.

Advice has been well covered. Sorry to hear and plz put the spider back carefully as its not as hardened as you think lol

It was only out for a clear picture before I let it crawl back into its enclosure on its own. I'm aware that it wasn't anywhere near hardened enough to be grabbed or handle even the shortest falls. It was not grabbed, prodded, nor elevated from surfaces for obvious reasons. It was also not so freshly molted that it wasn't already climbing around in the enclosure.

They are also sexually dimorphic. You can sex males via the dot method, at less than 2" at times if the "dot" is prominent as it was in my P. rufi.

They are only sexually dimorphic when mature. There are plenty of posts with people trying to sex these by looking at their coloration and by ventral sexing, only to find out those methods are unreliable at best. Poecilotheria metalllica are one of those spiders that you'll want to molt-sex to be 100% sure. You can try the other methods and be right 50% of the time .


I'm hoping to hear back from the seller, but I'm not going to hold my breath since they haven't been active on here for a good while. I now regret not spending the money to buy three or four juveniles and hoping to get a female rather than spending just as much money for one incorrectly sexed individual. I'd happily exchange it for an actual female if they had one, or a partial refund to make up the difference in cost of purchasing a sexed female versus a sexed male.

 

[viper69]

They're not,

You agreed with what I wrote.

 

[BossRoss]

... I now regret not spending the money to buy three or four juveniles and hoping to get a female rather than spending just as much money for one incorrectly sexed individual...

If you are not familiar with the breeder/supplier or they are unable to provide you with unequivocal evidence that the T is of the sex you desire then getting a few Juvies is always a better option. Even if you got 3 Juvies and they were all male you could have sold/breeding load/traded 3 males but now you only have the one... Still a gorgeous T.

 

[Angel Minkov]

You agreed with what I wrote.

You said, and I quote : "They're sexually dimorphic". I said they're not. How did I agree with what you wrote I cannot say.

 

[viper69]

You said, and I quote : "They're sexually dimorphic". I said they're not. How did I agree with what you wrote I cannot say.

Here's your quote "They display sexual dimorphism only when they mature"

I do not see why you are confused.

You agreed w/what I wrote!

 

[Abyss]

Lol

 

[cold blood]

I'm hoping to hear back from the seller, but I'm not going to hold my breath since they haven't been active on here for a good while. I now regret not spending the money to buy three or four juveniles and hoping to get a female rather than spending just as much money for one incorrectly sexed individual. I'd happily exchange it for an actual female if they had one, or a partial refund to make up the difference in cost of purchasing a sexed female versus a sexed male.

This is why I believe in always exchanging phone numbers (and holding onto addresses)...people can easily disappear from the forums never to be heard from again...especially if they are unscrupulous sellers. Everyone I sell anything to, has my phone number just in case.

 

[Angel Minkov]

Here's your quote "They display sexual dimorphism only when they mature"

I do not see why you are confused.

You agreed w/what I wrote!

99% of people who read the term "sexually dimorphic" will think they display it at a young age, throughout their juvenile life and sub-adult lives. I fail to think up of a tarantula at the moment which isn't sexually dimorphic when mature, be it to show palps, change structure, color etcc, so generally speaking, shouldn't we refer to younger tarantulas when using the term?

 

[viper69]

99% of people who read the term "sexually dimorphic" will think they display it at a young age, throughout their juvenile life and sub-adult lives. I fail to think up of a tarantula at the moment which isn't sexually dimorphic when mature, be it to show palps, change structure, color etcc, so generally speaking, shouldn't we refer to younger tarantulas when using the term?

Ah I see what you mean. When it comes to Ts I try not to assume, however, I can see how many would erroneously do so.

 

[Angel Minkov]

What I'm trying to say is - people don't use the term to its full scientific meaning. Most of them refer to sexual dimorphism displayed during the earlier stages of a tarantula's development, so they can use that difference in coloration, structure etc to sex them beforehand (or, rather, to try to do so. its not a 100% fool-proof method), because it doesn't matter to them when they mature into males, for example. I guess its just a matter of perspective in this case ^^

 

[cold blood]

In animals where sexual dimorphism exists, its rarely exhibited in juveniles....mature adults is generally where dimorphism becomes apparent.

 

[viper69]

What I'm trying to say is - people don't use the term to its full scientific meaning. Most of them refer to sexual dimorphism displayed during the earlier stages of a tarantula's development, so they can use that difference in coloration, structure etc to sex them beforehand (or, rather, to try to do so. its not a 100% fool-proof method), because it doesn't matter to them when they mature into males, for example. I guess its just a matter of perspective in this case ^^

All I wrote is they were sexually dimorphic. I didn't specify when. My statement was accurate, it was not wrong as you said it was. You only qualified my original statement and indeed said they were as well. In point of fact, you agreed w/me that they are sexually dimorphic.

It's no different than if I wrote "all cars have engines", and you said I was wrong because "some cars have electric engines", in both cases cars have engines. In both T statements, we each wrote a T is sexually dimorphic, thus we are right.

If someone is erroneously making assumptions, that is their fault for not asking clarification.

 

[Ranitomeya]

Well, neither messages to the seller on arachnoboards or his paypal email have gotten any response, so now I guess I'm stuck with the male that should've been female. The spiderling I raised and sexed as a male that prompted me to purchase a female has now also matured and both are now keeping me up at night drumming against their enclosures. They're surprisingly loud and I didn't figure out what I was hearing for the first couple nights of drumming. Hopefully someone out there needs a mature male or two. Still no bites from the invertsonals.