P. irminia Showing Adult Colors

[Steve Calceatum]

Of all the times I wished to have a good-quality digital camera, this would have been it. My P. irminia just molted, and came out (quite literally) for a pic. Once again, my iPhone saves the day....well sort of.

I got her in June as a 3/4" sling, and yesterday was the first time I got to see my baby all grown up....well at least a respectable 3" and finally in adult colors!!!!

Sorry for the blurry quality, but it was a rush job, and I had to corral my little girl before she ran off:

In addition, I've received molts in the last two weeks from my A. versicolor, OBT, L. parahybana, P. regalis, and my S. calceatum. My B. smithi, and C. fasciatum are in premolt as well, with my Avic avic looking pretty close to being in premolt. Whew!!!!

 

[Teal]

Very nice! I love seeing the colour change with each molt!

 

[WARPIG]

This is a georgeous T. When they start showing that awesome contrast in adult colors, man that makes it worth the wait.

Congrats.
PIG-

 

[Steve Calceatum]

This is a georgeous T. When they start showing that awesome contrast in adult colors, man that makes it worth the wait.

Congrats.
PIG-

What wait??? LOL....She grew 2.25" in 4 freakin' months!!!!!! I think she grew about 6" of attitude too!!!!

I will admit, that it is very satisfying to raise a sling. Watching the color changes has been awesome. My C. fasciatum sling turned colors pretty quickly, and I got my B. smithi as a 2" juvie, so I've already seen the emergence of adult colors with her as well. But this one has to be the most satisfying experience so far.

 

[Redneck]

How can you tell when an A. avic is in premolt??

 

[ZergFront]

WOW, that was fast! I can't remember when I got my 5 from warpig but they still aren't up there. Only molted once in my care - not powerfeeding, just going by abdomen size for their next meal. Now it's a few pinheads a week since most the time I can't see them. Pita and Precious I still do see quite regularly after 10PM looking like suckerfish on the side.

I'm rambling again!

 

[Steve Calceatum]

How can you tell when an A. avic is in premolt??

I'm not 100% certain, but I do have a few observations I would be happy to share. She had waaaay more red hairs on her abdomen a month ago. Now her abdomen is almost completely black and getting shiny. She's also slowed way down on her food consumption, and is starting to become somewhat easily irritated. Minus the black-abdomen thing, these are a couple of the same traits my A. versicolor has when she goes into premolt.

I would love to provide an accurate visual reference for comparison, however the most recent pic I have was taken with my stupid iPhone. The difference between a 2 Mp cellphone camera and a 10.1 Mp point-and-shoot is tremendous!!!! Though if you look hard enough at my iPhone pic you could see that there is very little surface-area covered by those red-hairs, and her abdomen has a shine to it.

Taken last week with my iPhone:

Compared to the first week of September, taken with a decent camera:

I hope this was of some help to you. Like I said, I'm not 100%, but here's to hope. As for me, the second I notice my Avic avic molting, is the second I start looking to get her a hot date!!!

 

[Stopdroproll]

Awesome. my 1.5" smithi just molted to 2" and shows awesome adult colors too. P. irminias are awesome and I'm probably going to get one.

 

[Ariel]

she's gorgeous!!

 

[jayefbe]

Awesome, that irminia grew fast! I can't wait until mine start showing their adult colors. I'm guessing they still have at least a couple molts until that happens.

 

[Steve Calceatum]

Awesome. my 1.5" smithi just molted to 2" and shows awesome adult colors too. P. irminias are awesome and I'm probably going to get one.

You should get one. P. irminia is an awesome species!! My B. smithi didn't show adult colors until she was 3.5", though she was already just barely starting when I first got her at 2".

she's gorgeous!!

Thanks!!! I think she is too!!!

Awesome, that irminia grew fast! I can't wait until mine start showing their adult colors. I'm guessing they still have at least a couple molts until that happens.

This is my girl's fourth molt. According to my records, she went from 3/4" to 1.5" to 2" to 2.5" (this is where she turned black and started showing markings) to 3" in full-blown adult colors. She has been molting once every five weeks. I expect her to slow down sometime soon, but time will tell.

 

[jayefbe]

Both of mine are about 1.5-2", and I think one might be about to molt so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Do you know if yours is a male or a female? I know mature males have that greenish-gray look to them (like a cambridgei almost), but didn't know if they went through the typical irminia look before then.

 

[Mattyb]

Congrats. Beautiful T.

 

[Steve Calceatum]

Both of mine are about 1.5-2", and I think one might be about to molt so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Do you know if yours is a male or a female? I know mature males have that greenish-gray look to them (like a cambridgei almost), but didn't know if they went through the typical irminia look before then.

Mine is ventrally female. When I saw her ventral side last molt it was blatantly obvious that she was a she. She effectively chewed up the last molt, and I've not yet retrieved her latest molt to 100% confirm sex. I'm not sure when sexual dimorphism takes place, but the mature males of this species do look a bit like P. cambridgei with a yellow butt.

 

[Hobo]

D'aww, that's cute.

Using your molt data as a guide (Mine have roughly shown the exact same growth size per molt as yours), I can expect my triplets to start showing adult colors in about 2 months!
I am hoping at least 1 is a female, but if not, a trio of wooly bear ultimate males is fine too! After all, I wouldn't be opposed to do a 50/50 or something and getting to raise more of these little guys again.

Also, I've read that males will look like females (color wise) right up until their ultimate molt, where they turn more ash grey and wooly.

 

[micheldied]

she looks amazing.
if only B smithii grew that fast...

 

[Steve Calceatum]

D'aww, that's cute.

Using your molt data as a guide (Mine have roughly shown the exact same growth size per molt as yours), I can expect my triplets to start showing adult colors in about 2 months!
I am hoping at least 1 is a female, but if not, a trio of wooly bear ultimate males is fine too! After all, I wouldn't be opposed to do a 50/50 or something and getting to raise more of these little guys again.

Also, I've read that males will look like females (color wise) right up until their ultimate molt, where they turn more ash grey and wooly.

Thanks, she is so adorable when she's not scrambling, threatening, biting....lol!!! You should at least get one female out of the lot. But even then, you're right. This is certainly a fun species to raise out. The information about the dimorphism is good to know as well. Thanks again, I may hit you up for a 50/50 loan one of these days.

she looks amazing.
if only B smithii grew that fast...

Thanks, she is so much more amazing in person. I'm going to see if I can borrow the use of a friend's or neighbor's camera tonight, as I have to rehouse my little girl. That damn mold-problem I've been having keeps coming back to bite me in the arse.

I also have to rehouse my C. fasciatum because HE molted out last night, and is a healthy 3"+. Thought that one was female, but I got a good ventral view and molt confirmation last night at about 2 am. :evil: :wall: :evil:

Yeah, really.....My B. smithi has grown quite rapidly over the summer from 1.75" to 3.5" and has been in premolt for the last 3 weeks. I'm hoping for a cool 4" specimen.

 

[MissChelly]

Very very lovely!