Petstore Tarantula ID Mixup

[Bagan]

I am starting to think that the Tarantula I purchased at the petstore as a Pink Zebra Beauty is actually a Brazilian Salmon Pink. "Why?" you might be asking yourselves. Well, for one she is of a much darker coloring than the PZB's I've seen. She's a mix of a deep salmon pink and dark brown. Her underside is pitch black and she recently molted bringing her up to roughly 5 inches. Plus she has an attitude to boot which is uncommon in PZB's. I wish I could attach a pic to my post but my camera is broken.

 

[MrBaronIsBack]

Do you have access to a digital camera? You're right that the attitude sounds a bit off from the "typical" PZB, but, without a picture, it would be difficult to help you out. Also, another thing to consider is the possibility that it is a male. I've read that PZB's can reach up to 6 inches. So 5 wouldn't really be that unusual, bear in mind that I haven't seen a full grown PZB yet, all mine are half inch to one inch slings. I guess the real question to ask is this: Do you know for sure that your T is a female?

 

[Bagan]

Originally posted by MrBaronIsBack
Do you have access to a digital camera? You're right that the attitude sounds a bit off from the "typical" PZB, but, without a picture, it would be difficult to help you out. Also, another thing to consider is the possibility that it is a male. I've read that PZB's can reach up to 6 inches. So 5 wouldn't really be that unusual, bear in mind that I haven't seen a full grown PZB yet, all mine are half inch to one inch slings. I guess the real question to ask is this: Do you know for sure that your T is a female?

Well, I've checked for Tibial hooks and the club shaped pedipalps and I see none of that. I do own a confirmed male spider in my collection and my supposed PZB doesn't have these anatomical features. I suppose I could borrow my mother's camera, but I don't have the downloading sioftware for her camera on my PC.

 

[MrBaronIsBack]

Since the spider isn't quite large enough yet, I was thinking that it might be a sub-adult male. Not yet mature, but close enough to start displaying male attitude... skittish, jumpy, defensive. I have a Male Redknee that was a pushover until he went through his penultimate molt, then he started climbing everywhere. He matured the next molt.

 

[abstract]

Originally posted by Bagan
Well, I've checked for Tibial hooks and the club shaped pedipalps and I see none of that. I do own a confirmed male spider in my collection and my supposed PZB doesn't have these anatomical features. I suppose I could borrow my mother's camera, but I don't have the downloading sioftware for her camera on my PC.

If she has a PC that has the software, all you have to do is log onto arachnopets from there....