Please help me. I want to know if my golden knee is a male or a female. Its 3.5inch already. Thanks

[Ian jhasper]

Please help me. I want to know if my golden knee is a male or a female. Its 3.5inch already. Thanks

 

[Poec54]

need better lighting on the vent. Too dark to tell.

 

[Vanessa]

Is this any better? I did my best to lighten it up for him.

 

[Thistles]

Vanessa is amazing.

Looks male.

 

[EulersK]

Very nice @VanessaS!

Agreed, going with male.

 

[Flexzone]

Its a male.

 

[Ian jhasper]

Thanks guys. Just a quick question. If it's a male. May i know on when will the hooks may appear? This chaco is already 1 year old. And if my chaco is eating creatures like lizard and other types of prey, is that okay?

 

[magicmed]

Thanks guys. Just a quick question. If it's a male. May i know on when will the hooks may appear? This chaco is already 1 year old. And if my chaco is eating creatures like lizard and other types of prey, is that okay?

I don't know about lizards in particular...but I believe feeding vertibrates to T is not recommended.

 

[gypsy cola]

Is it a male because you can tell what it is...by the way it is?

 

[cold blood]

Thanks guys. Just a quick question. If it's a male. May i know on when will the hooks may appear? This chaco is already 1 year old. And if my chaco is eating creatures like lizard and other types of prey, is that okay?

Hooks only appear once a he matures....but don't look for hooks, look for emboli.

I hope you aren't feeding wild caught lizards....and at only 3.5" I can't possibly understand why you would be feeding it vertebrates in the first place...feed it crickets, roaches wax worms, mealworms, superworms or even earthworms...you have plenty of safer/better options.

 

[Vanessa]

There is no benefit from feeding them vertebrates and, in some cases, there is a risk that your tarantula will be injured or killed. I know that some people like to give their spiders a 'treat' once or twice a year, but the risks outweigh the benefits almost all of the time. It would be a very slim chance that your tarantula would be eating vertebrates in the wild, except for some of the really large species, so they don't need them. There have even been cases of Theraphosa losing their fangs that people have linked to the overfeeding of vertebrates. They have probably been using their tarantula as entertainment by feeding them live mice and it is detrimental to the spiders health - short term and long term.
Invertebrates are going to be their diet in the wild, almost exclusively for their entire lives, and there is nothing wrong with feeding them the same in captivity. Never feed them anything that has been wild caught either. There are whole realms of risk to your tarantula if you feed wild caught.

 

[KezyGLA]

Change the feeders as it may cause injury to your T and there is no need for this in captivity.

Also, if you wish to have your T for longer then slow down the feeding and lower the temps. If you constantly feed and keep temps high then it will mature fast. If you want it to mature quickly then keep up the feeding but change to crix or roaches.

 

[advan]

need better lighting on the vent. Too dark to tell.

It shows enough to tell the sex by the size and shape of the epi plate. The lighting did help expose the fusillae better for inexperienced ventral sexer's.

 

[EulersK]

It shows enough to tell the sex by the size and shape of the epi plate. The lighting did help expose the fusillae better for inexperienced ventral sexer's.

"Epi plate"? Googling that term came up with absolutely nothing - what is the full term? I'd like to learn more about this.

 

[BorisTheSpider]

Epigynal plate

 

[advan]

"Epi plate"? Googling that term came up with absolutely nothing - what is the full term? I'd like to learn more about this.

Epigynial plate or Epigynum.