Post molt a chalcodes

[NeitherSparky]

I found an existing thread about this very thing, but all the pictures are gone now so it does me zero good. So forgive me for recreating a thread.

Here was my a chalcodes before premolt:

And here's her this morning:

So...she got real dark. Is she going to get lighter or do I have a boy? I got her at a reptile show so if she's a boy, I can't go release him back where he came from. Thanks.

~Sparky

edit: She finally got off of her molt and I took it out and looked at it. I did take a photo and it's sharp but it's not really zoomed in enough to show you guys. You know how the female has that one little extra flap? Well, it looks like its there. But she's so *dark*, she totally looks like a boy. So I'm entirely confused. The guy who caught her and sold her to me sexed her visually (despite her coloration) because I wanted to be sure I was getting a girl and he swore she was. He had two, I knew I should have just bought them both...

 

[wicked]

Oof, I hate it when you find a good thread and all the pictures are gone.

Very pretty girl. I have a sub adult male. A chalcodes are very under rated IMO

A fresh molt always brings out the colors, but I don't think she looks any darker than this girl here-

http://atshq.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4529&highlight=Aphonopelma+chalcodes

I was asking a friend the other day about the sexual dimorphisim(spelling?) in A chalcodes, but he never did answer me. If I understand it correctly, the male doesn't appear different until after his ultimate molt. Please correct me if I am wrong, I would like to know.
There is a picture of a mature male A chalcodes in the book Tarantulas and Other Arachnids by Marshall. Unless the photo is mislabled, it appears that the MM has all black legs.

Edit- Adding link- Thread with my male after molting.
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=46718

 

[NeitherSparky]

Thanks a lot for the link. Yeah I mean, she looks like that on on her front half...and then her back half is like...dark brownish blue. It's really pretty but I want to know if she's a boy or a girl. :} I don't know about the male colors only coming out on the ultimate molt. I definitely don't see hooks or gloves or whatever they're called right now, anyways.

 

[NeitherSparky]

This is her now, maybe about 12 hours after the molt:

She looks kinda like the t on this page, which is identified only as an "aphonopelma species". Could that be what I have? An A. that isn't necessarily a chalcodes?

 

[ShadowBlade]

Aphonopelma are extremely difficult to ID by sight, like impossible.
Its more you have to see something that means it isn't a particular species, then knowing for a fact it is a particular species.
I see no reason that can't be a chalcodes.

-Sean

 

[reptist]

I just sold one like that and it was sold to me as Flagstaff Orange, I have collected many chalcodes and none of them ever looked like this w/ the dark back legs so I am thinking it may just be the Flagstaff orange , do you know where the person caught it, that you got it from, here are 2 pix of A sp. chalcodes adult females I am used to seeing
View attachment 60832

View attachment 60835

And here is the A. sp. flagstaff orange
View attachment 60833

View attachment 60834

I dont think they are the same species, I have a molt from the F O and I'll see if I can I.d. it from Smiths book , I might get lucky but I think its just as likely that the species w/ dark rear legs is an as yet undescribed Apho. species, I'll post back if I learn anything new, PEACE B.

 

[NeitherSparky]

No I'm afraid I didn't ask the guy where he caught her, he may have said the state but I'm afraid I don't remember. Yes my girl looks just the the FO pics you posted. And do you know an FO was my next "must have" species? Lol. She just looks entirely different than she did in September! She was pure "blond" then, even moreso than in the first pic I posted above. She turned "rusty" within days of me bringing her home. She's really pretty now, though.

She looks good today, still sorta lazing about but I imagine that's normal. I can tell from the fullness of her waterdish that she hasn't drunk anything yet, but her abdomen looks good.

I had pinned her molt to a piece of foam to dry in a lifelike pose, and left it overnight on a shelf beside the sliding glass door. When some construction workers stopped in this morning to caulk the inside of the newly-installed sliding glass door...they got a nasty surprise. They already knew I was the "snake lady" (they saw me handling my ball python when they were replacing my bedroom window), now I can only imagine what they're saying about me. They wouldn't even go back into my bedroom to caulk the window until I assured them that the snake was NOT out! Yeah, big bad manly construction workers.