Probable mature male Phlogiellus inermis

[Draiman]

Phlogiellus inermis vs Creeket

He's a jumbo - I've never seen a Phlogiellus inermis this big.

 

[Draiman]

His first cricket in my care.

 

[Draiman]

Gee great, my picture threads are always ignored.

 

[fartkowski]

Nice
About how big is it?

 

[Draiman]

Nice
About how big is it?

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING!!!

You're the first person to respond to any of my picture threads. Oh yeah he's about 2.5" long. I'm actually still wondering if he's really a male. Do you have any idea?

 

[Richard McJimsey]

Gee great, my picture threads are always ignored.

I can relate.
Hint Hint

Nice pics though!

 

[Krazy Kat]

Very nice..

 

[Draiman]

Thank you all! About an hour ago I noticed him on his back as if ready to moult, then suddenly he got back on his feet. I removed every other live animal in his tank just in case though. Has anyone ever observed this behaviour with tarantulas: apparently about to moult but abruptly changing its mind?

 

[Draiman]

Also, how often should I feed him? He ate a medium sized cricket yesterday (the one in the pics); does that mean I shouldn't feed him again this week?

 

[Steve Nunn]

Thank you all! About an hour ago I noticed him on his back as if ready to moult, then suddenly he got back on his feet. I removed every other live animal in his tank just in case though. Has anyone ever observed this behaviour with tarantulas: apparently about to moult but abruptly changing its mind?

Hi,
Looks like P.inermis to me and what you saw would have been the back end of the process they call "charging the palps". This is where the male places sperm from the primary sexual organ on a specially built web, then flips underneath the web to gather the sperm into the palps.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Draiman]

Hi,
Looks like P.inermis to me and what you saw would have been the back end of the process they call "charging the palps". This is where the male places sperm from the primary sexual organ on a specially built web, then flips underneath the web to gather the sperm into the palps.

Cheers,
Steve

Damn. It confirms he's a mature male then. However on another forum I was told that he could genuinely be trying to moult, and turned around because he was being disturbed. Now I'm in a dilemma - should I remove the small cricket I have in the tank with him? Oh thanks anyway.

 

[Steve Nunn]

I can't tell from the images if he's mature or not, he MAY have been charging the palps....does he have a shiny teardrop shaped appendage on the tips of those palps (the appendages bend back under the palps in life) and do they have a boxing glove shape at the end??? If the palps do not have this appendage or look then he may be a juvenile male getting ready to moult and if that's the case, remove the cricket, put him in the dark and make sure he doesn't dry out. Check him maybe once a day if that, but don't shake him around or move the container or disturb him.....just in case. The advice you got before is good for sure if he's not mature....

 

[Draiman]

I can't tell from the images if he's mature or not, he MAY have been charging the palps....does he have a shiny teardrop shaped appendage on the tips of those palps (the appendages bend back under the palps in life) and do they have a boxing glove shape at the end??? If the palps do not have this appendage or look then he may be a juvenile male getting ready to moult and if that's the case, remove the cricket, put him in the dark and make sure he doesn't dry out. Check him maybe once a day if that, but don't shake him around or move the container or disturb him.....just in case. The advice you got before is good for sure if he's not mature....

Yeah he has a small dark brown thing under each of his palps, but they certainly aren't bulbous and are pretty much invisible unless you look at them from underneath.