rosie

soopa1

Arachnopeon
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Oct 2, 2002
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18
ive had a rosie for about 2 1/2 yrs now and i never had it sexed. i read posts about peoples t's (female) laying eggsacs,and mine has never done it. can i just assume its a male then?
 

MrDeranged

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Not necessarily. While it does occur that a T will lay an infertile eggsac occasionally, it is by no means a common occurence. I've had a rosehair for over 9 yrs that is definitely female and she has never laid an eggsac in the time that I've had her.

Scott
 

Arachniphile

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Next time it molts send it off to have it sexed. The American Tarantula Society offers this service (I believe for free). I'd also be willing to bet that there are several members here who are more than qualified to do this for you as well.

Here is the ATS web site : http://www.atshq.org/
 

krucz36

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i'm pretty sure that Toan can handle sexing slings. that just sounds wrong.

let me start over.

Toan can determine the gender of juvenile tarantulas. whew.
 

Vayu Son

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><

Also, female tarantulas dont go around making eggsacs for the hell of it(well, usually not). And most only do so AFTER mating and then there is still a small chance. Its like saying "My wife of 20 years and i have never had sex, and she hasnt had a baby, so can i assume she is actually a he?" cause and effect. Gender is not dependant on phantom fertility.

-V
 

krucz36

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hey vayu, females can and do make eggsacs without having mated. it's not common, but it's also not impossible. just really rare. i don't think that was being implied.

soopa1: you can determine an adult's sex easily: males have several identifiers, including tibial spurs and emboli, which they use to store sperm for mating. they also tend (generalizing!) to be leggier and more gangly than females.
an adult female will not have any of these identifiers.
the hard part for me is knowing if your spider is an adult. the best thing to do is get a shed skin (exuvia) and mail it to someone who can check it out and tell you want gender you've got.
check out the American Tarantula Society, they're a great resource.
hope that helps
 

Vayu Son

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><

"Also, female tarantulas dont go around making eggsacs for the hell of it(well, usually not)." <---- the parentheses acknowledge this possibility. I was marking the point that if he has not actually mated his tarantula, the fact that it isnt making any eggsacs is not a good key to sex by. and if it was mated, i assume this thread would not exist.


-V
 

Lycanthrope

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Ive also heard male rosehairs have been known to actually lose their spurs during a molt on occasion. anyone else heard of that?
 

kosh

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i believe that once a male gets his spurs....he will NOT ever moult again.......all moults before the ultimate moult, he will not yet have spurs....after ultimate moult he has spurs....but no more moults before DEATH!!!
am i right people?
 

Botar

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That is the general rule as I understand it. But I've also heard some people mention exceptions to that rule. I've heard of "post ultimate molts", but like I said, I believe it to be an anomaly. (That's my $5 word for the day)

Botar
 

Joy

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Originally posted by Botar
That is the general rule as I understand it. But I've also heard some people mention exceptions to that rule. I've heard of "post ultimate molts", but like I said, I believe it to be an anomaly. (That's my $5 word for the day)

Botar
Right, Botar! Post-ultimate molts are uncommon, but not unheard of. I've had 4 males who tried it, and 2 who survived it. Below is a picture of a B. albopilosum post-ultimate male. He actually managed to retain one palp during the molt, which is almost unheard of. The two I've had retained their spurs, but they changed some in appearance, as did the whole spider--more gangly and attenuated (which is my $5 word for the day =D )

Joy
 
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krucz36

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i have had males molt after the "ultimate" molt as well. it's pretty sad. both of my A. avicularia molted into males and then tried again, neither surviving.
 

bness2

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Originally posted by krucz36
i have had males molt after the "ultimate" molt as well. it's pretty sad. both of my A. avicularia molted into males and then tried again, neither surviving.
Could this have anything to do with the typical short life span of males? Sort of like in human males, where hormones also play a part in many early demises :} =D

Seriously, though. What appears to be the "cause" of death in most cases in males. Does anyone know?

Bryan
 

krucz36

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well, in the case where they molt again, which would be the ultimate life-span determiner, they'd asphyxiate or starve. coming through a molt with malformed limbs would also pu them at risk of starvation.
as far as just dropping dead, you'd have to get someone more knowledgeable than lil ol me
 

bness2

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All I can say (and I often say it to my students too) is that it would be a real bummer to be a male T. Of course, being a male mantis would be even worse. :eek: :eek:

Bryan
 

Code Monkey

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In the wild, males put so much energy and time into seeking mates that they don't really take care of themselves. They eschew food and shelter for seeking sex (go figure :)). They either wind up a final snack for one of their ladies, easy prey for another animal, or simply become too exhausted to go on and wind up feeding the ants.

In captivity, I believe, we get the reason for this "suicidal" behaviour, those boxing glove palps. They can't remove the sexually modified pedipalps during the moult and either become trapped in their post-ultimate moult, or lose/damage their pedipalps if they do survive. Either way, they're useless from any point of view except as a pet so it's not hard to see why evolution has resulted in their one track obsession.
 

Joy

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Originally posted by krucz36
by the way: HI JOY!
Hi to you, too :)

To Bryan: there's been some speculation that diet might play a role (among other things) in the males' early demise. I tend to think this might be true, as the 2 post-ult males I've had who were survivors were both unusually good eaters for males. Unfortunately, even if this were proven fact it wouldn't help a lot, as I know of no way to make males eat when they aren't inclined to--and the majority I've had weren't much interested in food.

Joy
 

Wade

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We may be looking at this the wrong way. We're wondering why males have short lives, but the really amazing thing is that the females live so long.

In nearly all other spiders, niether the male nor the female molts after sexual maturity is reached. Most Araneomorphs of either sex live less that three years, many less than one.

Wade
 
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