Sexual maturity/ sexing

[Pacmaster]

I guess my questions are even more than just the title . . .

1- how do you measure a T?
2- sexual maturity is reached by age/size?
3- differences between males and females?
4- how often does a T molt?
5- Does molting have more to do with size and feeding than age/ sexual maturity?

Thanks alot!

 

[Pacmaster]

Nobody, huh?
I know theyre noob questions but Im confused about these subjects.

 

[T-Harry]

1 - There are different methods. In Europe the size of a T is generally given by meassuring the body lenght (the lengt of carapace and abdomen, without spinnerets and chelicera). In the US it is more common to give the size of a T by meassuring the legspan as far as I know.

2 - Depends on the sex. In males you can see it clearly when they develop bulbs (and tibial hooks on most species) directly after a molt. With females it's not as easy, generally you can say that they're mature when they reach about 2/3 of their maximum size.

3 - Until a male T matures there are no obvious differences between them and a female. You can only distinguish them by a close look on the bottom side of the abdomen. Females have an opening (I'm not sure how it is called in english, epigastrial opening?) between the front pair of book lungs whereas males have only a small spot.
After a male matured it has bulbs on the pedipulps and most species also have hooks on the tibia of the first pair of legs.

4 - Depends on the species, the size, the food supply and the climate.

5 - No, every of your given factors is relevant. Generally males molt more often than females as slings, but of course it is also dependant of how much you feed them and how big a T is. Younger T's molt more often than older ones.

 

[Pacmaster]

Thankyou very much!

I like the euro way of measuring . . .
Imma reptile guy, SVL is what Im used to.

 

[Pacmaster]

Lemme get one more in?

5- On average, how many molts would I expect a 1.5-2" T to go thru before maturing?
a) time frame also- 6mo/1yr/???
or does this depend on those other factors too heavily to speculate?

 

[Miss Bianca]

Lemme get one more in?

5- On average, how many molts would I expect a 1.5-2" T to go thru before maturing?
a) time frame also- 6mo/1yr/???
or does this depend on those other factors too heavily to speculate?

it all depends on how they're kept and the species, for example, Grammostolas are known for taking forever to grow, but you can see abvious change when they molt... also depends on how they're fed... many factors...

a 1.5-2" T would take prob another 2-3 years... alotta things depend though, as I previously mentioned... hopefully you get more replies here... look up old threads also..

 

[Pacmaster]

I dont know why I cant understand this.

Heres my latest idea
Maturity is based on (x)
Molt is based on size
Size is based on feeding

So if I have 2 identical spiders, and 1 is kept at optimum conditions/feeding schedule, it will reach maturity in (x) years.
The other one is kept at below optimum conditions and is rarely fed.
So after 1 yr, the first one is 1/2 grown, while the second is no closer to maturity than when I started.
Is that a reasonable scenario?

So maturity is based on size, I couldnt assume an underfed 3yr old T to be mature just because its 3 yrs old?

My searches do not provide the ansewr as I dont even understand what Im asking . . .

 

[clam1991]

it all depends on how they're kept and the species, for example, Grammostolas are known for taking forever to grow, but you can see abvious change when they molt... also depends on how they're fed... many factors...

a 1.5-2" T would take prob another 2-3 years... alotta things depend though, as I previously mentioned... hopefully you get more replies here... look up old threads also..

woah there

what about lps?
mine was 1.5 inchesthe beggining of last year and is now about 8 inches and going to mate soon

the only way we can guess how long it'll take for a t to molt is the size and the specie
gratamosola grow pretty slow compared to lasiodoras that grow insanely fast
so let us know what you got

 

[Miss Bianca]

woah there

what about lps?
mine was 1.5 inchesthe beggining of last year and is now about 8 inches and going to mate soon

the only way we can guess how long it'll take for a t to molt is the size and the specie
gratamosola grow pretty slow compared to lasiodoras that grow insanely fast
so let us know what you got

as I also stated, alot depends on keeping conditions, and breed.

 

[Pacmaster]

I guess this would all be in reference to pokies, and avics(versi).

 

[Sathane]

Very a quick clarification on some of the points:

1) For US measurements; The legspan measurement is taken from the tip of one leg to the tip of the opposite leg. For example: MEasure from the tip of the left front leg to the tip of the right rear leg.

3) There are a few ways of telling the sex of a Tarantula. One, as stated in other posts is to look at the size of the epigastric furrow (ridge between the forward book lungs) and the presence of epiadrous fusillae, a tight bundle of hairs located above the epigastric furrow. Is the specimen has these fusillae then it is male. This method is far from perfect though as these hairs are very hard to see in some species. The only 100% accurate method of sexing is to look in a fresh exuvium (molted 'shell') for the presence of spermathecae. If these are present, the T is a female. The spermathecae vary in size and shape from species to species to I would study this method extensively if you want to get good at it. Also, have a microscope such as a binocular (or trinocular) stereo microscope will help out quite a bit and allow you to sex much your tarantulas. You can pick up one of these microscope on eBay for a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. These are a very useful tool for a serious Arachno enthusiast though and can be expanded with a camera to take photos of your subjects through the scope.

Hope this helps.

 

[Neophyte]

mine was 1.5 inches the beggining of last year and is now about 8 inches.QUOTE]

HOW????
Gimme your secret O_O

 

[Windchaser]

Males have a fixed number of molts to reach maturity. This number is fixed and is not dependent on feeding or environment. How frequently a tarantula molts is dependent on the conditions of its environment and feeding. Generally increased feeding and higher temperatures will increase the molting frequency. this result in a tarantula maturing faster. Decreasing the feeding and temperature and the tarantula will take more time between molts thereby increasing the time to maturity. Size itself a factor that influences the molting process. Tarantulas are also capable of forcing a molt to regenerate a limb or other damaged feature (broken fang or missing pedipalp). I believe females reach sexual maturity after a specific instar as well. However females continue to molt after sexual maturity where males rarely survive a molt after reaching sexual maturity.

 

[clam1991]

mine was 1.5 inches the beggining of last year and is now about 8 inches.QUOTE]

HOW????
Gimme your secret O_O

we grow em big
gave him plenty of room and plenty to eat:drool:
oh and i kept him warm (dont know the exact temp though)