Several weeks ago a coworker found a tarantula wandering around in our parking lot (we're in Southern California). At first I wasn't sure what species it was, but after some research I'm pretty sure it's Aphonopelma Pallidum (Mexican Gray/Brown).
Since he was probably going to be run over if we let him wander, we decided to adopt him as an office mascot. We set him up with a 10gal terrarium; at first I had him on bark chips but he hated that so I switched to coir. He didn't seem to like that much either (he is always trying to climb the walls and walk around on the ceiling, which quite often results in a fall although he hasn't been injured yet). So I added some "desert mix" (ground walnut shells) to reduce the floor height of the environment and lessen the problems from a fall. He still tries constantly to climb the walls; it's all we ever see him doing.
Anyway, today I noticed some pronounced tibial spurs although I haven't noticed his pedipalps being particularly swollen. Do the tibial spurs conclusively indicate that he's fully mature and only has a few months left to live? He eats crickets when they're given, and he seems to take water (although he also seems to intentionally splash all the water out of his water bowl every night). He also has a slowly darkening bald spot on his rump which I thought was an indicator that he would molt soon - I guess if he's a MM that means he's not going to molt and will probably just die?
Obviously I'm new to this. If he's a mature male, should I let him go free so he can maybe find a babe to score with?
Since he was probably going to be run over if we let him wander, we decided to adopt him as an office mascot. We set him up with a 10gal terrarium; at first I had him on bark chips but he hated that so I switched to coir. He didn't seem to like that much either (he is always trying to climb the walls and walk around on the ceiling, which quite often results in a fall although he hasn't been injured yet). So I added some "desert mix" (ground walnut shells) to reduce the floor height of the environment and lessen the problems from a fall. He still tries constantly to climb the walls; it's all we ever see him doing.
Anyway, today I noticed some pronounced tibial spurs although I haven't noticed his pedipalps being particularly swollen. Do the tibial spurs conclusively indicate that he's fully mature and only has a few months left to live? He eats crickets when they're given, and he seems to take water (although he also seems to intentionally splash all the water out of his water bowl every night). He also has a slowly darkening bald spot on his rump which I thought was an indicator that he would molt soon - I guess if he's a MM that means he's not going to molt and will probably just die?
Obviously I'm new to this. If he's a mature male, should I let him go free so he can maybe find a babe to score with?