Zebra or Rosie?

[rob]

Went to a few pet stores all over Jax, FL today and only saw one T. It was labeled as a Striped Knee Zebra. I'm not positive that it is or whether its male or female. Staff didn't know. I felt sorry for it. It was in a pet pal container with about a half inch of what looked like colored fish gravel and no hide. It was just sitting in the middle of the container with no place to hide. I was hoping to find a Rosie for my first T, but this might be a rescue mission for the poor thing. Any suggestions for verifying whether its really a Zebra or a Rosie and whether M/F (its about 3.5 to 4 inches)? Thanks.

 

[anthony2561]

Its most likely a zebra, does it have strip's on its legs?????If it doents then its a rosie, and if it does its a zebra(Duh;P ) Whenever u feel like u dont know what the spider is, just think of the common name for it. Cause its named by ppl who c it not ppl who study it.......So its most likey a zebra

 

[Jesse607]

Based on the fact it was at a pet store, it could be anything. there are a number of species with stripes on the legs.

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by jezzy607
Based on the fact it was at a pet store, it could be anything. there are a number of species with stripes on the legs.

Not quite - although there are a number of Ts with stripes on their legs, the odds of finding any in a petstore that doesn't specialise in exotics is very slim. There are more A. seemanni and G. rosea sold in America than probably all the other species put together. The reason is that both are able to be imported by the thousands for less than $1 each (I think rosehairs go as little as a quarter a pop or maybe even less at import, and zebras only a little bit more).

As for how to tell what it is, just look. A rosehair is a plain brown tarantula without markings. It may or may not have a metallic sheen to to the cephalothorax (the "head"). A zebra is a brown to black colored tarantula with cream colored stripes on its legs - the stripes can become very faded between moults, but they should still be visible if you look closely.

 

[rob]

Thanks for the info. I searched for info on both types and found that sometimes they aren't as easy to distinguish from each other especially when young/sub-adult.

Its most likely a zebra, does it have strip's on its legs?????If it doents then its a rosie, and if it does its a zebra(Duh )

:? :? :? :? Really?

 

[nocturnalpulsem]

Go with the Zebra. They're prettier and mine eats non-stop. Or, get both! Who wants just one, anyway?

N.

 

[Arachnopuppy]

How big or small is it??? I never thought I would hear someone having a confusion between the 2 species. But that's just me.

 

[rob]

How big or small is it??? I never thought I would hear someone having a confusion between the 2 species. But that's just me.

Its about 3.5 to 4" and to tell you the truth, after looking at the different photos of both kinds, I'm starting to wonder if its either. I might just get it regardless of what it is.

 

[kellygirl]

i have a rosie that is about 4" and she has very subtle striping on her legs. from what i've seen, the rosies are usually a little hairier than a. seemanis. at least the ones in the pet store. pet store 'zebras' are often in such raggedy shape--they dont even look how they're supposed to look! lol. i can see why you might not be able to tell for sure what species it was. did you end up buying the little guy?

kellygirl

 

[kellygirl]

you can see the rosie's subtle stripes in these pics:

http://www.arachnopets.com/tarantulas/tgallery/grosea01.htm
http://www.arachnopets.com/tarantulas/tgallery/grosea02.htm


while the zebra has much more prominent stripes:

http://www.arachnopets.com/tarantulas/tgallery/aseemanni01.htm
http://www.arachnopets.com/tarantulas/tgallery/aseemanni02.htm


maybe that'll help.....? :?

kellygirl