Zebra or Rosie?

rob

Got Inverts?
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Messages
343
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

Banned
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 13, 2003
Messages
73
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

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 29, 2002
Messages
715
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

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Messages
3,783
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.
 
Last edited:

rob

Got Inverts?
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Messages
343
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?:D
 

nocturnalpulsem

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 1, 2003
Messages
663
Go with the Zebra. They're prettier and mine eats non-stop. Or, get both! Who wants just one, anyway? :D

N.
 

Arachnopuppy

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Messages
713
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

Got Inverts?
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Messages
343
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

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 1, 2002
Messages
1,055
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
 
Top