Green bottle blue & rose hair tarantula

[DragonsEye]

Originally Posted by jaleely

also depends on the spider....It's the small shiny ones that give me the willies!!!!

Jumping spiders aren't fuzzy but even most nonarachnid folks do seem to find them quite cute.

Originally Posted by jaleely

goliaths are awesome. we had one until it's first molt, and we didn't take good care of it and it died. we thought we were keeping it humid and warm enough, but apparently not.

You might have been doing everything alright, Melissa. Molting is a dangerous time for any arthropod and any number of things can go wrong. It could be that particular individual may have had other issues (even genetic problems) which played a role in its demise.

Originally Posted by jaleely

But most of ours have lived out their lives. Some males (they age and then get the pedipulps..the mating "legs" and then die) have lived a long time...even one species, skeleton knee, having an extra molt and living a year longer past when his pedipalps showed up!
Our one mexican red knee is over 9 years old, i think.

If it has lived beyond 5 or 6 years, it's not a male. Male T's rarely make it past 5 years of age. With the long lived species like the red knees (B. smithii), males may make it to 6yrs but that is about it. After achieving their penultimate molt (sexual maturity) males typically die within a year. In some cases they may make it a bit past that but not by much.

Originally Posted by jaleely

Maybe dragon will expand on the mating "legs"?

All T's and true spiders of both sexes have pedipalps -- what appear to be a set of smaller "legs" at the anterior of the cephalothorax. (In scorpions, the pedipalps are the pinchers for any who might be curious.) They are used somewhat like hands for the manipulation of objects.

When males reach maturity, the distal segment of the pedipalp undergoes a transformation into an organ for the transmittal of sperm to the female. In many Ts and all true spiders, TBOMK, this segment becomes enlarged. (In true spiders, these enlarged segments are referred to as the male's "boxing gloves".)

-- Easily visible here in this male lynx spider

All mature male Ts and spiders also develop a needle like prominence (called an embolus) on this last segment -- it looks a bit like a fang. The male spins a sperm web, deposits a droplet of sperm on the web, and then repeatedly dips his emboli into the sperm droplet to fill them.

These are a couple of pics of my male P. irminia filling his emboli.




Upon finding a receptive female, he inserts an embolus into the female's genital area and deposits the sperm.

Originally Posted by Roadtrash

When I was very young my father was bitten by a black widow when dressing one morning. It had gotten in the pants he had laid out to wear the next day and when he pulled them up it bit him in the nether regions if you will.

Situation really isn't any different than a snake or other animal biting someone who steps on it -- just a last ditch effort at self-preservation.

Originally Posted by Rogue628

Wow

I was under the impression they weren't very friendly.

As with snakes and many herps, "friendly" is not the best word to use. It implies human feelings to something which definitely isn't (anthropomorphism) As with any group of animals, there are always exceptions to the "rules of behavior". ( I have known people who owned "demonic" rose hair Ts ... the Ts apparently had not read the rose hair manual chapter about docility.) The biggest issue with T. blondi -- goliaths -- is not a tendency to bite but rather their urticating hairs. Their urt hairs are said to be among the most irritating such hairs with regards to their effect on humans.

[Pareeeee]

Nice post, Dragon. Lots of interesting and useful information

[Roadtrash]

That's what I like about this forum, I learn something new just about every time I log on.

Thanks Dragon, great post.

[jaleely]

I knew i could count on you dragon! You do good explinations, i ramble a lot lol

As for the skeleton knee, he was specifically Ephebopus murinus. He deveoped his male boxing glove pedipalps, and we thought for sure he would die a few months later. We kept him moist, and fed....and he actually lasted a whole year..then had ANOTHER molt...and lasted another whole year before finally passing away.
We knew it was rare to keep them past that, and were very surprised he lasted so long. He was very, very fiesty his whole life. Only the last few weeks did he really show his age, in his actions, and slow down.

Kind of interesting. i've had a couple of T's that I knew died from poor husbandry...the cobalt blue, and the goliath. I've had a cave spider (tailless whipscorpion) baby, and a brazlian black that i belived died because they were young, and had bad molts.
Everyone else has lasted and done pretty well and died of natural causes as far as i can tell.

I have heard the red knees live long, even in males. We're pretty sure this one is female. Her shape in consistant and her age seems to of course be longer lived. She may be older than 9 actually, as hubby and i have been together for 12 years and he got her and some other tarantulas shortly after we got together.

[Rogue628]

My bad. Friendly was not the correct word to use. Docile was more what I meant. My T isn't 'friendly' as he won't crawl up in my hand on his own. But he's docile when I do hold him.

Thanks for the great info, Dragon! When I do get ready to purchase another T, I will be asking tons of questions I hope you'll answer as I want to get a sling next time instead of one that appears to be fully grown. I want to learn about them better as a baby and how they grow and molt. I feel like I've missed something with the one I have now.

[DragonsEye]

Glad the info proved useful.

Melissa, sounds like your male, though he had hooked out, had not yet reached full maturity when his boxing gloves first developed. It is not unheard of with T's. (Consider it the beginning of puberty.) It can vary somewhat and such a pattern is pretty much the norm with the true spiders.

B. smithii females can easily hit the 25yr mark. With many of the long lived species no one is quite sure as to what the upper end of the lifespan may be in captivity. Simply put, the keeping of Ts is still a rather young hobby and there has been little research done on maximum life expectancy.

[jaleely]

Hey not fair! His clubs didn't change after the last molt, though i admit there could have been some more maturity going on.
I will be stubborn and say that i felt like we just provided such good care that though sheds are difficult after the clubs form, it can be possible : )

[AjaMichelle]

Your rosea is so pretty! I have one too! mine won't eat roaches, however, she has a preference for crickets.

[DragonsEye]

Originally Posted by jaleely

Hey not fair!

LOL

Originally Posted by jaleely

His clubs didn't change after the last molt, though i admit there could have been some more maturity going on.

No discernable change in the appearance of his 'gloves' would be unsurprising. With a male Steatoda grossa (false black widow) I had last year, for example, that was exactly what happened as well. And for them that is the normal chain of events with the males' 'gloves' developing the molt prior to the penultimate molt. You hit the "nail on the head" with the reference of more maturity going on internally between your male's getting his 'gloves' and his final molt. It is not unlike in humans in which, as children, females have ovaries and males have testes but further developmental is required before those organs are functional.

Most the time people (myself included) don't notice the gloves until the male's penultimate molt. With my former P. irminia, I didn't see the gloves before the last molt, but with that species they aren't as noticeable as with some of the others. (And those species which have a penchant for hiding are a REAL pain.)

Originally Posted by jaleely

I will be stubborn and say that i felt like we just provided such good care that though sheds are difficult after the clubs form, it can be possible

Once a male hits his penultimate, that is the end of molting. You do have me curious though, I need to check with some breeders I know and find out if the formation of the gloves one molt prior to the final molt is the norm for T's across the board or just in certain species.

Btw, Melissa, next time you have a definite male, you may want to hit a herp show and take him with you. You may be able to find a breeder who will take your male in exchange for one or more slings. (Not unlike the breeding loans folks do with their snakes on this forum -- exept you can't count on getting your male back.) I traded my mature male P. irminia in for a large sling of the same species last weekend at a show. Some breeders will only go for it if your male successfully breeds, but others will be willing to give you at least one sling as a replacement since males often get killed by the females (in the confines of the female's tank there is simply no place for him to run away and hide afterwards) or die from wearing themselves out. Overall I find it a nice way to get another T for free -- especially if it is a species you find particularly attractive.

[jaleely]

Dragon that's a good idea! didn't occur to us, but my husband wouldn't have given him up anyway. We get attached and don't do trades with anything. He just goes and buys more T's if he wants them lol
We did get another mexican red knee, hoping he was male, to put with our female and see how it goes. I have a feeling it's another female though!

And, i have a feeling you are probably correct as to the reason why a male would visibly show the boxing gloves, but be able to complete another molt. But, when we looked it up we did find information suggesting that there have been a few people who had males last past the glove formation, up to two molts after. There is a dramatic change in time, and there is a *very* long time between subsequent molts...and boy did he look terrible right before the last molt. We thought for sure he was going to pass on...but we came downstairs one day and nope! Had a molt! Still had his gloves on, and he was fiesty as ever.
He was a particular favorite of ours because he was defensive, and aggressive. Just a little fireball. Not little, either, as he did get pretty big for a skeleton knee, as well.
I will have to dig up some photos of him. I don't have many as he when that lid was off, he was looking for blood LOL
Right before he died he slowed down, and was docile. Looked awful, and skinny. We were like, dude, put yourself out of your misery lol but we were still sad to see him go.