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B. smithi molt
Hey guys, I'm back. Haven't visited this forum in a while.
Well, my B. smithi Cora molted yesterday. The molt took around eight hours and I was anxious the whole time. She casted off her old skin and now has a fresh, beautiful new one. I'll try to upload some images, but unfortunately it seems my internet connection has gone haywire and I cannot access some servers - particularly on imageshack or photobucket - to upload any images from my digital camera. Everything in the molt went brilliantly except for one problem - I think she is a he!
There are no visible tibia hooks or club-like pedipalps (at least not from my angle of view), but close inspection of the exuvium reveals a shocking truth - I see no visible spermathacae between the upper booklungs. All I see is a fold with a small white dot in between the upper booklungs along the fold that looks nothing like the spermathacae of the female B. smithi shown on Arachnoboards. On the other side of the epigastric furrow on the exuvium, which would otherwise been on the underbelly of the spider, I do see a sort of opening between the booklungs but it's not really lip shaped supposedly like that of females, it just runs along the furrow and it has a small dot in the centre. Once the connection to the servers of photobucket have been reestablished, I will upload some images of the epigastric furrow - both inside and outside the exuvium and then head over to the sexing forums of Arachnoboards and see if they can shed any light on the matter. If it is confirmed to be a male, then although I have grown attached to this spider, I have decided that the most rational thing to do would to sell it and buy another spider or trade it for a female. The spider has grown to be somewhere between four or five inches - I don't know for sure - but I know if it is a male, then he must be approaching his ultimate moult within a few years or less, and before he dies he will be probably too firsky to make a good pet anyway.
I have had the spider for over eighteen months now, and had it ever since it had a legspan of just three inches. I bought it at that size as a female for £60. It was the first spider I owned in this hobby, and I wanted a female B. smithi because they make good long-lived pets. After eighteen months of thinking it was a female I don't know what to do, though like I said, selling it or trading it will probably be the most rational thing to do since I paid for - and expected - a female. The spider has molted in my care before, but the exuvium was ruined and too distorted to draw any conclusion from it.
Well, my B. smithi Cora molted yesterday. The molt took around eight hours and I was anxious the whole time. She casted off her old skin and now has a fresh, beautiful new one. I'll try to upload some images, but unfortunately it seems my internet connection has gone haywire and I cannot access some servers - particularly on imageshack or photobucket - to upload any images from my digital camera. Everything in the molt went brilliantly except for one problem - I think she is a he!
There are no visible tibia hooks or club-like pedipalps (at least not from my angle of view), but close inspection of the exuvium reveals a shocking truth - I see no visible spermathacae between the upper booklungs. All I see is a fold with a small white dot in between the upper booklungs along the fold that looks nothing like the spermathacae of the female B. smithi shown on Arachnoboards. On the other side of the epigastric furrow on the exuvium, which would otherwise been on the underbelly of the spider, I do see a sort of opening between the booklungs but it's not really lip shaped supposedly like that of females, it just runs along the furrow and it has a small dot in the centre. Once the connection to the servers of photobucket have been reestablished, I will upload some images of the epigastric furrow - both inside and outside the exuvium and then head over to the sexing forums of Arachnoboards and see if they can shed any light on the matter. If it is confirmed to be a male, then although I have grown attached to this spider, I have decided that the most rational thing to do would to sell it and buy another spider or trade it for a female. The spider has grown to be somewhere between four or five inches - I don't know for sure - but I know if it is a male, then he must be approaching his ultimate moult within a few years or less, and before he dies he will be probably too firsky to make a good pet anyway.
I have had the spider for over eighteen months now, and had it ever since it had a legspan of just three inches. I bought it at that size as a female for £60. It was the first spider I owned in this hobby, and I wanted a female B. smithi because they make good long-lived pets. After eighteen months of thinking it was a female I don't know what to do, though like I said, selling it or trading it will probably be the most rational thing to do since I paid for - and expected - a female. The spider has molted in my care before, but the exuvium was ruined and too distorted to draw any conclusion from it.
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