bird eater question

[jon stewart]

hi all, quick question...

...how do i sex my goliath? s/he just moulted, about 4-5 inches across leg tip to tip.

cheers, jon

[Colin D Wilson]

Hi Jon

The most sure fire way of correctly sexing your spider is with the shed skin (exuvium). you will be looking on the inner side between the two booklungs nearest to the "main body" (where the legs stem from) for the spermatecae,
I have an image stored on this site which shows the spermatecae of a Grammostola (Click Here) yours will be a little different but will be in the same position.

There is a short piece on sexing by Mark R Hart (from Rick Wests website) here

http://www.birdspiders.com/faq_sex.php

and a further article on Mikhails site here

http://tarantulas.tropica.ru/en/sexing

If you can take a "close up" clear photo of the relevant area and post it on the forum there will be several members who will confirm the sex for you.

[Clinton Hogben]

Birdeater



Hi Mate
Attached is a piccy of the place sort of thing to look for
This is the shed skin of my Lasiodora Parahybana ( Brazilian Salmon Pink Birdeater) on the female you will find a small " pouch " inside the abdominal skin in front of the booklungs ( white blobs) this is basicaly the uterus that is shed at each moult

If you can get a good closeup picture after he / she moults next time post it here and you will get loads of advice

All the best