New T.blondi worries.

[wayne balcombe]

well unfortunately i missed the moult. i checked at about midnight and spider was still on its back but hadn't started yet, i left it about an hour and checked again and it was all over, the spider was still on its back but the exuvium was laying next to it so i called it a night and went to bed.

When i got up this morning the spider was out if its hide and having a good old stretch which gave me an oppertunity to carefully extract the moult so some good news here.......................its 100% FEMALE.

As you can see from the pictures i posted of her when i first got her she was the typical rusty colour and is now a dark chocolate brown so it seems my experiment has confirmed Peters theory.

She is about 9inch L/S now so she's probably not fully mature unless she is a small specimine.

[Eleanor]

Good news for you on the sexing!

I'd say she is mature that size, but her leg span will creep up with successive moults. Once they are mature - by which I mean capable of breeding - they do continue to grow each year, but slowly. My female produced eggs at a 20 cm leg span. She's had a couple of moults since then and the leg span of the last shed skin was 23 cm, so yours is a good size.

[wayne balcombe]

Ive heard that some spiders mature sexually before they are fully grown but i've always been a little cautious when considering breeding as i've heard there can be some complications and less than successful eggsacs.

I was only just able to accurately sex the spider as she decided the chew on the exuvium but luckily left the spermathecae in tact. I'm totally confident sexing from moults and have been able to sex some that are only 2-3 inches but ventrally sexing i'm not to sure on, sometimes i get it right and sometimes not, its a bit hit and miss.

[wayne balcombe]

Just thought i'd upload a few pics of this mornings discovery.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Wayne, good news for you with the moult, at last a female , judging by the pics, I'd say she's not matured yet.

Regarding the colour change with substrate conditions, as I've said before, we keep ours on dry substrate, with spraying and a small damp patch, and all our Blondis go to into premoult with the brown rusty colour, and come out almost black, and then as they near their next moult they gradually turn to the rusty brown, prior to moult. I personally don't see that the moisture level has any bearing at all, but that's only my opinion.

[wayne balcombe]

Hi Wayne, good news for you with the moult, at last a female , judging by the pics, I'd say she's not matured yet.

Yeah Its deffo about time lol I reserved myself to the fact it would probably be male so nice surprise really.

I'll keep an eye on this one linda and see how the colour changes as it approaches its next moult, obviously to accurately test the theory Peter suggested it would have to done on a larger scale and over a longer period of time, but its an interesting idea all the same.

[Peter Lacey]

Good result Wayne. I think I'll check up to see if that suggests mature female because mine is about the same size and I was considering breeding her with a prospective male. My opinion is that once they've matured out of their 6" stage they often jump to 8" which is mature enough to breed but the spermatheca might suggest imature.

I've read that the colour changes from rust to chocolate after a moult and then the cycle repeats. However to test my theory out, that rust colouration is more prevalent in T. blondi kept on more moist substrate, I'll have to up the moisture level and see the results of the next moult.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Wayne, we've tried the experiment for 18 months now with 2 mature females, wet, and our others dry, apart from spraying, and have not found any significant difference, apart from the lack of problems associated with large amounts of wet substrate, mould & mites etc., but it's always worth trying it yourself. Most of our Theraphosas predominantly stay above ground, and seem happy.

p.s. still waiting for my big Burgundy to moult, it's been forever, so probably a male.

[wayne balcombe]

Hi linda,
how long has your burgundy been in premoult now?

I've sold one of my burgundy's it was a subadult male, he's gone to someone that has an adult female burgundy so hopefully we'll get some new stock into the hobby, fresh blood etc.

My other male burgundy is still in premoult and has been for about 2 months, he's stripped almost all the hair off of his abdomen now and incorporated it in to the webbing around and inside his hide (this tells me he will moult very soon as i take this to be a form of defence to keep snuffling predetors away during a delicate time) his abdomen looks quite glossy where his hair is gone and almost pitch black. not long to wait i think.

Thanks Pete, The spermathecae on the old skin is not completely sclerotised so it wasn't sexually mature before but may well be now.

I remember when i first got into the hobby about 13-14 yeas ago my uncle had an adult female T.blondi that was the typical lighter rust colour and stayed that way for the many successive moults she had in his care, the only difference was that back then Vermiculite was all the rage and she was kept solely on that dampened slightly with very regular misting to keep the humidity at about 85%. Immidiately after each moult she appeared to be just a slightly darker rust coloured but soon returned to the typical colouring. I have know idea how old she was as he purchased her as an adult, this may also have some baring........... could it be that the rust colour becomes more apparent the older they get??

[Peter Lacey]

actually, if my theory is wrong (it probably is), then the rust colour is more prevalent in younger specimens than older. Thats what Ive seen from larger specimens but of course there's the question of moisture.

[wayne balcombe]

I actually dont have any experience with older specimines bar studying my uncle's which as i said age was unknown except that it was and adult when he got it and had it for about 5-6 years untill it passed on naturally which potentially could indicate the age may have been near the 20 year point.

My experience is limited to several juvenile and subadult specimines and a few mature males, all have been the darker coulour with the exception of my recently moulted male burgundy which was a rusty colour and still showed very faintly the white on the tarsi and metatarsi of the front 2 pairs of legs befor the moult. After the moult (still sub adult) he was a chocolate brown and the white segments had gone. The one that is in pre-moult now has always been almost black with the faint lighter coloured segments on the legs.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Wayne, my Burgundy has been in premoult (from the exact date it stopped eating, and it had a ravenous appetite) it's been 16 weeks, which I've never had one go that length, that's come out a female and at this point, it is now very dark, almost black, and it's still a sturdy looking T. I'll see if I can find any pics of Blondis in pre & post moult etc.,

[wayne balcombe]

16 weeks?? it really is taking its time lol.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Managed to come up with the sequence. first pic is before the moult, 2nd pic is after the moult, and then 3rd pic is 7-8 months later, kept dry, spraying twice/week and a small wet patch. This is the same female T. Blondi in the 3 pics.