MM brachypelma albopilosun

[Mark Shingleton]

hi guys,
a few month ago my albop moulted and is now a MM, he has made his web and is pacing like mad around the tank, trying to get out... but his opisthosoma? is that right, his bum i mean has gone bald... is this normall for a MM, i have been feeding and what not, some times he eats but more recently he has stoped.... i was going to see if any body with a female wanted to take him to mate but now not sure if hes well.... so my quetion, is a bald bum normal in an MM or im i doing something wrong? or is he ready to moult again and i have i missed the breeding window?
thanks guys

[Peter Roach]

A bald abdomen only means that he has kicked the hairs off, obviously he has been disturbed at sometime.

It it extremely unlikely that he would survive a moult as a MM as the 'hooks' will not be able to slide out of the old skin.
As far as the 'breeding window' is concerned, there is no such thing for males. Like any male of any species, all he wants to do is breed to the exclusion of anything else.
He will be ready and able to breed as long as he is mobile and his pedipaps are charged with sperm.

[Mark Shingleton]

yeah this is what i was thinking, that's why i got confused because i cant recall him flicking hair at me since his mature moult.... which is why i wandered if it was a male thing... only had one other mm and passed him on more or less straight away.... he must of got stressed over something to flick the hair.. i know he probably wont survive another moult which is why i wanted him to breed, had him since slinghood and would be nice to let him do what he wants... the baldness just worried me, but if another keeper with a female dose'nt see it as a problem then hes is still on the market.

[stuart longhorn]

Males can have a tendency to feed less that females/juveniles. If you're leaving potential prey items in with him, then he could be flicking at them to try to get rid of them, rather than eat. Yes, at Peter says, baldness per-se means nothing about mating ability - it can indicate age, but also that it's just flicked alot because it was disturbed. I will note that mature males can need to drink more though than females/juveniles, to help them keep active. Should be breedable for many months after maturing, i'd suggest after 8 months would likely start getting tired and weak, after about 10 months will start winding down.