Size difference between moults (and sexing)

[jason holland]

Ok, if youve read my other threads recently, ull know that my smithi has moulted again after only a month and a half. has really taken me by surprize, but (s)hes fine which is good.

anyway just thought id show you how much (s)he grew from his/her first moult, now ive got 2 skins to compare. the 1st on the left is how big (s)he was when i got her, and the one on the right, shows how big (s)he grew in 1 moult. i dont have a fresh pic of the new fresh colours.



ok and if anyone can help with sexing, originally i thought female from exo views, and 50/50 from inside views,

but now not too sure. any ideas? (i might just wait till shes a bit bigger) shes about 3.5 ish inches... well was.







the pics are taken with a phone, so sorry about the quality. its all i can do at short notice

[Tom Forman]

Hi jason,

that is alot of growth for 1 month. Nice 1.

I don't know much about sexing so don't take my advice on that but I do want to get better at it so I will take a guess and say it's female, then see if the experts agree

[jason holland]

lol i is a scary amouunt of growth in 1 month... there supposed to be slow growers! lol... i hope it is female, thats wot i originally thought...

[Traci Barker]

I don't how old you can sex T's from, but between the two top book lungs (white bits - just in case) there should be a half leaf like 'flappy' bit, called the spermathecae if s/he is female.
But I am sure somebody will come and tell you in more technical terms than me soon. Personaly I can not see one, but I could be wrong!!!!! But until somebody says either way I am going to say s/he is a he.

Still learning myself... just as a matter of interest, how old can you sex a T from?

Wow, what that is some growing s/he did!!!

[jason holland]

well from looking at the way his/her legs are, im reckoning actually might be a male myself now. started moving about venturing out last night, and id say it has very male leggy legs... looks like in a couple of years im gonna have to become a spider pimp

[Phil Rea]

Take a picture from the rear end of the spider's abdomen pointing towards the top booklungs. We may have a better idea then.

On this particular species, the spermathecae are fused, so look for an 'm' shaped flap (for want of a better description) between the top (anterior) booklungs. If she is immature, then the spermathecae may not be fully fused yet though. A better picture may help

[jason holland]

ok, well unfortunately, ill have to wait till the next moult, he or she is definately immature so i think it might help waiting till the next moult anyway, i should be able to use an slr camera then rather than my phone, so that should help me get some good pics.

[Traci Barker]

Look forward to see the new pictures when s/he molts again... I'll be interested to see if I was right or wrong

[jason holland]

ill post some pics of his/her actual body soon, so you can see what i mean about being "leggy" he/shes started moving abut now

[jason holland]

ok, his / her body.....
(dont forget hasnt had anything to eat yet since the moult)