Ginjerofer, the P. regalis, and the perilous molt

[cacoseraph]

my beloved Ginjerofer decided to molt in a very silly place. i noticed her up there yesterday when i showed some people my bugs. she was right side up then. after she had spent the last couple weeks drinking a lot of water. this morning i noticed she was upside down. i went down and ate breakfast and when i came back less than two hours later she was done molting! she hadn't even popped her carapace when i left! that is by far the fastest molt i have ever personally not seen, for such a big spider. =P


first noticed she was upside down and grabbed a quick pic
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/tarantula/sexing/poeci/Prega_GinnyJun07_01.jpg

it is hard to tell, but she is on the end of one of her hides. it is a gallon/4L jug on its side. the "ledge" it forms is inclined about 10-15* and Ginny is about 1" from the lower edge. the ledge commands an approximately 8-9" (20-23cm) drop. fall from that is sure death for a *just* molted or molting tarantula, almost no doubt.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/tarantula/sexing/poeci/Prega_GinnyJun07_02.jpg

so i made bumpers out of expended toilet paper rolls. heh.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/tarantula/sexing/poeci/Prega_GinnyJun07_03.jpg


and sure enough, she ended up piled against them after she started molting.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/tarantula/sexing/poeci/Prega_GinnyJun07_04.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/tarantula/sexing/poeci/Prega_GinnyJun07_05.jpg

here she is after i stole her exuvium. she i able to walk, but gimpily at this point. this is less than an hour after she climbed out of her skin
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/tarantula/sexing/poeci/Prega_GinnyJun07_06a.jpg
zoom (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/tarantula/sexing/poeci/Prega_GinnyJun07_06b.jpg)



since i had such a fresh and nice molt i decided to take some sexing pix, to build up my personal library, like.

normally i used to just spread the skin, as is standard operating procedure. this molt is so fresh it is completely poseable at this point.i have it spread nicely and it will dry in a nice shape now :)
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/tarantula/sexing/poeci/Prega_GinnyJun07_07.jpg

here is a picture taken using either 1 or 2 lenses on my triple lens 5x/lens magnifier. plastic lenses though :( the flash makes it very easy to sex, but this molt is from a 6"/15cm DLS mature female... who also was mated during this skin's intermolt period =P
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/tarantula/sexing/poeci/Prega_GinnyJun07_08a.jpg
zoom (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/tarantula/sexing/poeci/Prega_GinnyJun07_08b.jpg)
which brings me to a possibly somewhat noobish question... is their still sperm in this skin? it looks like it a bit in real life. it has a three dimensionality unlike anythign i have seen. i figure since this skin is one of the freshest large ones i have ever worked with AND this spider was mated in it AND i believe P. regalis can double clutch AND tarantulas are supposed to "molt out" of their sperm it sort of seemed to stand to reason to me that it could be.
super zoom (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/tarantula/sexing/poeci/Prega_GinnyJun07_08c.jpg)

now, the above normal light + camera flash pic was one of my 1 in 20 level shots that came out pretty nice. also, the spider is like, REALLY easy to sex. but for smaller specimens or less obvious cases what i have taken to doing is underlighting my molts. i didn't think of this myself, i read about it somewhere now sadly forgotten... but my clever little addition is this: i have tons of these clear blue plastic lids, as they go to a very easy to find favorite bug cage tupperware set. so i "mount" the molt onto one of those and get positioning down (the lids are so cheap you can easily superglue the feet and make a semipermanent display with it). then when i put the spider over whatever light (use compact flourescant bulbs for this kind of thing for dogs sake!) i can add more plastic lids to make the light less bright. this helps take pictures that 1) don't fry your camera and 2) look good enough so everyone can see clearly on the internets.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/tarantula/sexing/poeci/Prega_GinnyJun07_09a.jpg
zoom (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/tarantula/sexing/poeci/Prega_GinnyJun07_09b.jpg)
super zoom (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/cacoseraph/tarantula/sexing/poeci/Prega_GinnyJun07_09c.jpg)

[CedrikG]

Hi pal,

It is interesting to see how the spermathecae are, do you know if the genus Poecilotheria is the only genus to have this kind of spermathecae ?

[AlainL]

my beloved Ginjerofer decided to molt in a very silly place.


:? Maybe cause she can't move in that enclosure and have nowhere to go.
you should of leave the toilet paper on the roll she could of use it as a hamac.

[P. Novak]

Gorgeous girl caco and congrats on the successful molt! I might have missed it, but what size was she before the molt?

[froggyman]

that is one wild enclosure

[cacoseraph]

Hi pal,

It is interesting to see how the spermathecae are, do you know if the genus Poecilotheria is the only genus to have this kind of spermathecae ?

do you mean how they are very narrow, like?

i actually vaguely remember that there might be a sp or two in Poeci that don't have that style.

my ornata's spermethecae look very similar, though.

[cacoseraph]

:? Maybe cause she can't move in that enclosure and have nowhere to go.
you should of leave the toilet paper on the roll she could of use it as a hamac.

well, the problem is that as they get very close to molting they lose the ability to walk on the smooth vertical surfaces. she actually has a couple burrows in that cage which she has molted and made and eggsac in before, but for some reason she chose to molt up top.

Gorgeous girl caco and congrats on the successful molt! I might have missed it, but what size was she before the molt?
6"+ DLS. i hope she soundly breaks 7 now :)

that is one wild enclosure

heh thanks. she seems to have taken to it and will run back to her burrow if she is startled when she is out checking up on things. my P. ornata has a similar setup, but with the addition of a "skyswamp" heh.

[ronin]

Congrats on the molt caco. I hope to see that beautiful specimen in person one day.

[cacoseraph]

Congrats on the molt caco. I hope to see that beautiful specimen in person one day.

if you come to a hike that is based at my house then for sure. i will probably even take her out and play with her a little bit. she really is a well behaved spider :)