maybe a breeder pair in 5years or so?

codykrr

Arachnoking
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ok well yesterday morning i went and picked up what seems to be a male B. smithi from gh0001356, thanks man! now i have a 100% confirmed female that is about 3.5 to 4 inches (4 is pushing it) the male i got yesterday is about 2.5 to 3 inches(3 inches pushingit) so what im wondering is in ohh...say 5 to 6 years do you think they may be a breeding pair? or do you think the male will either mature faster than her, or not catch up? i mainly worried he will mature faster because he is missing a leg, which in turn will cause him to molt more frequently. and possible mature faster? ahh so that brings the next question i had. if a male looses a leg at a young age, and molts more to regenerate the lost appendage, will that speed up maturation? or will it stay the same since its body is focusing on regenerating a limb rather than maturing?
 

codykrr

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anyone have any insite?....i searched and searched but nothing.
 

Autumnvicky

Arachnosquire
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Males age faster and die sooner than females, he'll be dead before 5 years go by.
 

redsaw

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How about power feeding to speed up maturity in the female?
 

cacoseraph

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you might be able to slow grow the male and power grow the female to let her get another couple molts before he matures


also, i think females are sexually mature before their "full" adult size. when she is a solid 4-4.5" i think she would almost certainly be able to breed
 

xhexdx

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Males age faster and die sooner than females, he'll be dead before 5 years go by.
Wow, really? Thanks for that amazing bit of useless information!

Yes, it is possible to slow the male down and speed the female up. I have a male and female auratum from the same clutch that I've been working with, the female is in premolt to put her two molts ahead of him.

What Caco said is accurate, too. Females are generally considered mature enough to breed at 60% of their full size, but I tend to wait till at least 75%.

As far as the missing leg is concerned, he might force a molt to grow it back, but I doubt it'. It's not life-threatening so he'll still probably take his time and regrow it through normal molts.

--Joe
 

arrowhd

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Hi Cody. The male you picked up the other day will probably mature in the next year or so. From your description, your female should be ready to breed at that time. Good luck.
 

codykrr

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hey keith did you see him? he is still quite small. and so is he. i will slow him down to make sure. but i was mainly concerned with him having a lost limb. ive neverpersonally had a t cast one off. but i always read they will molt quicker in order to regrow a limb, which i figure if he did would make him mature faster. as of right now the female has only molted once in a year. and apparently itsbeen over a year since the male molted. but no signs yet. ok so i measured and he is right at 2 3/4 inch(but very healthy looking) she is right at 3 3/4 inch(just molted) so about an inch or so diffrence. i do plan on slowing him down a bit, but as for power feeding my female A. i dont want to shorten her life span B. she is a very finicy eater and wouldnt do it to begin with. so im going to say at about 5 inch shewill mature? and what about him?
 

Endagr8

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Does anyone have any references for this "tarantulas force molts when they lose appendages" concept? I know cockroaches will delay molts to regenerate lost limbs and it seems understandable that tarantulas would also do so. Please show me your sources. :)
 

cacoseraph

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personally it doesn't make much sense to me, actually


they constantly grow replacements... the only thing molting does is free it up.


plus, it seems like molts would take longer when missing a leg. not only do they have to do everything they normally do for a molt... they also have to grow a whole new leg! (well, a whole new, but little leg at any rate)
 

Smitty78

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One point that has been completely ignored in this thread so far is temperature. Do you have a room, or a specific place that you keep your T's where it is warmer? If you do, take the male and keep him out of that room in a cooler place. That will help slow down his growth while you try to speed hers up. Even if he does mature first, you can always sell him or put him out on a 50/50 breeding loan. B. smithi males are very easy to find so it won't be the end of the world if he matures early.
 

Noexcuse4you

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I have a male B. smithi that goes 2.5 years between molts. He was ~5" last molt and I thought he was going to mature last molt, but he didn't. He'll be 8 years old in a couple molts so you'll be waiting a while!
 

xhexdx

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One point that has been completely ignored in this thread so far is temperature. Do you have a room, or a specific place that you keep your T's where it is warmer? If you do, take the male and keep him out of that room in a cooler place. That will help slow down his growth while you try to speed hers up. Even if he does mature first, you can always sell him or put him out on a 50/50 breeding loan. B. smithi males are very easy to find so it won't be the end of the world if he matures early.
Good point; I had forgotten about temperature.
 

codykrr

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yeah, i figured i would take him out of the room since i keep it a steady 78 degrees. but as far as sources for the moremolts due to lost limb thing, its mainly just from reads off of the boards here. again i have no experience with a lost appendage. thats hy i asked......i guessi will see how it plays out.
 
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