Size (really it's that small?)

Graeboe

Arachnoknight
Joined
Oct 28, 2014
Messages
164
Lol has anyone else ever looked at their tarantula and wondered when it was gonna grow to full size, and then pulled out the ruler and gone "wow, that's really 5" inches already?"
 

Psingletongolf

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 24, 2014
Messages
40
Lol has anyone else ever looked at their tarantula and wondered when it was gonna grow to full size, and then pulled out the ruler and gone "wow, that's really 5" inches already?"
The comments I could make LMAO. However when it come to ts definatly
 
Last edited by a moderator:

vespers

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 18, 2012
Messages
712
Yes, a tarantula's true size is often "smaller-looking" than one imagines it to be. Some hobbyists have an annoying tendency to exaggerate the size of their spiders as it is. A 10 inch T. Stirmi becomes a foot, an 8 inch L. parahybana becomes 10 inches, a 7 inch OW arboreal becomes 9 inches, etc., etc.
 

-=}GA']['OR{=-

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 1, 2004
Messages
172
Yes, a tarantula's true size is often "smaller-looking" than one imagines it to be. Some hobbyists have an annoying tendency to exaggerate the size of their spiders as it is. A 10 inch T. Stirmi becomes a foot, an 8 inch L. parahybana becomes 10 inches, a 7 inch OW arboreal becomes 9 inches, etc., etc.
Yeah, like those who claim to have 10" X. immanis and P. ornata, I have yet to see either even close to that size. HaHa!
 

Misty Day

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 9, 2013
Messages
437
-=}GA']['OR{=-;2349277 said:
Yeah, like those who claim to have 10" X. immanis and P. ornata, I have yet to see either even close to that size. HaHa!
Or as Chainsaw Reptil claims he has, an 8 inch E.Murinus...
 

awiec

Arachnoprince
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
1,325
I had a pamph that I thought was about 2.5 inches and then after measuring the molt I noted it was 3 inches, I was pleasantly surprised as depending on what T you have they tend to hold themselves in a way not conducive for measuring. Though I could tell a layperson that my C.darlingi is 6 inches and they'd believe me even though she is just a solid 4 inches spread out. Trying to imagine a 4 inch spider and then seeing is in person are two different things.
 

PanzoN88

Arachnodemon
Joined
Sep 15, 2014
Messages
713
When i got my slings, i was wondering when they were going to grow after their first molt under my care, one of those albopilosum slings always seems to impress after each molt (1 inch i would say it is right now) it of course may not seem like a big change, but it is a fat one that eats like a pit bull does after a walk in the park.
 

Quazgar

Arachnoknight
Joined
May 11, 2011
Messages
257
Lol has anyone else ever looked at their tarantula and wondered when it was gonna grow to full size, and then pulled out the ruler and gone "wow, that's really 5" inches already?"
I can't be the only one that jumped to a "That's what she said" joke when I read this :)

The problem with sizing T's in my opinion is that everybody does it a little bit differently. DLS is fairly standard, but is that fully stretched out? In a "normal" position (and what is "normal" anyway)? How much contraction of the legs are you allowing/accounting for?
 

pyro fiend

Arachnoprince
Joined
Dec 29, 2013
Messages
1,216
Hahaha well i kinda wonder when we they grow up always...however the overguestimating is a reality in the hobby..tho i typically am 1/2-1/4 small on my gueatimates as i typically measure based off of last molt. If it was last 2" i usually just say 2" buy if i was to guess id go at 2.25 max of 2.5 with the big growers (like lasis) never 3 tho like some do lol...but almost every single T iv got was well over estimated.. like my "1.5-2in a.avic" (below) i bought when i first started and was as small as a penny which is 3/4" (a hair shy of 2cm for our metric friends and was supposed to be up to 5cm)



But only one from my first order has grown up to adulthood, or well juviehood . And its a boehmei at 3.5 area.. its frustrating how slow Ts grow.. ppl make Ts seem like they are huge and grow like weeds..tho iv had my lasis prob over 8mon and went from 1/8-4" which i suppose is quick as heck when you think about it but when you spectate the hobby and everyone says grows like wildfire and make it seem like your T will hit 7" by 12 months and 12" by 18 lol..and also hearing how terestrials are built like tanks and arboreals are built like ninjas (pretty sure thats from another forum) and the only bulk you see on a T is the fat abd in premolt xD

Dont get me wrong i love my Ts id never trade them.. but.. i now kniw take everything with a brim of salt, not a grain of aalt u need an entire rim on your glass xD
 

RussoTuristo

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Messages
11
On a side note, I just love it when a T molts and you don't think it's grown much while it's all bunched up and recovering, and then it stretches and you go "Whoa!" :D
 

Tarantula Fangs

Arachnosquire
Joined
Sep 23, 2014
Messages
98
Hooray for my dwarf species! Remember it's not the size of the Tarantula that matters, it's how potent the venom is, lmao. :laugh:
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Angel Minkov

Arachnobaron
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Messages
595
Robc had a 10" P. ornata. He even had it filmed after its death next to his hand for comparison.
 

Formerphobe

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 27, 2011
Messages
2,336
I usually use the dls span of the last molt to gauge the size on mine. Unless you can get a photo of the outstretched live T next to a measuring tape or a standard sized item, it's all estimation. Most of the tarantula's I've purchased from reputable keepers were all underestimated in size. :)
 

pyro fiend

Arachnoprince
Joined
Dec 29, 2013
Messages
1,216
I usually use the dls span of the last molt to gauge the size on mine. Unless you can get a photo of the outstretched live T next to a measuring tape or a standard sized item, it's all estimation. Most of the tarantula's I've purchased from reputable keepers were all underestimated in size. :)
+1 when i read its a certain size when ordering a fem i ask what they based that off of.. both with snakes and inverts as well unless you put it by something we ALL have in or household.[and i do mean all which narrows it down to like a dollar bill and that only works in its origens as im sure US, CA ane EU all have dif sizes] its guestimating..

i seen a couple adds show a poec streatched out and they put up their hand.. im sorry this doesnt help me at all.. i myself wear a 4X glove.. my buddy, a fellow keeper, has 5X gloves with longer fingers.. some people say between your last knuckle and 2nd is always 1" are mistaken his is at least 2" so if he puts his by a 5" female it looks like a 3" juvie..then there is my coworker has teeny "baby hands" and can hardly hold a 32oz drink with one hand put that by a 10" LP and see what you thinks probably a 14" T... also seen a golf ball pop up for size comparison.. another we all know kinda what a golf ball is size wise but for those of us who dont golf and dont want to go buy a gulfball to judge your animals size its like "uh its bigger then a quarter, and smaller then a half dollar so its like maybe-perhaps this big" rather annoying..
 

Drache

Arachnosquire
Joined
Sep 23, 2014
Messages
53
This is something I have been wondering about quite a bit - the fact that I don't think one can reliably measure leg span on a live untrained T and that thus it must all be eyeballing and guesstimating. I wonder whether the field started out with dead specimens and maintained measuring habits after people started keeping live ones. Come to think of it - in order to reliably measure anything on a T, one would have to at the very least get them near something that measures.
There used to be some site that had a "snake measurer" app (which I can't find right now), where one could photograph the snake next to something of a known measurement and it would calculate the actual length of the snake as long as it wasn't just wound up like a pile. Aren't there any geeks on this site that could make something like that for Ts?
Is there a sort of general ratio of body size to leg span, or does it just vary too wildly for any generalizations? It would seem to me that body size would be just slightly easier to measure or even guesstimate.
 

Tim Benzedrine

Prankster Possum
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 4, 2004
Messages
1,496
Here you go.

http://serpwidgets.com/main/measure

I see no reason that it would work for tarantulas. It measures the number of pixels and converts them to ruler lengths, I believe. I use it for that sometimes, but I don't know how accurate it is. I figure it can't be any less accurate than my bumbling around, though.

Something I like to do just for my own satisfaction is take a picture of the spiders near the vials in which they arrived. It can really give you some perspectivee, if not an accurate estimate of true size. It will be a hoot when the spiders reach adult hood and remembering that they were once able to fit in a small vial. It would be something like comparing past baby clothes to your sixteen-year old kid. :D

I also like to keep the moults and take pictures of their advancement, that's a frequent activity for keepers, I think. Again, not vry indicative of size, it's just fun.
 

cold blood

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,223
Robc had a 10" P. ornata. He even had it filmed after its death next to his hand for comparison.

+1 gator


Seriously? To show the size he used his hand?? That's actually funny:laugh: Calling all gullible people....sounds like a fishy way to prove a measurement. :liar:

A ruler would be the obvious choice....why would you do any thing else to show the size? If I recall from things posted here, if that's the one that bit him, wasn't it 9" then? :?
 

Tim Benzedrine

Prankster Possum
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 4, 2004
Messages
1,496
The hand thing made me a little curious. So I did a diagonal measurement as my hand, pinkie to thumb, as close as I could get to diagonal without dislocating my thumb, anyway and I could get pretty close. Eight inches.

Of course, this proves nothing except that I have too much time on my (eight inch) hands. I suppose I could use it as a rough estimate of measurement but it would do little to show the size of a tarantula unless I stated " For comparison, here is my hand next to my tarantula. My hand is 8" thumb-to pinkie. In this next picture you can see my 8 inch hand being fanged by what is now conclusively proven to be a 5 inch OBT. The next picture is of my 10 inch hand after being fanged.
 
Top