P. regalis question

Saark

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So, I got a P. regalis that was about 1.5in back in August of last year. It is now somewhere in the neighborhood of 5in. When younger it was more of a dark gray and white but for some time now it has been more like shades of tan. Anyway, I was wondering, how long does it typically take for males to mature? I ask because last night I kept hearing this kind of rapid ticking noise that kept repeating at sporadic intervals and I finally caught the regalis drumming its pedipalps on that styrofoam rock background (Exo terra tank). Also, to my untrained eye, I'd say the palp tips look fat. I know males will do this to entice females to come out and "play" but I have no other P. regalis, just a P. rufilata of about the same size in the next tank. Any ideas as to what's going on here?
Thanks for any suggestions,
 

BobGrill

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What's going on is a mature male looking for a mate.

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REvan342

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Your male regalis is mature and fancies your p rufilata....


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Saark

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I was kind of afraid of that, as I was hoping it was female. Thanks :)
 

Saark

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Who can blame him? The rufialta is gorgeous! But would it be sending any signals yet? I got it in October of last year at about 1.5in and now it's pushing 5in too.
 

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awiec

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It depends on a lot of things but my male P.vitatta matured in about 18 months on a once a week feeding schedule with cool temps, a male maturing within a year is not out of the question. The emboli are quite notice able on them, if it looks like the palps are red and puffy, than you do have a male; once you know what you're looking for they just stand out to you.
 

viper69

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Got my rufilata december last year and it's only 2'' at the moment...
That's a really odd difference between the two. Wonder what you and the other poster are doing differently aside from ambient temps. Be curious to know the husbandry from each of you
 

MrsHaas

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Who can blame him? The rufialta is gorgeous! But would it be sending any signals yet? I got it in October of last year at about 1.5in and now it's pushing 5in too.
Def a babe!!!
I'm jelly, my P. rufilata turned out to be a boy :-(
 

Poec54

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Def a babe!!!
I'm jelly, my P. rufilata turned out to be a boy :-(

Which is why it's not a good idea to get one sling of a species. If you want a female, you should get a minimum of 3 at a time.
 

BobGrill

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To be fair, pokies are expensive tarantulas, so that's not always easy to do with them.

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Angel Minkov

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Around here, they're pretty cheap, excluding P. metallica (which is actually 25 bucks for a sling and maybe HL subfusca/hanuma, and even they are around 15 bucks I think).

My rufilata was even among the heated tarantulas last winter, with 25-26C constantly and I stopped heating them when it was around 24+C in the room after april till september. Now until I start heating them again, they're at around 22C. She's always very plump, yet grows super slow...
 

awiec

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To be fair, pokies are expensive tarantulas, so that's not always easy to do with them.

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I usually pick up one to see if I even like the species, if I feel I have to have more in my life, then I'll pick up more. All of my males I just trade away so I end up with more spiders than I began with. Though when my bf picked up a P.metallica there was no way we were getting 3-5, and as you said most of the genus is still over $40 each, though P.regalis is cheap enough to get a group of them.

Around here, they're pretty cheap, excluding P. metallica (which is actually 25 bucks for a sling and maybe HL subfusca/hanuma, and even they are around 15 bucks I think).

My rufilata was even among the heated tarantulas last winter, with 25-26C constantly and I stopped heating them when it was around 24+C in the room after april till september. Now until I start heating them again, they're at around 22C. She's always very plump, yet grows super slow...
You do know that rufilata is from a cooler region right? I kept mine cool and it has blown past 2 inches a while ago with another molt on the way. I think yours would be happier if it was kept more around 22 C
 

Poec54

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To be fair, pokies are expensive tarantulas, so that's not always easy to do with them.

At $20-$30 for most, they're no longer expensive. What do you save by caging and feeding a lone male to maturity?
 

awiec

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At $20-$30 for most, they're no longer expensive. What do you save by caging and feeding a lone male to maturity?
I don't think I've ever operated "at a loss" from just raising a male, the past 3 males I've had I've traded for a total of 20 spiders of species I'm more interested in. I recently had a male mature that I will do a legitimate breeding loan as I liked the species a lot. I would have 120 spiders if I bought 3 of everything and I just don't have the room/time for that. Though I started a T.gigas project a few months ago as I'm raising 5 little ones for my (highly suspect) juvenile female as it's one of my favorite species. Yes I know you'll reply by saying you've expanded your collection by 10x with a small budget but everyone has their own limits they have to keep to. Plus I also knew what I was getting into by just buying one, it could die or I could *gasp* end up with a male but I'm okay with that. I have a few breeding projects in the pipeline and more juvenile males to trade off when they are ready to keep my collection self sustaining which really is the same goal you have, I just go about it at a slower pace.
 

BobGrill

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At $20-$30 for most, they're no longer expensive. What do you save by caging and feeding a lone male to maturity?
I see them sold for as much as $40-$50 for some species such as subfusca (highland). To answer your question, I wouldn't know since I've never done it before.

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Chris LXXIX

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To be fair, pokies are expensive tarantulas, so that's not always easy to do with them.

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Think that i refused four AF Poecilotheria (striata, ornata, regalis, tigrinawesseli) for 200 Euro (i'm not into arboreals much, plus no more space now, sadly).
IMO that was a good price (more or less.. 224 USA $ ? ) here those aren't so priced, except metallica.
 

Poec54

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I would have 120 spiders if I bought 3 of everything and I just don't have the room/time for that.

It's very simple, you don't keep all of them. You raise them until you can sex them, which is often at 2". You keep a female and sell/trade the others (everyone wants females, breeders want males). Since they're bigger than when you got them as slings, the difference in value usually means you end up getting the one you kept for free. Not a bad deal. Everyone's got room for a few deli cups. You can build a collection at no net cost by doing this. If you breed, you can build a large collection at no cost, cover the expense of cages and feeders, and additionally feeders become infinitely cheaper (buying crickets by the 1,000, instead of from local pet stores). You can make this hobby pay for itself and get new species for free, or you can do what most people do, and just sink money into it.
 
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