Private breeder feeder & pet exotic roaches. Residing in sunny S. Ca. This blog is all about my collection of various critters, past & present. You'll find care sheets, tutorials and various information on my former reptiles & current inverts.
In the week, I had four tarantulas molt. I was able to sex two of them female via there Spermathecae from there exoskeleton. The four tarantulas range in size from 2″ – 4″+, all juveniles. Species include the following:
Well the bad news is my Brachypelma smithi (Mexican Red Knee) molted out to a “male”. The good news is, I still have 11 more chances to get females. As you will see in the video, I had fed him a day before. When I checked this morning, he had flipped. Now normally I could of left the B. lateralis roach in there with him, without incident. You can’t take that chance with crickets. A cricket would attempt to eat your tarantula. So good practice, regardless of prey, is to remove them if not eaten within a 24 hour period.
Brachypelma smithi pulling out of exoskeleton!
It’s very important at all times to keep a water dish for juveniles and adults and mist one side if a sling. I put a fresh water dish in with him after he had molted. A couple of hours later he went and drank from the water dish. Even if you don’t see your tarantula drink, they do from time to time. The greatest thing about tarantulas, is they don’t need much space to survive and grow. The freshly male B. smithi that just molted could probably live in that 16 oz deli cup for another molt (2-3 months) before I need to rehouse him.
Brachypelma smithi finished molting!
I have a total of 13 B. smithi, 5 at the size of the present molt and 8 other slings about ½” or the size of your thumbnail. In the video above, you will see a comparison of the two sizes. The 5 B. smithi, about 2″, were purchased back in January 09. They were born in June 08. They have molted for me 2-3 times now since I purchased them. They were about ¾” when I got them. So they have grown about an 1¼”-1½”.
Brachypelma smithi post molt!
I recently read that a male B. smithi could take up to 15 years before maturing. Even though there are many hobbyists breeding this species, they haven’t been in the hobby for that long. B. smithi are still one of the most saught after species in the tarantula hobby, due to there generally docile attitude and coloration. They make a great first addition to any tarantula collector. I owned my first adult B. smithi 30 years ago. I rember paying just $20 back then, which I thought was allot. Now you could spend that on a sling (½”-1″). I have seen adult females upwords of $250-$400.
Brachypelma smithi post molt!
I like to start out small and watch them grow. The down side to that for me is, I may need to include some of my slower growers in my will, cause they could easily out live me. If your looking to “invest” your time and maybe some money, a B. smithi is a good start to any tarantula collection. Remember these are the species you see in most of the movies over the last 25 years.
DISCLAIMER: Information contained herein represents various resources and my own personal experience with this particular species. Valid comments on/about/experience are all welcome. There are still allot unknown about certain species, so if you feel this article needs correcting/clarification, please comment below and I will make adjustments where necessary. Spam, hate, offensive, etc… will be ignored/deleted. Thanks for reading, Greg Hagedorn.
Coming up later today, footage and pics of one of my many Brachypelma smithi (Mexican Red Knee) molting. I hope to sex it out as well. It is just finishing the molt now and should be flipping anytime soon. It was a good 2″ before it started. I’ll get a new size in awhile. Update will follow later today after I get pics and video footage uploaded.
Valid comments on/about/experience are all welcome. Spam, hate, offensive, etc… will be ignored/deleted. Thanks for reading, Greg Hagedorn.
My Nhandu chromatus “White striped birdeater” or “Brazilian Red and White” as they are commonly called recently molted. I haven’t been able to sex it yet by the molt, cause it destroys the molt before I can get to it. This specimen is now a good 4″ legspan. These get pretty good size and are stunning to look at. I have had this one in my collection for about a month. Very good eater. Feeds on B. lateralis roaches, 2-3 at a time 1-2 times a week.
Grammostola rosea pre-molt
5" Grammostola rosea female
This is my 5″+ female Grammostola rosea (Chilean Rose Hair) that recently molted. I have had her since February 09. She is very docile and easy to handle. In the photo on the left she is in pre-molt. Notice her coloration is dull compared to photo on right. In the other photo her colors are more vibrant and fresh looking. She is eating 3 B. lateralis roaches at once, she was hungry after molting. I always find it fasinating to watch Tarantulas catch there prey. Most times there quick and aggressive, where as other times they’ll gingerly except it.
I have a smaller, younger G. rosea that also just molted recently. “He” was sexed as male when I recovered the molt. This good, cause when he matures, I can attemp a breeding with my female shown above. He is currently only about 3½”.
Brachypelma smithi
This is 1 of 5 Brachypelma smithi (Mexican Red Knee) I have at this size, about 2″ that recenly molted. I have a total of 14 (1 escapee still running loose). 9 are no bigger than my thumbnail. This is one of my favorite species of Tarantulas and also the very first species I owned about 30 years ago. The little baby in the photo is a year old as of June 09 and has molted 2 times in about 6 months. This species along with the Grammostola sp. are probably the slowest growers in the world, taking up to 7 years to mature.
