More pics of Charlotte (Mexican red knee)

Pixie · 03-17-03, 11:49 AM

Finally loaded some new pics of her!

Here are a couple of her coming out of her burrow

Hope you like

Pixie

nouserpif · 03-17-03, 01:25 PM

I like! I like!

marisa · 03-17-03, 01:59 PM

I love it!!!!! Pixie those are great pics!

In the second picture is that a thin layer of webbing? One of my T's does that while the other makes webs higher up.

Marisa

Matt · 03-17-03, 03:07 PM

very nice pixie!

OttawaChris · 03-17-03, 05:41 PM

I looked too quick and for a second I thought the spider was cut in half lol

I looked again and realized it was a burrow

Kyle Walkinshaw · 03-17-03, 11:50 PM

Awsome, very nice pics Pixie! Im getting a Mexican Red Knee hopefully in a few weeks. I was offered it for 125$ and it is very small. Do you think that is reasonable?

Pixie · 03-18-03, 12:13 AM

How big is the tarantula they are selling for 125$?

If under 2" I wouldn't go for it, I'd keep looking around. Tarantulas that young usually can't be sexed yet and aren't worth the +100$ price tag. If you end up with a male, you'll only have him till he's 4 or 5 years old.

If 2" or over then I would think it's fairly reasonable. I strongly recommend finding sub-adult females for their longetivity and fuller look. You can usually visually sex them when they are about 2 1/2" to 3", the major signs being:

Pedipalps: two front leg-like appendages used mainly to aid in eating. In females, they stay slim and look just like the end of their other legs. In males, the tips are swollen almost like the end of a Q-Tip and I believe that the claws are slightly longer but that would be really hard to see!

Abdomen: The females have rounder plumper abdomens whereas the males have slimmer more elongated shaped abdomens.

When shopping around for a tarantula and you are looking for a female, keep an eye out for these two main characteristics to help chose. I've been offered many males tagged as females, had I not known what to look for I would have been mislead into bying a male instead of a female and of course paying the bigger price tag.

Since you can pretty much only find CB Mexican red knees on the market (because they are protected from being removed from the wild), the price tag for a sub-adult female can vary anywhere from 150$ to 200$, I've seen full adult females at 200$+. You can take you chances with the sex on a younger tarantula of the species and you should find lower prices, definitively under 100$. I've seen b. smithi spiderlings sizes varying from 1/2" to 2" for around 30-50$.

Good luck,
Pixie

OttawaChris · 03-18-03, 05:41 PM

125 for a red knee is probably about as good as you will get for a price on a single specimen.

Specimens that are secually immature can hardly be told apart purely by looking at them. The traits that Pixie mentioned are pretty much only present when they are mature adults.

The most accurate way to sex a tarantula is to examine a molted exoskeleton for traces of the sex organs. There are 2 sites that I can think of from the top of my head that have good ways to accurately sex a subadult tarantula...

http://birdspiders.com/faq_sex.html

http://www.goldenphoenixexotica.com/sexing.html

I think the ATS also has a section for it too.

Kyle Walkinshaw · 03-18-03, 10:10 PM

Thanks for the info, I was actaully just informed earlier today about the females and males thing and how males live much shorter lives...but I wanted to get a very small one because we have one at my work that is a full grown female and I am kind of nervous around her because I have no experience with them AT ALL and its size kind of freaked me out thinking about what if it bit me? that's why I wanted to raise a baby so I would feel more comfortable around it and also the one for 120$ was about the size of a loonie or so maybe slightly bigger and thats what I want but I also called up some friends who said they could get me one for 50-60$ and my other buddy is going to give me a wholesalers price for tomorrow... Thx again

Ritus_Reptile · 03-18-03, 10:40 PM

kyle how come you have a red knee at work?

Pixie · 03-18-03, 10:51 PM

What's wrong with having a tarantula in the work place?

Only hard part would be finding secretaries that would accept to work in the same office, lol!!!

Pixie

Kyle Walkinshaw · 03-19-03, 11:17 AM

No I am 17, I work in a pet store

sparkon16 · 03-19-03, 12:14 PM

They are for sure the cadillacs of the turantula world!!!!

Deuce

paolo_28 · 03-20-03, 01:12 AM

Hey Kyle> Do you think you can maybe grab another Mexican Red Knee for that price. I just got my first T (Rose Hair) a couple days ago and after watching him/her eat, I just felt like getting another one but with more vibrant colours. I live near you so delivery/pick up wouldn't be a problem.

PM me if you can/can't. Thanks Paolo.