Guess How Old I Am! (G. rosea, answer known)

[cacoseraph]

how old would you say this is? that is my hand and my penny =P



i know the answer


p.s. a penny is .75" (2cm) in diameter.


zoom --> http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...a_how_oldb.jpg

[Christian Elowsky]

Can I guess a range?

[Anette]

I have 3 little ones that are the about the same size as yours - they are from an eggsac that hatched in December of 2006
They eat like pigs but grow soooooooooooooooooo slow.....

[cacoseraph]

you can guess a range of... 4 months


A is pretty close, though

she ~said... 2 years 6 months


edit:

whoops, i messed up. A pretty much got it.

so.....

WINNA!!!!!


it is from this eggsac ( http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/show...sea#post586384 ), which hatched in september, 2006. i think they are 2y 7-9m. this spider is one of two i have left from a group of 20 originally that i was only feeding every 2-4 months. basically when they get skinny enough i feed them again. i am hoping at least one of the two i have left (traded the rest when igot rid of like 99% of my collection) is a female and will live for 40+ years



you win a cacoseraph's blessings

[Christian Elowsky]

I know they can also hold at a given size pretty much indefinitely with each molt not resulting in growth, just regeneration of the exoskeleton. have you run across any peer reviewed articles demonstrating shrinkage with a molt?

40 years... I can see that, or very nearly that... not only that, but I agree that should I ever close up shop on the hobby, I'll probably always have a CB G. rosea around.

Christian

[cacoseraph]

not peer reviewed, just like, incidental mention and conjecture and what not. never really looked though. might be some interesting googling out there


unfortunately i am not keeping close enough track to see if they are shrinking at all... they could just be growing a tiny bit with each molt. one day i might try to get some kind of graduated paper and start keeping track of how big they are from time to time. could be pretty sweet.

[Christian Elowsky]

If there was a way to ensure focal distance and angle, you could photograph the carapace and do measurements there... Unless you wanted to try to measure the eyes or something from a molt.

I'll probably take a peek at the literature also.

Christian

[pennysmom]

You only feed every 2-4 months??? No wonder it's still so small. I feed mine weekly at this size, as long as they are willing to eat!

[cacoseraph]

Originally Posted by pennysmom

You only feed every 2-4 months??? No wonder it's still so small. I feed mine weekly at this size, as long as they are willing to eat!

yup

i feed them when their booty is pretty small. and i don't really even feed them all that much. usually just a small cricket. if the crickets are too big they only get half =P

i do water them like er, once every week or two... like 7-10 drops or so each time. their containers have relatively little ventilation so don't dry out that fast. i am hoping it also depresses their oxygen availability but i suspect the flow is high enough for that to not happen

if i could reliably keep them at like 65*F i would do that, too. as it is they have a seasonal variation from probably like 65*F coldest part of winter to ~85*F. they used to have even hotter summers and colder winters but i live in a house with other ppl and get let my room get all crazy anymore =P

[cacoseraph]

Originally Posted by Christian Elowsky

If there was a way to ensure focal distance and angle, you could photograph the carapace and do measurements there... Unless you wanted to try to measure the eyes or something from a molt.

I'll probably take a peek at the literature also.

Christian

i was just thinking... i realized i was operating off the assumption they had to hit a certain DLS to mature... but what if i could get a rosea to mature at 2"DLS!? banzai tarantula! heh, i think i am going to try to read up on such things now


here are the results of a feeding experiment i tried before
http://www.geocities.com/blight_chil...ts3nestor.html
too many deaths left me with not enough heads after a while :/
i actually had more molt data, too... but in the form of a bunch of yellow sticky notes... which i lost :/


get me to a laboratory!