ID this Theraphosa please

[Padraig Sea]

Howdy all - I bought this spider as a specific Theraphosa species, but I suspect it's another. Rather than influence you with what 'she' was sold as or my suspicions, I'd like to hear what people's first guesses are.

It's roughly 4-5 inches in leg span and was sold to me as female. She's settling in her enclosure now with water, and I plan to offer food tomorrow or Thursday. Apologies for the sub par photos - I can get better ones with my wife's phone later if needed.

Thank you!

 

[Nicolas C]

She looks Theraphosa blondi to me. T stirmi have no hairs on the patellae (this is a photo of my stirmi):

But her abdomen is very small (is she wild caught?). Feed her as soon as possible with big and juicy preys! She needs to fatten a little bit...

Anyway congrats. True blondi are rare.


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[Padraig Sea]

That was my thought as well; there are a few setae on her patella, as well as on the undersides of her femurs. Once she gets out of her shipping container and onto the ground in her terrarium I'll try and get better pics. One of things I'm trying to look at is the width vs. length of the carapace, and the width of the last pair of femurs at the joint with the patella.

She's a recent WC... definitely in rough shape. Gonna let her chill overnight and as long as she looks acclimated and hydrated I'll give her some dubia to chow on.

 

[Nicolas C]

Excellent. Don't forget to give her enough moisture in the substrate, specially if she's a WC. Not always easy to acclimate for them.


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[Phil]

That was my thought as well; there are a few setae on her patella, as well as on the undersides of her femurs. Once she gets out of her shipping container and onto the ground in her terrarium I'll try and get better pics. One of things I'm trying to look at is the width vs. length of the carapace, and the width of the last pair of femurs at the joint with the patella.

She's a recent WC... definitely in rough shape. Gonna let her chill overnight and as long as she looks acclimated and hydrated I'll give her some dubia to chow on.

Fingers crossed for T. blondi. They are very rare especially WC. So I hope that is what you requested. I agree with @Nicolas C on first glance. I have 5 blondi slings which are much much easier to identify against other Theraphosa sp. when slings.....lol

 

[Padraig Sea]

Absolutely... 4" thick bed of moist bedding and vermiculite for her

 

[Padraig Sea]

Fingers crossed for T. blondi. They are very rare especially WC. So I hope that is what you requested. I agree with @Nicolas C on first glance. I have 5 blondi slings which are much much easier to identify against other Theraphosa sp. when slings.....lol

She was actually sold as apophysis... I'd be just as happy with blondi though.

 

[Phil]

Fingers crossed for T. blondi. They are very rare especially WC. So I hope that is what you requested. I agree with @Nicolas C on first glance. I have 5 blondi slings which are much much easier to identify against other Theraphosa sp. when slings.....lol

My stirmi male (will also try and get one of my female too for you)

 

[Phil]

She was actually sold as apophysis... I'd be just as happy with blondi though.

REALLY? there are some decent links and pictures on line to try and x-ref. Will try to dig that out for you too. Has she taken food yet?

 

[Phil]

She was actually sold as apophysis... I'd be just as happy with blondi though.

Shameless cut and paste.....
All three species grow to very large sizes of up to and sometimes over eleven inches in leg span. All three also come from North Eastern South America, locations including Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam & French Guyana. Before the recent classification of Theraphosa stirmi many hobbyists believed that there were only two species of Theraphosa within the hobby. Although many other’s actually believed otherwise.

For quite some time the species now known as Theraphosa stirmi was often confused with the species Theraphosa blondi. The main reason for this confusion in a nutshell, the two species, unless you know what you’re looking for they look nearly identical (especially at adult size). To many people and hobbyists this doesn’t matter a great deal, both are nearly identical and also both make wonderful additions to a collection. Although if you’re looking to purchase a Theraphosa you may find that Theraphosa blondi hold a slightly higher price tag than that of the Theraphosa apophysis & Theraphosa stirmi due to availability.

Also its worth mentioning if you are considering breeding Theraphosa, you should always make sure that you pair the correct species with one another. Otherwise you may find that if an egg sac is produced, the eggs within it will not make it to spiderling stage. The main reason for this thread is to hopefully show a few of you ways of telling the different species apart from each other.

Identification at spiderling to juvenile stages is by far the easiest way to tell all three species of Theraphosa apart from one another, as each of the three have a different metatarsus and tarsus colour combinations.

• Theraphosa apophysis have a light pink to white hue on all eight metatarsi, tarsi & on the tips of the pedipalps.
• Theraphosa blondi don’t have any light pink to white hue on any metatarsi, tarsi or pedipalps.
• Theraphosa blondi don’t have any light pink to white hue on any metatarsi, tarsi or pedipalps

The visual identifications of the three at sub-adult to adult stages can be a lot trickier, although certainly not impossible. Theraphosa stirmi as adults lack setae on their patella’s (knee’s) whereas the Theraphosa blondi can be identified via having the presence of setae on the patella’s. Just to make things a little more confusing Theraphosa apophysis look very much like Theraphosa blondi at adult stage, both have the setae present on the patella’s although Theraphosa apophysis have much longer metatarsi & tarsi compared to that of the Theraphosa blondi, also its worth mentioning that Theraphosa blondi have much thicker and stockier femur’s.

The "tricky " part is in juveniles Theraphosa blondi and "stirmi" .At those stages they both appear"fuzzy" and they lack light tarsi and metatarsi.

T. apophysis:
Much more "hair" covering the legs especially the underside
Generally a pinkish/reddish hue.
Mature males with tibial apophyses
Dark spot on the opisthosoma
tibia uniform width
tibia of variable lengths
carapace more elongate
slings with pink tarsi

T. blondi
Less "hair" than T. apophysis
Lacks the Reddish hairs seen on the other two Theraphosa sp.
Distal portion of the tibial wider
males lack tibial apophyses
round carapace
slings with brown tarsi
setae on patella

T. sp. "Stirmi (The more common goliath in the pet trade also sold as T. blondi, T. apophysis, and T. sp. "burgundy")
Thickened femurs like T. blondi
black spot like T. apophysis
ultimate males lack tibial spurs
reddish hairs on fresh molts
carapace is round
slings with pink tarsi
no setae on patella

 

[Padraig Sea]

No food offered yet... just got her and she's still sitting in her shipping container inside her terrarium. Unless she's in very rough shape she's almost certainly not apophysis (I need to get a better look at the femurs), but given how sparse the setae are I can't really make a firm call either way. She does have light setae on the underside of the femurs, but I've seen many pics of stirmi with similar hair. I've been looking at pictures and comparisons quite a bit, so once I get a better look at her hopefully I'll be able to make a better call.

Edit: Yup, I saw that post... on AB, right?

At any rate I've had apophysis and blondi, most recently in 2008ish; I actually had an apophysis in the 90's when they were rare as hens teeth. I think the hardest part about this individual is how rough she is, and my hesitance to disturb her. We'll see!

 

[Phil]

And the pics from the feature

 

[Phil]

No food offered yet... just got her and she's still sitting in her shipping container inside her terrarium. Unless she's in very rough shape she's almost certainly not apophysis (I need to get a better look at the femurs), but given how sparse the setae are I can't really make a firm call either way. She does have light setae on the underside of the femurs, but I've seen many pics of stirmi with similar hair. I've been looking at pictures and comparisons quite a bit, so once I get a better look at her hopefully I'll be able to make a better call.

Edit: Yup, I saw that post... on AB, right?

At any rate I've had apophysis and blondi, most recently in 2008ish; I actually had an apophysis in the 90's when they were rare as hens teeth. I think the hardest part about this individual is how rough she is, and my hesitance to disturb her. We'll see!

I am not in AB but came across it through Google when was researching mine and also confirming order of BLONDI slings.

 

[Phil]

My female stirmi (not best of pics unfortunately)

 

[Padraig Sea]

I've been thinking about getting a couple blondi slings as well!

Here's a great resource for anyone else looking: http://www.theraphosidae.be/en/theraphosa-blondi/

The biggest challenge for me is the variability in color for all three species depending on where they're at in the molt cycle, and just how beat up this gal is in general. Definitely appreciate the feedback from everyone, though.

 

[Phil]

I've been thinking about getting a couple blondi slings as well!

Here's a great resource for anyone else looking: http://www.theraphosidae.be/en/theraphosa-blondi/

The biggest challenge for me is the variability in color for all three species depending on where they're at in the molt cycle, and just how beat up this gal is in general. Definitely appreciate the feedback from everyone, though.

I hope one day my blondi get to look half as nice as the one on the link.....lol
Where are you btw? UK, Europe or US (or somewhere else)

 

[Padraig Sea]

I hope one day my blondi get to look half as nice as the one on the link.....lol
Where are you btw? UK, Europe or US (or somewhere else)

The three days after a molt are definitely any Theraphosa's best looking, lol. Even if they're never disturbed they manage to lose that hair.

I'm in the US - NH/Northeast to be specific.

 

[Phil]

The three days after a molt are definitely any Theraphosa's best looking, lol. Even if they're never disturbed they manage to lose that hair.

I'm in the US - NH/Northeast to be specific.

Ha ha....that's true. My male looked awesome the day of that photo now he looks like a billiard ball and didn't even go near the tank.....I am in the UK so hello from over the pond. To get what you did you must be in with Donald Trump.....lol

 

[terror_corpz]

Howdy all - I bought this spider as a specific Theraphosa species, but I suspect it's another. Rather than influence you with what 'she' was sold as or my suspicions, I'd like to hear what people's first guesses are.



It's roughly 4-5 inches in leg span and was sold to me as female. She's settling in her enclosure now with water, and I plan to offer food tomorrow or Thursday. Apologies for the sub par photos - I can get better ones with my wife's phone later if needed.

Thank you!

looks like she's growing out of the pink feet as they are fading on all legs which tells me apophysis might be the camera though

 

[MassExodus]

My guess is apophysis. I think she was labeled correctly. Beautiful , either way.