All dressed up but no place to go

[pavel]

Been 5 yrs or more since she last underwent ecdysis. While such long stretches are common for the long lived species, she has never gone so long between molts for me before. So I was wondering when she'd finally get around to it. Guess a lady just can't be rushed.

[Cjcorner]

How can you tell it's molting?? Gosh...spiders, cannot fathom why people like to raise these, but as they say everyone dances to their own tune. Give me a sweet cuddly puppy anytime. lol But I guess maybe these could be interesting...as long as one didn't get loose. lol I'd scream like I did today when I walked out back and two black racers went flying off the back porch only a few feet from me. lol I'm such a girl!

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Is this a shot before, during or after the molt? I know next to nothing about spiders but this one is pretty. I wouldn't want to see it outside of its inclosure though. haha...

cheers,
BD

[pavel]

This is after. Her coloration -- particularly on the cephalothorax -- had become rather dingy/dull over the years. Now, as visible in the picture above, the metallic pink is nice and vibrant again. (The pink color is not some aberration of you monitor or the camera -- it is how she appears. And had the picture been taken in sunlight, the metallic pink would have been even brighter.)

[Halloamey]

She is awesome, when you mean long-lived what are we typically looking at?

[nicki]

Ok I don't know what I was expecting by the thread title but seeing a big fuzzy spider was not it LOL!

[TwoStems]

Are the males blue?
She's pretty

[pavel]

She is awesome, when you mean long-lived what are we typically looking at?

With some of the truly long lived species such as this one, no one is quite sure. (Which goes to show how little we know about them.) But females such as this one can easily live 25 yrs or more. Males, as with all tarantulas, have a much shorter lifespan than the females. Males of this species (Grammostola rosea) typically die of old age at 4 or 5 years.

Are the males blue?
She's pretty

Nope. While mature males are often plain brown, they too may have the pink coloration.

[angela]

Is this your Pet. Sure makes a pretty picture. There is room for every created creature to live and share this planet with us. So, congratulations!! The invitation to your house for dinner, or a stroll through your orchid garden has been declined by me!!!!

[Abrielle107]

good grief, wasn't expecting a HUMONGOUS spider to pop up on my screen when I opened this thread! Good thing my husband isn't around, he'd have screamed and dove off the bed, effectively waking the children (the sissy) ...umm....so I'll just say, she's pretty??