A noob question - A seemani molting

whovian89

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I just picked up an adult female A seemani at a local reptile expo yesterday, and today I found her like this - starting to molt? The vendor did not say anything about her pre-molt status and I am too much of a noob to recognize a pre-molt state. Did I hurt her when I rehoused her? I did not handle her except for picking her up and gently putting her in her cage as she was very reluctant to move.

It is my first T molt - I hope she is molting, and not dying - what do I need to keep in mind? What should I be careful about? How long is a normal molting time? What signs of possible bad molt should I look out for?

Any tips would be very much appreciated by this T noob. IMG_20170813_131616.jpg
 

boina

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This looks... weird. Very weird. It doesn't look like a normal molting position to me, but I wouldn't think it's impossible that she's molting. There's no molting mat but maybe she didn't have time to make one. Still... weird. Does she move her legs? The abdomen looks strange, too, like lumpy... desiccated.
@cold blood @KezyGLA any thoughts on this?

Btw is that red light from a heating lamp? If so, lose it immediately. A heating lamp is about the worst you can do to a tarantula looking possibly dehydrated.
 

cold blood

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Pics of the enclosure please.

It could me molting, it could have also fallen.

I will say that this species does prefer a little moisture in the sub.
 

miss moxie

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I've had tarantulas molt without laying down a web mat even though being in the same enclosure for a long time. My A. geniculata was always pulling that stunt.

It is plausible she is molting, considering some Ts even molt upright. Agreed take out the heat lamp if that is what it is. Maybe dribble some water onto the substrate near her but not -on- her. A bit of humidity can help a tarantula molt if that is what's happening.

Besides that all you can do is keep an eye on her.
 

whovian89

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Thank you all. The red light was from a nearby night lamp that I use for my ball python. I keep my Ts in a darker corner. Right now I don't want to move the container again so as not to bother her if she is actually molting. I am nervous that she may have been too stressed during her transport home yesterday. She was standing upright until last night. And another thing that worries me, besides the absence of a IMG_20170806_132032.jpg mat, is that she is practically motionless, only moves very slightly when I touched her legs.

This is a picture I took after I set up the enclosure before I brought her home.
 

Vanessa

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That is exactly how my girl looks when she is moulting. She also isn't one to make herself a moulting mat all the time either. When I have observed my tarantulas constructing their mat, it has taken them as little as an hour to do so. Some just don't bother. I have also found that this species doesn't show some of the more obvious signs of being in pre-moult as some other species do. I was caught off guard with my girl moulting. Please don't touch her anymore. They are motionless for the beginning stages of moulting and that can last hours depending upon their size. The 'action' only happens during the second half when they are pulling themselves out.
I keep a large water dish in my girl's enclosure and I also overflow it to about 1/3 of the enclosure. I do not catch her sitting on top of the damp area.
 

whovian89

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She appears to be in the middle of molting now. This is the best picture I could get without touching her enclosure. IMG_20170813_162626-01.jpg
 

SuleymanC

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It's molting successful so far :) are you going to sex the molt to be double sure?
 

Vanessa

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Looks good so far. She should be finished up shortly. She will stay on her back for some time - extending and contracting her legs. She will move her fangs up and down. All of that is completely normal. After she has completed that stage, she will flip herself over. After she has flipped over, you can try to remove the exuvia. It would be ideal if she has moved away from it somewhat before you try.
Just a word of caution with this species. Tarantulas can become extremely lethargic just prior to moulting. This is not a species where you would normally be able to scoop them up with your hand. After she hardens up, which can sometimes take up to two weeks based upon size, she could become extremely skittish. Some individuals are more tolerant than others, but this species is often not that tolerant overall.
Please provide her with fresh water, but do not feed her for some time. If she is a juvenile or sub-adult - I will leave it for about ten days. If she is an adult - I will leave it for two weeks. That is to ensure that their soft fangs have hardened up and will not be damaged by catching prey.
There are some great time-lapsed videos on YouTube of tarantulas moulting. I believe that some members have uploaded them here as well.
 

whovian89

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Looks good so far. She should be finished up shortly. She will stay on her back for some time - extending and contracting her legs. She will move her fangs up and down. All of that is completely normal. After she has completed that stage, she will flip herself over. After she has flipped over, you can try to remove the exuvia. It would be ideal if she has moved away from it somewhat before you try.
Just a word of caution with this species. Tarantulas can become extremely lethargic just prior to moulting. This is not a species where you would normally be able to scoop them up with your hand. After she hardens up, which can sometimes take up to two weeks based upon size, she could become extremely skittish. Some individuals are more tolerant than others, but this species is often not that tolerant overall.
Please provide her with fresh water, but do not feed her for some time. If she is a juvenile or sub-adult - I will leave it for about ten days. If she is an adult - I will leave it for two weeks. That is to ensure that their soft fangs have hardened up and will not be damaged by catching prey.
There are some great time-lapsed videos on YouTube of tarantulas moulting. I believe that some members have uploaded them here as well.
Thank you so much for the advice. I had read about not feeding a T for a couple of weeks after molting. I did not know about the soft fangs part. Yeah, I am aware of A seemani being skittish. I do not plan on handling her. I have a juvi G pulchripes which are supposed to be more handleable but I haven't handled her as well. I have had her for a few weeks only.
 

Vanessa

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I have a juvi G pulchripes which are supposed to be more handleable but I haven't handled her as well. I have had her for a few weeks only.
Grammostola pulchripes have a reputation of being very tolerant, but it is also an individual trait. I have a sub-adult female who I would not try to handle at all. Maybe that will change as she gets older, but maybe not. She is very nervous and skittish and I could see her easily becoming defensive.
You have to be aware of the individual as well as the species on a whole. While I am not 100% against handling them, and I have done so myself a couple of times, it is often problematic and could result in serious injury to the tarantula.
 

Vanessa

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I did not know about the soft fangs part.
They are white right after moulting, then become pink, then a burgundy colour, and finally back to being black. You shouldn't feed them until they are back to being black. At that point they have completely hardened up.
That takes a different amount of time depending on the size of the individual.
 

miss moxie

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Yes just be aware that a fall from even just a couple inches can kill your tarantula, and that any and every tarantula can and will bite. If you read through the G. porteri or G. pulchripes bite reports you will see plenty of stories that go along the lines of "I was holding my tarantula like usual and all of a sudden felt a pin prick and realized they were biting me."

You can hold that G. pulchripes 1000 times and on the 1001st time can be bitten. They're a very base animal with limited understanding of the going-ons around them. They can never feel attachment for you, or realize you love them. Euathlus sp. "red" is a very docile tarantula that will sometimes willingly climb onto your hand, but this is more about curiosity I believe than about wanting to spend time with you or be held by you.

If you want to bond with a small creature and hold them, gerbils are a better option. More interesting than hamsters in my opinion. My boys are always coming out to see what I'm doing when they hear me moving around or I open their door.
 

miss moxie

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I was told she's a proven female. Besides, how do I sex a molt?
You'll want to google that and read up on it, it's a bit hard to explain. It's good to see examples of photos. I might have a pic of a female but I don't think I have any of a male.



In the four red circles are the tarantula's book lungs. There is a small flap inside of the blue oval. That flap is the spermatheca, which confirms that this is a female. A lack of flap/spermatheca means you have a male. So if it is very smooth between the book lungs, it's a male. If you can get a picture of the molt with the abdomen skin open like in the above picture, post it and someone can help. Be careful, use tweezers to open up the abdomen as there are still urticating hairs present.
 

whovian89

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Continuing with my noob questions ... is it normal for her to be inactive for hours after the completion of molting? She's been in that position for around 3 hours now.

The molt was actually right next to her. I pulled it away when I took the picture and took it out of the enclosure.

And what could be that dark patch on the substrate right next to her abdomen? IMG_20170813_210757.jpg
 

Vanessa

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Continuing with my noob questions ... is it normal for her to be inactive for hours after the completion of molting? She's been in that position for around 3 hours now.
The molt was actually right next to her. I pulled it away when I took the picture and took it out of the enclosure.
And what could be that dark patch on the substrate right next to her abdomen?
She does look a bit awkward, but I have seen that before. She should start to stretch out in a little while. The fluid is probably a type of moulting fluid that is released to aid in moulting.
This is an extremely taxing process and she is probably exhausted. She just needs to rest up and recover a bit and then she should be acting fairly normal. Just give her a bit of time.
 

miss moxie

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Continuing with my noob questions ... is it normal for her to be inactive for hours after the completion of molting? She's been in that position for around 3 hours now.

The molt was actually right next to her. I pulled it away when I took the picture and took it out of the enclosure.

And what could be that dark patch on the substrate right next to her abdomen? View attachment 248908
Yes! Don't fret. Right now she is hardening up. She should begin to 'groom' and stretch herself. Imagine how much energy she just exerted working herself out of that too-tight old skin?

Here is a picture of my A. geniculata in the middle of her "stretching" after a molt.

 
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