B Vagan having trouble molting. Seems to be stuck.

[ChiiAlice]

My tarantula has been molting for a little over 24 hours maybe. I found her yesterday stuck on her back and unable to flip over but I left her there and tried to raise the humidity before I left. My boyfriend checked on her a few hours later and said she was acting really listless and unresponsive. He raised the humidity as best he could (my misting bottle broke a few days before and we werent able to get one until this morning. She'd managed to flip herself upright by the time I got off work but the exoskeleton was still stuck to one of her legs and the side of her abdomen and carapace. She'd crawled out of her hide this morning and fell back onto her side again. I've misted the tank and am keeping it at 75% humidity but she doesnt seem to be trying to molt anymore or moving very much. She is curled up in the corner of the tank at an odd angle and is having trouble getting around.. Im really worried she's not going to make it Is there anything I can do?

 

[spiderengineer]

a pic would help. is the underside of the abdomen out at least that is were their lungs are located? some T get part of their molt stuck on them and usually it will eventually come off. you can try using I believe glycerin and a paintbrush and gently remove it. other wise I am not sure if their is any you can do. the reason she flip over again might be because she is to try to get the molt off her carapace. molting takes alot out of them so she might be listless to save energy and try not to exert herself

 

[ChiiAlice]

I wasnt sure how to add the picture to the quick reply so I added it to the main post. Hope it helps. The old molt is not attached to the underside of her abdoman anymore

 

[spiderengineer]

well first no more misty I know you were raising the humidity, but they like it dry so this will just annoy her more. so let it dry out. she appears fine and since she just molted she will be tired and not as responsive until she hardens up more. since its not attached to her underside of the abdomen then I wouldn't worry to much. if you want you can cut whats not on her if she is not to skittish. be aware that is if attached to her leg she may drop that leg, but that is nothing to worry about really. so I would just be patient and I am sure she will come out of this fine.

 

[Stan Schultz]

My tarantula has been molting for a little over 24 hours maybe. I found her yesterday stuck on her back and unable to flip over but I left her there and tried to raise the humidity before I left. My boyfriend checked on her a few hours later and said she was acting really listless and unresponsive. He raised the humidity as best he could (my misting bottle broke a few days before and we werent able to get one until this morning. She'd managed to flip herself upright by the time I got off work but the exoskeleton was still stuck to one of her legs and the side of her abdomen and carapace. She'd crawled out of her hide this morning and fell back onto her side again. I've misted the tank and am keeping it at 75% humidity but she doesnt seem to be trying to molt anymore or moving very much. She is curled up in the corner of the tank at an odd angle and is having trouble getting around.. Im really worried she's not going to make it Is there anything I can do? ...

Leave her A-LONE. Throw a dark cloth (e.g., dark colored bath towel) over the cage. Any attempt to help her at this point may very likely kill her because the new exoskeleton is still extremely fragile.

Make sure she has ready access to water. Since she can't climb very well if at all, you should give her water in a shallow jar lid or cover rather than a taller bowl. This means you'll have to refill it every day or two.

Wait a week or ten days.

If she has a lot of trouble moving around you may have to place her front end in the water every 2 or 3 days.

Then, remove the cloth cover and extremely carefully so you don't injure her, get her out of the cage so you can work easily on her. Use a pair of "pinking shears" or other small scissors to carefully cut away as much of the old exoskeleton as safely as possible. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL THAT YOU NEITHER CUT HER NOR STAB HER WITH THE SCISSORS!

Your goal is NOT to remove the entire old exoskeleton, but rather to merely remove as much as convenient to loosen her up a bit so she can move around more easily. While you're doing this, look carefully at her fangs to make sure they are not damaged. If they are, get back to us ON THIS SAME THREAD.

In about a month, in the evening before you turn the lights out, assuming the fangs are okay, you can kill a cricket and place it in front of her as close as you can get it without spooking her. You don't necessarily have to gut the cricket, although that wouldn't hurt. Leave her alone for at least 24 hours. Maybe even 48 hours. If she doesn't eat, get back to us ON THIS SAME THREAD.

It is very possible that if only one leg is still stuck, she'll amputate it by herself. Don't panic. This is a good thing. But, if she doesn't, it's probably okay too. After a full month has passed, and if you already know how to amputate a tarantula's leg, you can try it on her. If you've no prior experience or training, I'd not try it.

Tarantulas that experience injuries or severe molting problems often molt a second time only a few months later. So, don't be too surprised if it happens. Presumably in an accelerated attempt to heal any damage. There is little you can do to hurry it along, but if it happens, it's a good thing.

Lastly, maintaining a markedly higher humidity or misting will only promote a breeding frenzy of mites in her cage. It'll have virtually no effect whatsoever on her molting or getting out of the old skin at this point. If she begins to look dehydrated over time (e.g., her abdomen starts to shrivel a little) get her into an ICU for 3 or 4 days, and get back to us ON THIS SAME THREAD.

Speaking of mites, what are are all those little white specks on the tarantula in your photo?

As long as she drinks and has an occasional cricket to munch on, the prognosis is very good for your little 8-legged buddy. But, she does need your care. Best of luck.

 

[DaveSB]

Speaking of mites, what are are all those little white specks on the tarantula in your photo?

Seems to be an excess of water droplets caused by over-misting to try and raise humidity.

 

[ChiiAlice]

Ugh. Everything I've read looking online said to raise the humidity and from what I've read in the past I was under the impression that B vagans need 65-75 humidity. It gets to about 40 when left alone pretty quickly and I thought that the problem might be that she was too dry when she started to molt and it was stuck to her. She's never had this difficult of a time shedding in the past. The white is droplets of water, she hadn't come out of her hide even for water in a very long time and I thought that might be a factor in the issue so I brought the humidity to 70 and misted her a bit as well to try and hydrate her a bit. She didn't seem to have a negative reaction to the misting and she's not skittish with me at all. I had to leave for work this evening and my bf apparently came by and misted her more as well. I havnt seen mites at all. Should I use the heat lamp to dry it off, it seems to evaporate the moisture fairly quickly. I feel dumb now meh..

Should I put her front end in the water now or after a week?

 

[poisoned]

Uh, you need to read other resources. Forget about care sheets forever.

First, order yourself a copy of Tarantula Keeper's Guide. This book can be eye opening. One of co-authors also replied in this topic. And I don't doubt you'll get a newbie greeting from him soon (nothing to be afraid of).

Next, read this: http://people.ucalgary.ca/~schultz/Humidity.html

After you're done, read the rest of this website.

 

[spiderengineer]

they like it dry so you don't have to worry about the humidty any more. do not use a heat lamp to dry it out that will cause more problems. also leave her alone right now let her rest and harden up she already has been through an ordeal. so right now you want to limit the stress.

 

[Stan Schultz]

Ugh. Everything I've read looking online said to raise the humidity and from what I've read in the past I was under the impression that B vagans need 65-75 humidity. ...

Read Stan's Rant. Pay particular attention to the part about not believing everything you read on the Internet.

Humidity and its interaction with tarantulas is one of the most misunderstood aspects of arachnoculture. No small reason for that is that it's taught wrongly in schools, and most TV weather forecasters don't even have a clue about how it works. And, when you consider that virtually everybody on the planet absolutely, implicitly, trusts their favorite, local, TV weather forecaster or their high school science teacher, it's no mystery why almost everybody gets it wrong. Read Humidity... for more information.

... It gets to about 40 when left alone pretty quickly and I thought that the problem might be that she was too dry when she started to molt and it was stuck to her. ...

Read Humidity and Molting.

... She's never had this difficult of a time shedding in the past. ...

If the whole exoskeleton/molting system weren't pretty near perfect, every arthropod on the planet would have become extinct eons ago. So, it's no mystery why yours has never had such a problem in the past. Very, very few captive tarantulas experience molting difficulties. It just seems to be common because of the fuss we raise when one of our valued and valuable pets has a crisis. It's a variation of the "CNN Effect." The intense "media coverage" seems to enhance and distort the true nature and scope of the event.

Tarantulas seem to experience most of their molting problems either as babies and spiderlings, or as very old adults. The young ones (I presume) are prone to molting problems as a result of not-very-well-fine-tuned growth and development issues. They're like babies with colic, kids who wet the bed, and teenagers who trip over their own feet. They'll outgrow their developmental, organizational, coordination issues eventually. If they survive.

Old tarantulas probably have trouble molting because they're slow and weak, and have difficulty getting out of the old exoskeleton before the new one hardens and traps them inside the old one.

There is an intermediate situation where a tarantula may experience some injury (e.g., falling, crushing a limb under a lid) on one of its appendages during intermolt. Either scar tissue or a scab forms, effectively gluing the spider in its old exoskeleton. This situation is rare, however, and is normally overcome by autotomizing the offending appendage. Regeneration will occur over the next two or three molts, except in adult males because they normally no longer molt after experiencing their ultimate molt.

... The white is droplets of water, ...

Ah! Sorry. I should have been able to figure that out for myself. It was getting late and I was getting tired.

... Should I use the heat lamp to dry it off, it seems to evaporate the moisture fairly quickly. ...

No, no, no! No extra heat! Follow the instructions in my original post above. Period. End of statement!

... I feel dumb now meh ...

Not at all! You can speak, read, and write English, one of the more difficult languages on the planet, use a computer, and may even have a "smart" phone. (I don't! I refuse to own a phone that's smarter than I am! ) You may be inexperienced, but we can fix that.

... Should I put her front end in the water now or after a week?

After a week, and only if she obviously has trouble moving to the water dish on her own. FOR THE NEXT WEEK, DO NOT TOUCH HER! COVER THE CAGE TO REDUCE DISTURBANCES AND GO AWAY. Check on her every day or two by merely peeking into the cage. If there's a turn for the worse, GET BACK TO US ON THIS SAME THREAD.


Don't panic! You're doing a good job. Now you just need to exercise some patience, and your little 8-legged invalid needs time, peace, and quiet to recover.

 

[rob0t]

Leave her A-LONE.

90% of the time this is the best advice you can get when it comes to tarantulas.

 

[Jesse607]

90% of the time this is the best advice you can get when it comes to tarantulas.

I second (or third) that!

No misting molting (or any) T's!!!!!! And don't worry so much about humidity in general like others have said.

Not to seem controversial but I can't believe people still mist!

 

[ChiiAlice]

Okay! So she's doing great She's been walking circles around her tank for a while now. She seems to be doing fine, however the old molt is still stuck to her by one leg. I am wondering if it's time to bring out the sheers and if its been long enough for me to try and pick her up now. I put the towel over the tank, stopped misting and removed the heat lamp entirely (she still has the heat pad under her and I have my space heater set to 72-75 all day in my room. Any additional advise anyone might have would be great! Thanks for all your help

Also... it seems her spinnerets came off during the molting

 

[spiderengineer]

unplug the heat mat you can cut the molt off just be careful and wait while longer if you want to hold her

 

[Stan Schultz]

Okay! So she's doing great She's been walking circles around her tank for a while now. She seems to be doing fine, however the old molt is still stuck to her by one leg. I am wondering if it's time to bring out the sheers and if its been long enough for me to try and pick her up now. I put the towel over the tank, stopped misting and removed the heat lamp entirely (she still has the heat pad under her and I have my space heater set to 72-75 all day in my room. Any additional advise anyone might have would be great! Thanks for all your help ...

PATIENCE, MY CHILD! PATIENCE!

DO NOT GET INTO A BIG RUSH! There's nothing to be gained by getting hysterical. As long as it's doing fine, leave it alone. Give it a chance to recover. It may remove most of the old exoskeleton without your interference.

As with most things about tarantulas, the obvious issues are the least important. We don't care about the old exoskeleton. It looks critical, but it's almost irrelevant. Is the tarantula drinking? Can you tell? That's the critical part.

Also... it seems her spinnerets came off during the molting

Again, you're being thrown a red herring. They're the obvious issue, and that's your first clue that they're probably irrelevant! She'll grow a new set back the next time she molts. Not an issue!

Learn to expect and look for the subtle, non-obvious things!


Enjoy your little 8-legged Yoda!

 

[ChiiAlice]

She finally got out of the molt a couple days ago and she did amputate the leg in the process. I'm just checking to makes sure wether I should feed her soon or wait. Shes moving around less then she was when the molt was stuck to her. I'm going to go ahead and put her front end in the water like you said, should I keep the towel over the enclosure still or start using the heat pad or light?

 

[spiderengineer]

no hear lamp or pad is necessary. you can try feeding her if she does not eat after a bit then take it out and wait a few more days to try again

 

[ChiiAlice]

Some kind of injury?



I checked her fangs, they are both in perfect condition and a deep ebony, her spinnerets didnt actually fall off but it seems she has some sort of abrasion or injury on her upper abdomen. I took a pretty clear picture so you all could see it and maybe give me a little feed back on that as well. I am going to put the towel back over her and wait a little while to feed her I think.

 

[ChiiAlice]

no hear lamp or pad is necessary. you can try feeding her if she does not eat after a bit then take it out and wait a few more days to try again

I did try to feed her just a few minutes ago, I didnt kill the cricket but I ripped off all its legs and she didnt seem very interested in it...

 

[spiderengineer]

as long as she eats and acts normally then you shouldn't worry. ideally when she molts again her leg and the abrasion will be gone.

---------- Post added 03-21-2013 at 11:21 PM ----------

I did try to feed her just a few minutes ago, I didnt kill the cricket but I ripped off all its legs and she didnt seem very interested in it...

then try again a few days later some times take a T will take few weeks up to a month after molting to start eating again. keep in mine she just got rid of leg so she needs to recover that.

---------- Post added 03-21-2013 at 11:25 PM ----------

also if the towel is for humidty stop using it they like it dry so it just high humidity will just annoy her more.