Disturbing a T when molt occurs...

[pinkfoot]

I had never seen a real moulted exuvium before today, and promptly bought the Sling that had so honoured me! Brachypelma vagans according to the store.

Best efforts aside, the vial rolled over in my bag en route home, and when I placed it in a dark corner on my shelf, I noticed the sling was on its tarsi and no longer inverted.

1.Is this a problem?
2.Must I invert it again to complete the molt? (The exuvium seems complete to me)
3.When may I remove the exuvium, as I'd like to study it?

Cheers all!

 

[swade655]

no need to invert, just give it 2 or 3 days to harden up its shiny new body....... enjoy your new baby

 

[pinkfoot]

no need to invert, just give it 2 or 3 days to harden up its shiny new body....... enjoy your new baby

Great news, thanks!

When can I remove the exuvium without disturbing the sling?

 

[ErikH]

Good question. My two slings (a. geniculata and g. aureostriata) have both recently molted, but the exuvia (sp?) were left down in their burrows where I cannot access them. I only recently removed the exuvium from my g. aureostriata's previous molt when it did some housecleaning and left it in a corner. I would say if the molt is left somewhere in a corner of the enclosure it should be o.k. to retrieve it.

 

[Parahybana3590]

If it is easy to get to, I'd say just grab it w/ some tweasers or somethin', because the exuvium will dry out and will be brittle (meaning: very freakin' hard to study ). But congrats man !

 

[pinkfoot]

Good question. My two slings (a. geniculata and g. aureostriata) have both recently molted, but the exuvia (sp?) were left down in their burrows where I cannot access them. I only recently removed the exuvium from my g. aureostriata's previous molt when it did some housecleaning and left it in a corner. I would say if the molt is left somewhere in a corner of the enclosure it should be o.k. to retrieve it.

ErikH, the sling is still in it's deli cup, fresh from the pet store, so the exuvium is right next to the sling. If I can get this out without disturbing the T, is that fine, or do I wait a certain period?

BTW How do I preserve the exuvium?(It's my first, so humour me )

 

[Arlius]

(Not recommended)
I needed to sex my B. Smithi. She kept keeping her molts, and absolutely destroying them. So, I figured this time, Im gettin it....

About 2 hours after she finished, she was still upsidedown, resting. Reached in with 2 sticks (burrow at corner, tank is 8 inches tall, sub is 5 inches deep, so tweezers wern't long enough)
Soon as I touched the exuvia though, she instantly flipped right side, and wasn't to happy. After about 10 minutes or trying to get it out (it just wasn't cooperating!) and 10 minutes of the Smithi being frantic trying to decide if it should run from its burrow or curl up in the corner of its burrow.
Got the exuvia, and the Smithi has done fine since.

So, in conclusion, no, it shouldn't harm it to disturb it, you can get the molt pretty much whenever.

 

[bonesmama]

Some of them "hug" their exu's for a while after a molt- but as long as you can get it without disturbing the sling, take it out asap- sling exu's are really fragile and dry up very quickly.
Oh, yeah--congratulations!

 

[6StringSamurai]

Does anyone know why they stay close to their shed skin after a molt? Are there any theories about it?

Interesting behavior.

 

[Kali]

i think it is a species dependent behavior. some T's push it to the side immediatly, others bury, web over, and hide their molts. if i want the exuvium, i just go in and get it as delicatly as possible so as not to disturb the animal. then i leave the T alone for a few days. no problems so far!

 

[treeweta]

the very earliest i retrieve a moult is once the spider has flipped over to its belly. I have accidentally disturbed spiders on their backs after the moult aand they have flipped over as a result, they are usually ok but it seems that they expand the prosoma fully whilst on their backs and failing this could affect the final expansion. I use my fingers as tweezers could be fatal if the spider ran into them.

treeweta.