T stirmi rip van winkle of molting

[JustSomeDude]

So about a month an a half ago my t stirmi crawled back into its burrow aka den and pulled some moss across the entrance and encased itself inside. I decided not to bother him and just let him do what he had to do although as time went on I began to notice that he wasn't taking. Meals. First thing that comes to mind is that big Bert a juvenile 6-7 inch destroyer of crickets has decided to hang up his be,t of being my most aggressive eater in the horde and decide now was the time to entomb himself for a nice fresh molt. See the thing is he molted around 5 months ago so that's what was raising some concern however he appeared healthy Andy I really wasn't too worried. I decided after a month and a half to finally just have a look and make sure everything was ok. I have been extra careful to make sure the humidity was high in his enclosure as always. So upon dropping of his from door to the den I noticed he was still moving around and still refusing a meal. I am going to continue to leave him be hope he molts ok if anyone has had any rip van winkle T stirmis, please share your story so I can rest a little easier! Thanks again everyone and merry Christmas!

 

[JustSomeDude]

Ps sorry for the typos !

 

[Avinlea]

Any updates on your rip van winkle?

 

[mistertim]

Man, my B. smithi molted recently and she was the freakin' Flash of molting. She had been in pre-molt for a while though. Last night I had randomly checked on her and she was just chilling out. Then about half an hour later I walked by again and there was her exuvium and she was all done.

 

[SpiderDad61]

Both my stirmi take forever to molt. I was told as these get larger, they are in pre molt longer and longer. My female is over 8" and in pre molt. She hasn't eaten in over a month and never leaves her hide. It's a long wait but not much can be done

 

[pyro fiend]

Both my stirmi take forever to molt. I was told as these get larger, they are in pre molt longer and longer. My female is over 8" and in pre molt. She hasn't eaten in over a month and never leaves her hide. It's a long wait but not much can be done

this is pretty much spot on as a T grows it may be in premolt for longer periods of time. with slings you may only notice a week or even a few days before, depending on the species and individual.but an adult may show signs a month before, or maybe days before, depends on the individual and/or species. iv had a gbb for example show blackening spots a month or 2 in advance, then within a week of molting more appeared and poof. 5.66" exo and didnt have a full black booty before on her back, also had a gbb pen male only go shiny 12hrs before his ultamate molt.. but then iv also had my 6"+ genic not show any signs till i found her by her exo.. she wasnt shiny, no fatter then normally, and ate days before [not unusual for this species but thats besides the point].. but iv also had a G. rosea who showed a big black shiny butt for MONTHS but her mate showed signs only weeks before his molt

 

[Poec54]

Both my stirmi take forever to molt. I was told as these get larger, they are in pre molt longer and longer. My female is over 8" and in pre molt. She hasn't eaten in over a month and never leaves her hide. It's a long wait but not much can be done

Big spiders are going to take longer to do some things.

Loss of appetite can also be influenced by cooler winter temps, shorter winter days, etc or them just having a full abdomen. Many beginners assume they're spider's in premolt and start the meter running, when the spider may not be premolt at all.

 

[Travis K]

I have noticed that Ts will do this too me on occasion if I feed them too much. It's like their calorie bank gets filled up and they just say "No" to feedings till they molt out. I had a B. smithi that was notorious for this.

 

[Toff202]

I have noticed that Ts will do this too me on occasion if I feed them too much. It's like their calorie bank gets filled up and they just say "No" to feedings till they molt out. I had a B. smithi that was notorious for this.

My B. smithi might be doing this too, (s)he has been refusing food for 2 or 3 months. Spoiled little brat

 

[Poec54]

I have noticed that Ts will do this too me on occasion if I feed them too much. It's like their calorie bank gets filled up and they just say "No" to feedings till they molt out. I had a B. smithi that was notorious for this.

They can get fast quickly with enough food, but it takes time for all the internal developments required for molting, which is where I think some beginners get confused.

 

[Ran]

I have several adult Theraphosa and they can take from 5-6 months to go through the whole molting process. This is one of the reasons they are such prolific eaters since they do need a large amount of fat/water storage to make it through this process successfully.

 

[beaker41]

My big stirmi female finally molted after months of refusing food and digging her burrow larger and larger. Now the waiting till she comes out for a photo shoot !