a genic molted with a cricket

rapunzel

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Late last night, my T was perched half in and half out of its burrow, looked like it was waiting for prey. I put a cricket in with it, and then this morning, I checked on it. What I saw was, the shed skin sitting there, and the new T on its side, legs still drawn together..and MR CRICKET crawling around the container...I can't type the words I said then, as I scrambled to get the lid off, and hoped like hell that the T would move its legs, and I wasnt too late to save it from being a cricket meal.
Well when I stuck my hand in there, the SHED, heh heh heh, ran at me. Phew!!!
I guess this T forgot to read the book, to learn that it is supposed to display PREMOLT behavior to let us owners know that it is going to do something like that. I didn't see any signs or I wouldnt have fed it last night.
 

Bry

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Glad you were able to avoid an ugly situation. Just one question:

Well when I stuck my hand in there, the SHED, heh heh heh, ran at me.
I'm just a newbie here. So, I'm not sure I understand....the shed, meaning the old exoskeleton, just hopped up on its own and RAN at you? :?

Bry
 

rapunzel

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trust me if I was speaking instead of typing my words,

you would have understood me better.
What I THOUGHT was the shed skin was really the freshly molted T. What I thought was my molted out T was really the skin.
Make better sense?
Sorry bout that.
Kim
 

Grael

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lol mine a Geniculata just molted too :p what size is yours?
 

rapunzel

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well it is still a little hard to tell, but

it was about two and a half inches...maybe closer to 3 inches. Now, though, it looks like it is 31/2, maybe. I will have to wait until it is hardened up to get a good guess.
 

Grael

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Re: well it is still a little hard to tell, but

Originally posted by rapunzel
it was about two and a half inches...maybe closer to 3 inches. Now, though, it looks like it is 31/2, maybe. I will have to wait until it is hardened up to get a good guess.
sounds about the same size as mine ^_^ gorgeous arnt they?
 

deifiler

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ahhh mines in pre-moult at 4.5" ;P

*waits for the guy with the 10 year old adult female to come along*

has anyone on here ever had a cricket destroy a freshly moulted spider?
 

Code Monkey

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The aggressiveness of crickets is greatly exaggerated. Sure, they sometimes do kill moulting/weakened Ts, but very often they'll just spend the whole moult avoiding that spider in the corner, completely oblivious that it's helpless and a potential meal.

Particularly with slings, where pre-moult behavior can be hard to spot, I've had a few moults occur with a cricket in the enclosure. Not the best scenario, but I've never lost one yet. Maybe the fact that I make sure crickets and other prey are well fed and hydrated prior to being fed to my Ts buys me some time that others don't get.
 

krystal

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i gotta agree with code. i'm sure it's happened where a cricket has killed a moulting tarantula, but in all the times i've witnessed tarantulas moulting with crickets inside the enclosure, the crickets ignore the tarantula for the most part.

even though i'm always on the lookout for the rambo of all crickets, if there are a few crickets in my t's enclosure during a moult, i'm not really concerned about it. the crickets have their own little "play place" in the enclosure (paper egg cartons) as well as their own food stand consisting of fluker's complete cricket diet orange cubes which are in the side dish part of a chinet sectioned plate (you know, plates that are sectioned into 3 parts--one large and 2 small? i cut the small part off, making nice dishes for cricket food).

the only time i can imagine crickets interefering with a moult is if there are several of them in the enclosure at one time, and they don't have anything (besides the tarantula and each other) to climb around on.
 

MrMatt

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Re: well it is still a little hard to tell, but

Originally posted by rapunzel
it was about two and a half inches...maybe closer to 3 inches. Now, though, it looks like it is 31/2, maybe. I will have to wait until it is hardened up to get a good guess.
Boy they sure are cute at that age. Mine is now about 7.5 - 8 inches and an eating, kicking machine. I would hold her when she was smaller, but now I'm worried she would look at me as food... the crazy girl goes as far as attacking the water I pour in her dish.:)
 

MrT

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if there are a few crickets in my t's enclosure during a moult, i'm not really concerned about it. the crickets have their own little "play place" in the enclosure (paper egg cartons) as well as their own food stand consisting of fluker's complete cricket diet orange cubes


krystal,
You have all this in the T's enclosure? I'd love to see a picture of that.:)
Also, has your flukers ever gone bad ? Mine has gotten kinda hard lumps in it and it smells toxic.

Kim,
I've had T's molt with crickets in the tank too. Like these guys say, if the cricks are well fed and watered I don't think they'll go after a T. Its their nature to fear T's, IMO..

Please, tell me more about the running molt, LOL ;P

Ernie
 

rapunzel

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well Ernie,

its kinda like those nightmares you know...well, you wouldnt know unless you harbored a severe spider-heebiejeebie like me..when you are about to fall asleep and a HAIRLESS creepy spider starts across the ceiling:eek: ...and you watch and watch it...just knowing it is going to come right where you are...then drop..and you blink and then you cant find the darn thing anymore..and you cant fall asleep because you JUST KNOW the thing has fallen onto your bed, and you have to get up and turn on the light and look for it, and SHake your sheets and inspect your blanket...and then check your hair...etc.etc....hmmmm... maybe I suffered some big trauma as a child and have blocked it from my conscious mind...;P
ANyyyyyhow...I was traumatized because I thought the spider had been cricket lunch, and I was looking at the dead thing, and the GHOST (the shed) came right at me!!! AAAAAHHHHHH!!! :eek:

heh heh heh...can u tell I have only had eleven hours sleep total this week? I am studying studying studying.....exam on Monday, then I can sleep...yaaaaayyy. =D
 
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