A hobby first?

Venom

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 21, 2002
Messages
1,700
Maybe it is...maybe it isn't...

But it certainly was for me!

Ok, so I drove back home for Spring Break, and brought the T's with me--one of which was in premolt pretty heavily. I keep her warm, hydrated/ humidified all week....and she doesn't molt. I check her every morning to see if she popped out of the old skin....and nothing.

The end of Break comes, and I pack all the gear back into my car to make the 400 mile drive back to school. And as I'm packing....I find she has flipped over onto her back. :wall:

She waited AAAALLLLL week, and decided to molt on the DAY I have to make a 7 hour drive. I wasn't planning on making any return trips home until the end of this semester, so if I don't take her with me, she'll be with my family for quite some time. I asked my family if they were willing to take care of her until May -- bear in mind, this is a cantankerous adult female Nhandu coloratovillosus, who was at least 7 inches before her molt-- and understandably I got a respectful negatory response.

Sooooooo, that leaves me with having to drive down to school WHILE she is molting. For 400 miles down the interstate. The tank was resting in my front passenger seatwell, jiggling and vibrating all the way. But...she made it! She managed to pull off a picture-perfect shed, without any complications.

I haven't had a good look at her yet, as she is still scrunched up in her retreat, but her colors look great from what I can see, and I can't wait to get her out and see how big she is now! :D :D

Anyway, I just thought I'd share. In case you were wondering, you CAN transport a tarantula during a molt, even with significant road-vibrations.

I took the following precautions:

I soaked the substrate, and sealed off the screen lid nearly entirely with Saran Wrap, leaving just a small open flap so that the car's heater wouldn't make dehydration / premature drying of the shed an issue. Her water dish I emptied so that it couldn't accidentally slosh water onto her booklungs. And finally, I put the heater on full blast to keep up a subtropical temperature in the car.

This was the best I could do in a weird situation. I do not recommend you take a major roadtrip with a molting tarantula, but if you have no option, it CAN be done safely. Just thought I'd share. :)

-Venom.
 

crawltech

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
1,695
Awsome story man!...your obiously takin great care of your T`s, nice work!
 

Ictinike

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2009
Messages
460
Not that it's applicable on something that large but you almost needed one of those rubber band hammock's we used to make "in the day" for our portable CD players (yes boys and girls, all cars did not have CD players stock :) ) so they wouldn't skip as you drove, lol.

Not sure of your age but if your 30+ you may know what I'm referencing :D

Glad the molt came off without a hitch among all of that commotion..
 

jbm150

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
1,650
She waited AAAALLLLL week, and decided to molt on the DAY I have to make a 7 hour drive.
I think its explicitly written in the manual that all Ts read that, if at all possible, they molt at the most inopportune moment for the keeper
 
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