A mld case of the dreaded "wet molt" ?

littleredrider

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 18, 2009
Messages
12
I'm not sure if this really is a case of "wet molt" or not, but I have two other tarantulas and I've never seen this in either of them.

I have a mature female A. avicularia whom I received recently from a friend of a friend (the owner unfortunately passed away), and she just shed yesterday. When I came home from work I found the skin hanging from some cork bark, and when I reached in to pick it up, it was soft to the touch, very unlike the molts I find in my other two T's tanks. I figured this malleable molt was just fresh, perhaps it had just shed minutes before, so I set it out to dry overnight.

The skin was 100% in tact, one of the best molts I've ever recovered from my tanks. I noticed that the spider herself looked perfectly fine, except that a few of her legs seemed "shiny" under the glow of her heat lamp... She didn't appear sopping wet, just shiny...as if slightly damp. I thought maybe it would go away and she would dry out by the next day, but when I got home today, she looked the same. Slight wet look to her legs, and even the molt that I had laid out isn't dried yet. It's still very malleable.

Would this be a case of "wet molt" or is this relatively normal? She seems quite defensive when I try to get a closer look at her, and she seems to turn herself around fine, but I don't want to bother her too much lest I damage her new body. Any ideas on how to diagnose this? What should I do if it is a mild case of "wet molt" ?
 

Ictinike

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2009
Messages
460
I would say no and here's why..

Most "web molts" end up in complications for the spider with either the spider losing it's life and/or having severe disabilities afterwords.

I'm not 100% positive but I don't believe I've read of a "wet molt" that flawless as you state yours just had. A wet molt is a term typically a bad molt not a good one.
 

littleredrider

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 18, 2009
Messages
12
Yeah, I have her in a room which is unfortunately very cool so she needs a little extra help in the heat department. Temperatures are where the should be (72-85) and to compensate for the dryness caused by the lamp I mist frequently.

So if this is not a wet molt, has any other T owners experienced their tarantulas looking slightly "wet" after a shed?
 

Ictinike

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2009
Messages
460
Yeah, I have her in a room which is unfortunately very cool so she needs a little extra help in the heat department. Temperatures are where the should be (72-85) and to compensate for the dryness caused by the lamp I mist frequently.

So if this is not a wet molt, has any other T owners experienced their tarantulas looking slightly "wet" after a shed?
I guess what I've seen *could* be called "wet" if you look at them in the right light. Upon molting their cuticle isn't fully hardened and looks translucent for up to a few hours afterward were it begins to harden and take it's normal darker color.

I guess you could say it looks wet but never have I seen the setae look wet or matted down if this is what you saw.
 
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