After 20 moult-free months...

[smof]

If it wasn't for this website I probably would have completely forgotten that sometimes spiders moult, it had been so long since my last in July 2006!

But like they always do, one finally decides to pop and a load of others follow. So after a 20 month drought, I got 5 sheds in the last 12 days

16th Feb - L. parahybana sling. It was 1cm before, haven't seen it since it moulted so don't know how much bigger it is now.

24th Feb - A. geniculata sling. Was 1cm before. Haven't had a clear look but it seems quite a bit bigger and it's starting to show its colours (well, red on its rump at least).

27th Feb - P. murinus TCF. Was about 1.5cm before, now looks about 2cm.

28th Feb - B. smithi, went from 0.8cm to about 1.0cm (wow!! lol). AND my C. cyaneopubescens juvie, who went from 5cm (about 2") to 7cm (about 2.75"), which really was 'wow'. Can't wait till he hardens up and I can get some good photos, he has fully adult-blue legs now and looks amazing :drool:

The smithi is the only one I've managed to get a pic of so far. Not much to look at yet, but I think they're cute when they're all pale and squishy

Also got another 2 smithi slings who are looking really dark so hopefully they will pop in the next week or so. I'm proud of all my little dudes

 

[jbrd]

If it wasn't for this website I probably would have completely forgotten that sometimes spiders moult, it had been so long since my last in July 2007!

But like they always do, one finally decides to pop and a load of others follow. So after a 20 month drought, I got 5 sheds in the last 12 days

16th Feb - L. parahybana sling. It was 1cm before, haven't seen it since it moulted so don't know how much bigger it is now.

24th Feb - A. geniculata sling. Was 1cm before. Haven't had a clear look but it seems quite a bit bigger and it's starting to show its colours (well, red on its rump at least).

27th Feb - P. murinus TCF. Was about 1.5cm before, now looks about 2cm.

28th Feb - B. smithi, went from 0.8cm to about 1.0cm (wow!! lol). AND my C. cyaneopubescens juvie, who went from 5cm (about 2") to 7cm (about 2.75"), which really was 'wow'. Can't wait till he hardens up and I can get some good photos, he has fully adult-blue legs now and looks amazing :drool:

The smithi is the only one I've managed to get a pic of so far. Not much to look at yet, but I think they're cute when they're all pale and squishy

Also got another 2 smithi slings who are looking really dark so hopefully they will pop in the next week or so. I'm proud of all my little dudes

Are you sure it has been 20 months? :?

 

[Profkrakatoa]

SOO cute!! They do look neat when they're all "freshly laundered" don't they?

 

[Moltar]

Isn't it crazy how they all molt together regardless of species or even size? I've had (counting on my fingers...) 9 molts in february. 4 were in one weekend and the rest spread over the last 2 weeks. Since i only have 34 asst arachnids that's more that 25% of my zoo molting within a 3 week period! Yikes!

And I agree. They are cute when they're still translucent and gummy. Poor lil helpless lil bugs...

 

[jeff1962]

How often are you feeding them ? What temps are you keeping them at ? My slings molt about every other month. The L. Para. and the A. Gen. should be growing much faster than that for sure.

 

[smof]

Well I only got all these slings in January, before then all my spiders except the GBB were over 3.5", so I wasn't expecting many moults. Plus my house is pretty cold.

The slings get fed twice a week on a small prekilled cricket and mostly eat like crazy. I keep them all around 24 - 30 C (about mid 70's to 80 F I think?)

 

[jeff1962]

Well I only got all these slings in January, before then all my spiders except the GBB were over 3.5", so I wasn't expecting many moults. Plus my house is pretty cold.

The slings get fed twice a week on a small prekilled cricket and mostly eat like crazy. I keep them all around 24 - 30 C (about mid 70's to 80 F I think?)

If you just got the slings in Jan. and they are molting now then thats about right. If you keep your house between 70-80 thats fine, certainly not what would be concidered cold for the majority of species.

 

[arrowhd]

Ok, I get it. At first I thought, holy ****. My A. geniculata has grown pretty fast. Good luck with your new slings.

 

[smof]

If you just got the slings in Jan. and they are molting now then thats about right. If you keep your house between 70-80 thats fine, certainly not what would be concidered cold for the majority of species.

The house is cold, the slings are all kept in a box that is heated with a heatmat. All my bigger spiders are unheated which is why they grow so slowly, but I don't really mind. I'm only really bothered about getting the slings up to a couple of inches so they all get their colours

 

[kitty_b]

i have some aphonopelma and brachypelma slings that i got years ago, and they've only molted 1-2 times.

side effect of living in a 70ish apartment

the good thing is that it keeps all my males from growing very quickly. i hope that will improve their longevity after their ultimate molts.