Anybody have stories of tarantulas molting during or immediately after transit

[Vesrynn]

Hi guys,

As the title says, has anyone had any particular circumstance or story/experience of a T that has begun to molt or finished molting, during transit form one place to another or immediately after transit? And if not, has anyone got any stories of T's molting at a any other ridiculously inconvenient time? I am currently discussing this in another thread of mine, but i thought id make it a more public discussion. Im interested to hear the stories.

 

[Vesrynn]

Also, i have heard very recently from someone on one of my threads say in realtion to this " I have heard that sometimes tarantulas molt quickly after arriving at their new homes due to bigger spaces in which they feel they can grow in and also because they have more space to molt. Not sure if this is true. " Any suggestions on this?

 

[Haksilence]

All the time, I've had maybe 4 or 5 specimens molt right after rehousing after purchasing them.

Basically this happens when the specimen is so far along with their pre-molt that they can't delay it anymore.

Usually they prefer to molt in a comfortable place where they feel safe and at home.

 

[Brendan Straut]

Only own 3 Ts but my LP molted the weekend I purchased and rehoused it. At the reptile expo I got it from, there was a surprising number of Ts for sale that had just molted, molt still in the container.

 

[louise f]

Yeah have tried it a lot of times, when getting T`s home.
I usually just let them be in the box where they are transported in until they finished molting, to prevent disturbance, or injuring the T.
Not a big problem.

 

[truecreature]

I've had an M. balfouri sling molt right there in the shipping vial during overnight transit. When I opened the tissue paper I found what looked to be a desiccated corpse and was sad that it didn't make it, but then when I pulled it out to take a picture for the seller...oh hey, there's a fresh spider right behind it.

 

[Vesrynn]

All the time, I've had maybe 4 or 5 specimens molt right after rehousing after purchasing them.

Basically this happens when the specimen is so far along with their pre-molt that they can't delay it anymore.

Usually they prefer to molt in a comfortable place where they feel safe and at home.

I feel that this is exactly what my C. Fasciatum is doing right at this moment.

 

[Vesrynn]

I've had an M. balfouri sling molt right there in the shipping vial during overnight transit. When I opened the tissue paper I found what looked to be a desiccated corpse and was sad that it didn't make it, but then when I pulled it out to take a picture for the seller...oh hey, there's a fresh spider right behind it.

Im happy to hear that at least your M. balfouri made it there okay and in a new and shiny condition. I imagine that would have been a pretty stressful molt, postal services can be a bit "rough" for T's.

 

[awiec]

Quite a few honestly, first tarantula I bought, an A.versicolor, decided to molt on the car ride home and had finished within 40 minutes. I've had P.vespertinus, P.rufilata and a handful of other also molt on the ride home from a reptile show; once the molting process starts they really can't stop.

 

[Yanose]

ya i have had slings molt in the mail finding them and their molts when they get home

 

[Kuurdles]

1.5in P. Cambridgei molted on the way home from the pet show about a 25 minute ride. Was so excited to see it molted when I got home, felt like I won the lottery cuz she was 1 of like 8 of the same species that I picked out. As well as both a King Baboon and P. Vitatta.....both from a pet shop that had them housed in a TINY vial for a 1 inch sling.....both molted almost a day after being rehoused.

 

[Poec54]

I've had slings molt during shipping. They survived, but wasn't thrilled about it because a rough ride at the wrong time, or a tight container could have easily resulted in death. if a deal has fat spiders that could be pre-molt, they shouldn't ship them.

As has been pointed out, a new cage or container doesn't trigger molt. When it happens, the spider is too far in the process to stop, and actually would prefer to wait if it was able to put things on hold. In the wild, for a tarantula to lose it's home, hastily find a new one, and then immediately molt...that's very stressful for them, as they're a much easier target or predators.

It think what some people say is that over time a spider will grow bigger in a large cage than a small one, which may be true, and not that the act of putting a spider in a new cage automatically triggers molting.

 

[Oumriel]

I have had slings arrive having molted and I have had slings molt with in a few days after arriving. Slings molt so often especially when you are talking about the first 3-5 instars sometimes they surprise you. When I moved from Cali to AZ I had my entire collection that was 30+ individuals, molt out with in 3 weeks of arriving. I am guessing it because I was moving to the desert I was concerned about how dry it was and I was soaking the substrate a bit just to be on the safe side so an increase in humidity was a possible trigger. Since moving and settling down I have not had another mass molt like that.

 

[PanzoN88]

I have not had one molt during or immediately after transit, but all three of my B. Albopilosum slings (they are juvies now) molted the very next day.

 

[EulersK]

Here's a good one for you. When I moved back home from college, my AF G. rosea decided to flip onto her back literally an hour before I was going to pack her up and hit the road. Didn't even know she was in premolt. Given that I was driving almost 2,000 miles, my plan was to package her in a heavily padded container, as if I was going to ship her. Well, there went that plan.

 

[lunarae]

Here's a good one for you. When I moved back home from college, my AF G. rosea decided to flip onto her back literally an hour before I was going to pack her up and hit the road. Didn't even know she was in premolt. Given that I was driving almost 2,000 miles, my plan was to package her in a heavily padded container, as if I was going to ship her. Well, there went that plan.

So what did you do? Post pone leaving until she was done? How long did she take?

 

[EulersK]

I honestly forgot why I couldn't postpone, but it just wasn't an option. I left her in her cage, took out anything hard (she luckily flipped over in the middle of the cage, not in her hide), put the cage on a pillow on the floor of the back seat, and crossed my fingers. It was a very bumpy ride, unfortunately. Construction had my card driving on those bumps along the shoulder of the interstate for miles at a time. She was more than a little stressed, but she was done molting after about fifteen hours.

 

[lunarae]

I honestly forgot why I couldn't postpone, but it just wasn't an option. I left her in her cage, took out anything hard (she luckily flipped over in the middle of the cage, not in her hide), put the cage on a pillow on the floor of the back seat, and crossed my fingers. It was a very bumpy ride, unfortunately. Construction had my card driving on those bumps along the shoulder of the interstate for miles at a time. She was more than a little stressed, but she was done molting after about fifteen hours.

Ouch, That had to have been just as worrisome for you as it was stressful for her. She make it though I'm assuming from the sounds of it?

 

[EulersK]

Oh, I left that part out! Yes, she's still fine and dandy as we speak. She was my first tarantula, so there is certainly some emotional attachment there. And hey, she started showing some beautiful coloration after the molt, so I even got a bonus out of the deal!

I'm 95% sure she's actually a G. porteri ever since that molt due to her coloration, but given that she's WC and bought from Petsmart, she'll never enter the breeding game. So, at the end of the day, can't say it matters too much.

 

[Vesrynn]

It can be a tough life for T's....i dot envy a few of the above circumstances