Anyone want to complain...

[PelesAsher]

about waiting on a pre-molting T to friggin molt already?!

I've been waiting for my N. incei gold to molt FOREVER!!!

She's so fat and she's been underground just sitting there. I wonder if I stopped sticking my face up to her "bedroom" wall if she might get nekked already? hmmm

Where do you guys find your patience? Tell me your waiting nightmares.

 

[Ungoliant]

Tell me your current waiting nightmares.

My Grammostola pulchra, Bulldozer, has not molted since January 2017. She is quite plump and looking kind of scruffy, but she still accepts food.

Bulldozer (♀ Grammostola pulchra 3.5")

• Ungoliant
• Mar 21, 2019
• brazilian black tarantula bulldozer female grammostola grammostola pulchra juvenile juvenile female pulchra

She is looking brown and needs to molt. (It's been over two years.)

I once had a mature female Avicularia avicularia fast for 13 months before molting.

 

[PelesAsher]

Grammostola and Brachypelma keepers are saints. I have an adult female vagans and a juvie albiceps, I just assume I will be old and grey before they molt again. As far as my incei, I just really would like to know its sex.

How old is Bulldozer?

 

[weibkreux]

Where do you guys find your patience?

By adding more Ts to test your patience.
IME, nothing test my patience except my G. porteri sling, that little potato takes months to molt even if its just more than an inch.

 

[Liquifin]

Wow, patience is the biggest virtue of this hobby. If you don't have what it takes then maybe you should reconsider this hobby. Raising a T. is not really a fast process, but then again that's what makes it so entertaining. You're watching the changes and growth of the inverts you raised as young-lings to adults.

 

[jrh3]

about waiting on a pre-molting T to friggin molt already?!

I've been waiting for my N. incei gold to molt FOREVER!!!

She's so fat and she's been underground just sitting there. I wonder if I stopped sticking my face up to her "bedroom" wall if she might get nekked already? hmmm

Where do you guys find your patience? Tell me your waiting nightmares.

How big is she? My N. Incei took over 2 months without eating before he matured out.

 

[PanzoN88]

My female Nicaraguan B. albopilosum has been awaiting a molt for at least a year and a month.

 

[Flashback]

My A. Chalcodes hasn't molted since I got him (or her) at the end of Oct. I stopped feeding him a little over a month ago because the abdomen seemed to big.....but quick question, what ARE the signs of premolt?

 

[Rigor Mortis]

My B. hamorii's abdomen went pitch dark a few weeks ago, now I know it's gonna be forever until she moults and it is agonising.

 

[Vanessa]

I'm not complaining anymore, because she moulted the other day, but my Avicularia metallica female has been frustrating me for weeks. I have a mature male waiting for her since the end of January and she hadn't eaten in probably three months. She moulted five days shy of a full year.
Now, my boy will just have to wait a few more weeks and I am going to pair them.
I'm also frustrated with my adult female Grammostola pulchripes, who hasn't moulted since November 2017, because I have a fresh mature male waiting for her too.

 

[u bada]

oh boy it's frustrating... although I did find the key really is to have a like more than you should LOL

When I had around 5 which expanded to 10 for a couple years I eventually just adopted a "don't bother to even look anymore" attitude as it started to feel like nothing was ever happening. Since I've acquired double that+, and I mean doubling the collection by getting slings, I pretty much have excitement every month with one of them molting or doing something beyond their corner or burrow, if not every other week. (and I'm staring at them at least a few times a day)

My euathlus sp tiger hasn't molted for almost 2 years, and my albo hasn't molted at all in my care, having just molted a week before I got her 2 years ago. She didn't eat for 6 months, just emerged out of her hole a couple weeks ago and resumed eating... without a molt! I know someone who has a male that's been ready to go for months but she just won't molt so it'll have to be a different female for that one if he's still good to go... another anecdote, waited on my p. sazimai 1.5" to molt for 3 months which is really unusual imo for a sling that's not a brachy/ gram/etc... and finally molted last month, and while much more blue and prob 3" now, already muddied to a not as blue by this point, omg what was the wait for? lol

and not to highjack but what's the deal? if a sling tends to take longer in premolt, could be a sign it's a female?

 

[FrDoc]

B. boehemei waddling around with shiny-hiney for two months.

 

[Arachnophoric]

I'm sure everyone and their brother have already heard me complain about this little one.

Hasn't Molted in 2 YEARS!

• Arachnophoric
• May 9, 2019
• 8
• brazilian black tarantula grammostola grammostola pulchra pulchra sling

This ~1" pulchra sling last molted in May of 2017 and still doesn't seem interested in molting...

1" sling, two years and counting.

 

[Venom1080]

I've had a 1.5-2" Phormictopus cancerides go for 16 months without molting. It unfortunately died in a shipping incident when I sold it to finally be rid of the thing. No great loss I dare say...

 

[Ungoliant]

How old is Bulldozer?

I don't know how old she is. She was 2" when I got her on 9/26/2015. She has molted three times in my care and is currently 3.5".

 

[Zvyezda]

So, I am newer to the hobby - about at my 1 year mark.

All my Ts have molted pretty consistently (granted they are all under 3”). Whenever one has pre-molt symptoms, I have been upping the humidity a tiny bit - over filling the dish just a bit more frequently. I don’t know if it helps all that much (I was kinda thinking like helping a python avoid a stuck shed). But I have not had to really be all that patient so far.

I think the longest fast I have had was maybe 2 weeks without a meal. My brachypelma albopilosum has molted 4 times in 8.5 months.

I am no expert, so I am asking this out of curiosity - are there any things that can be done to aid in the Tarantula’s molt? Higher temps, better humidity, moving enclosures to a more quiet/dark place...etc.?

My GBB has that rough patch on the abdomen and is starting to slow down again - it has been on my mind recently.

Thanks OP for starting the thread!

 

[Arachnophoric]

(I was kinda thinking like helping a python avoid a stuck shed).

Please don't conflate reptile husbandry with tarantula husbandry, as invert care is very different from reptile care. I know it's well meaning, but it'll only cause you to overthink things.

Humidity is a term that really isn't relevant to tarantulas, and it doesn't help them molt. In fact, for your GBB, an arid species, making the enclosure humid can be very detrimental. Don't worry about humidity- the only thing that matters is access to fresh water and how much or little moisture certain species need in the substrate to thrive.

The best way to make sure your T molts without difficulty is by making sure they always have access to water and are hydrated. The molting process takes a lot of fluid out of them (as the fluids used to help them molt is made internally, rather than reptiles who rely on external moisture for a smooth shedding process) and can leave them dehydrated. A T that isn't well hydrated trying to molt is more likely to have issues as a result.

I hope that helps!

 

[Zvyezda]

Arachnophoric,
I do typically keep the GBB in dry and arid conditions (I like to try and replicate natural habitats as best I can in all my enclosures).

That is VERY good to know regarding the external humidity NOT being all that important - I know we aren’t dealing with reptiles here, but it is so ingrained into my husbandry instincts.

I will just stick to the dish (or droplets on webbing)

Thanks for the info and advice!

 

[Thekla]

I'm sure everyone and their brother have already heard me complain about this little one.

Hasn't Molted in 2 YEARS!

• Arachnophoric
• May 9, 2019
• 8
• brazilian black tarantula grammostola grammostola pulchra pulchra sling

This ~1" pulchra sling last molted in May of 2017 and still doesn't seem interested in molting...

1" sling, two years and counting.

Such patience truly deserves an award!

Do you still feed it?

And I thought I was patient with my H. chilensis sling (~1,5"). It's been already 8 months again since its last moult, and no sign of premoult... still eating (I only feed it once a month or so).

 

[Arachnophoric]

That is VERY good to know regarding the external humidity NOT being all that important - I know we aren’t dealing with reptiles here, but it is so ingrained into my husbandry instincts.

Yeah, I came into inverts from the reptile hobby myself, so I know where you're coming from! Strange going from having very specific temps/humidity ranges and such to Ts, which seem to have much more lax care parameters and being very self sufficient.

More than happy to help.

Such patience truly deserves an award!

Do you still feed it?

And I thought I was patient with my H. chilensis sling (~1,5"). It's been already 8 months again since its last moult, and no sign of premoult... still eating (I only feed it once a month or so).
View attachment 308763

I'll skip feedings, but any time I offer the darn thing STILL eats. 8 months feels like nothing now, at this rate I'll be long dead before this one or its siblings hit juvie stage. At least the other two were kind enough to give me a molt last summer though.