Aphonopelma seemanni Molting?

[Newt83]

Hello all...I know this has been asked a million times but I am unsure what is happening. I received a 3” Aphonopelma seemanni on Wednesday. It’s been acting ok and has spent time in the hide and out roaming. This morning it is upside down just outside it’s enclosure. It’s wiggling and it’s moving it’s fangs and there is a lot of moisture around it’s mouth. Help please......

 

[Theneil]

it certainly looks to be molting as far as i can tell.

If you aren't already familiar with the process, just leave the spider be. Fon't feed until the fangs are completely hard (shiny black, even at the base) which will probably be a couple weeks.

Also, look up sexing a molt. Then you should be able to learn if it's a he or she.

 

[Newt83]

Thank you. I certainly did as much research as I possibly could but it’s still unnerving seeing that especially only after having it for a couple days. How long should it take to molt?

 

[Theneil]

Could be 20 Min, could be a few hours. It looks pretty large so don't be surprised if it takes a while, just make sure that after the carapace pops, it is making noticable progress ever 15-20 minutes. If it goes more than probably 30 minutes without progress, you may have to help.

 

[spookyvibes]

The movement seem rhythmic opposed to sporadic, right? If so, then (s)he is probably molting.

 

[Newt83]

Yes rhythmic waving of the legs.

It’s still in the same position but more tightly curled. Doesn’t seem to have made any progress

Seems to be a lot of fluid coming from the mouth area

 

[Greasylake]

Post pictures of the enclosure. It looks more like a fall injury to me.

 

[Newt83]

This is as close to a picture of the enclosure as I have. It’s 7x7x14. It has about 3” of substrate in it.

 

[PanzoN88]

I've watched several of my tarantulas molt and I don't think seeing clear fluid when molting is normal, unless I haven't noticed.

Enclosure looks like it could use more substrate.

 

[Newt83]

I can’t put anymore in it without it blocking the vent holes.

 

[Torech Ungol]

Enclosure looks like it could use more substrate.

I disagree. OP stated that the enclosure is 7" tall, with 3" of substrate. The spider is 3" DLS, so 4" of ceiling height is perfectly fine.

Of course, this does not exclude the possibility of a fall before arrival with the OP.

 

[Crone Returns]

Hello all...I know this has been asked a million times but I am unsure what is happening. I received a 3” Aphonopelma seemanni on Wednesday. It’s been acting ok and has spent time in the hide and out roaming. This morning it is upside down just outside it’s enclosure. It’s wiggling and it’s moving it’s fangs and there is a lot of moisture around it’s mouth. Help please......

View attachment 287266

Looks like molting. Leave her alone, she knows what to do.

 

[Newt83]

It has been in the same position for 11 hours and I see no cracks or progress in the molt.

 

[spookyvibes]

I don’t know what kind of impression the rest of you are getting, but honestly, this just doesn’t seem like molting to me. And if it is, I think there’s something wrong. That much fluid coming out of the mouth worries me. There are fluids involved in molting, in fact I remember when my 0.1 Avicularia avicularia molted, she used so many fluids that the inside of her molt was soaked, made it very hard to sex her since the abdomen kept sticking to itself. The thing that bothers me is how much fluid is coming from the mouth of that tarantula. I don’t think that’s normal. I’ve never seen that or heard of that happening with someone else’s tarantula while it was molting.

Another thing that concerns me is the position of the legs. A molting tarantula typically is sprawled out a little when it’s early in the molting process. Those legs look pretty curled up to me, that’s definitely not a position I’ve seen any of my tarantulas assume before they’ve popped the carapace. I’ve seen them assume that position post-molt, when they’re doing a little bit of stretching after the molt. That tarantula definitely has not just molted though, otherwise the fangs would be white/reddish.

OP, I have a few questions.
1.) When you say the enclosure is 7x7x14, is that in the order of length x width x height? Or are the measurements supposed to be 7x14x7?
3.) Are there any objects in the terrarium that could possibly cause her injury if she were to fall on them?
2.) Is your tarantula still moving? If so, can you please try to get a video of what she’s doing?

 

[Newt83]

The enclosure is 7”Wx7”Hx14”L. There is nothing for it to fall on. And the furthest it could fall is about 3.5” at most. The hide is partially submerged at a 45 degree angle and the substrate (plain topsoil/coco fiber mix) is moist but not wet. I received the T on Thursday evening and it acted normal friday and this morning. When I returned home around 10am it was in its current state. It is barely moving it’s legs and the movements are slow and minimal.

 

[PidderPeets]

Unfortunately I have to agree with the fall injury theory. It's literally right next to the sharp, hard, jagged edges of that water dish. It's new to that enclosure, so it would have been climbing. A fall onto that dish could have easily caused a bleed, either externally or internally (which could explain the liquid coming out of the mouth). The legs curling in like that is not typical of a T that is in the process of molting. They make similar poses after the molt as they give their legs a chance to harden before flipping back over, but not prior. But legs curling like that would likely occur after a fall resulting in injury, because the legs curl as they lose fluids in their body.

I really do hope I'm wrong though

 

[boina]

That does not look like molting at all but it looks wrong.

Having said that, I don't agree with the fall injury theory at all. I has become a bit of a knee jerk reaction around here: something is wrong, must be a fall injury. I don't see how a fall could have possibly happened in that enclosure. She was moving fine before in this enclosure before and than what? She threw herself repeatedly onto her water bowl from a height of 1 or 2" to produce a fall injury and commit suicide? Otherwise, as I said, I really don't see how a fall could have happened.

Why do people always fail to take into account that tarantulas simply can get sick, as in getting an infection for example, like every other animal on the planet? Unfortunately I had an P. ecclesiasticus die with exactly the same behaviour and I think @KezyGLA had a few spiders die like that. Nobody could figure out why they were dying then, too

 

[KezyGLA]

What is the spiders diet?

I gave some juveniles a diet of waxworms only for several months and a few ended up dying after a few days of being on their back exactly like yours.

 

[draconisj4]

Unfortunately I have to agree with the fall injury theory. It's literally right next to the sharp, hard, jagged edges of that water dish. It's new to that enclosure, so it would have been climbing. A fall onto that dish could have easily caused a bleed, either externally or internally (which could explain the liquid coming out of the mouth). The legs curling in like that is not typical of a T that is in the process of molting. They make similar poses after the molt as they give their legs a chance to harden before flipping back over, but not prior. But legs curling like that would likely occur after a fall resulting in injury, because the legs curl as they lose fluids in their body.

I really do hope I'm wrong though

I have one of those water dishes, they come with Jamies complete enclosures. I never used it because it is indeed extremely rough and jagged.Some of those points are very sharp and if the T fell on it or even moved across it wrong it very well could have injured itself

 

[Newt83]

I only had the T for 2 days. I had everything setup according to things I learned on this forum and did weeks of research prior to even ordering a Tarantula. It’s dead this morning, I examined it and there are no marks on it or damaged areas. I have no idea what happened but it is definitely discouraging.