Houdini, my b smithi, molted this afternoon, and enough data is gathering that I can make some safe assumptions, not only about the future, but about the past.
I received Houdini on the 28th of May - he was my first T, 3/4".
He molted for the first time in my care on June 28. Molt number 2 occurred August 2 - and today, September 8, makes 3. Since the time elapsed between the first and 2nd molts (I believe it's called an 'instar'?) was 35 days, and 37 days between molts 2 and 3, then I can predict the date of molt 4, give or take a couple of days. I can also extrapolate backwards to determine that Houdini molted about 36 days prior to molt number 1 - this is to say on or about the 23rd of May, 5 days before I received him in the mail. He showed no interest in food for the first few days, to the point that, out of concern that he was going to starve, I put him in a tiny terra cotta pot and practically force fed him a pinhead cricket, which he took almost grudgingly ... within a couple of days I didn't need to do that, and soon he was hunting down the pinheads like a champ.
Although I was utterly clueless at the time (and some will say that I remain clueless), and attributed it to post-shipment trauma, I'm theorizing now that Houdini's early disinterest in food corresponded to his post-molt recovery, a conclusion I was simply too inexperienced to have reached back in those new-born-newbie days in May.
By the way, although he's being very shy about it all, I can tell by peering into his hide that Houdini is now sporting the famous "red-knees" that give smithis their names. Ooh, baby, I feel like a proud papa!
I received Houdini on the 28th of May - he was my first T, 3/4".
He molted for the first time in my care on June 28. Molt number 2 occurred August 2 - and today, September 8, makes 3. Since the time elapsed between the first and 2nd molts (I believe it's called an 'instar'?) was 35 days, and 37 days between molts 2 and 3, then I can predict the date of molt 4, give or take a couple of days. I can also extrapolate backwards to determine that Houdini molted about 36 days prior to molt number 1 - this is to say on or about the 23rd of May, 5 days before I received him in the mail. He showed no interest in food for the first few days, to the point that, out of concern that he was going to starve, I put him in a tiny terra cotta pot and practically force fed him a pinhead cricket, which he took almost grudgingly ... within a couple of days I didn't need to do that, and soon he was hunting down the pinheads like a champ.
Although I was utterly clueless at the time (and some will say that I remain clueless), and attributed it to post-shipment trauma, I'm theorizing now that Houdini's early disinterest in food corresponded to his post-molt recovery, a conclusion I was simply too inexperienced to have reached back in those new-born-newbie days in May.
By the way, although he's being very shy about it all, I can tell by peering into his hide that Houdini is now sporting the famous "red-knees" that give smithis their names. Ooh, baby, I feel like a proud papa!