Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens slings fangs stuck in molt!!

[mconnachan]

Ah, i see now, lol, thank you. Walks away yelling @mconnachan !What were you doing, answering a month old urgent question!?
Jk

Yes I did, I did not look at the date, soz, my bad!

 

[mconnachan]

@mconnachan posted a reply, bumping it to the top.

That's correct I did, and......

 

[sasker]

a species that doesnt burrow and webs in a dry environment

I was thinking the same thing. GBBs are among the most arid species. Just see how they live in the wild:

No roots to provide moist there, no deep burrows and it does not look like it rains a lot there.

@JoshDM020: There are tarantula enthusiasts who are zealous apostles of The Tarantula Keepers Guide, a book that apparently stipulates that the ICU is the solution to any problem with unknown cause, including molting problems, regardless of the species. The fact that decades of combined experience on ArachnoBoards has led to the general consensus that ICU's are doing more harm than good in most cases (if not all) is not enough to convince these religious zealots Best advice I can give you is to just give up this debate. You can't win

 

[Andrea82]

That's correct I did, and......

Hey dude! Lighten up, she was simply explaining to a Dutch girl who wasn't in her brightest state of mind why this thread suddenly popped up

 

[mconnachan]

Hey dude! Lighten up, she was simply explaining to a Dutch girl who wasn't in her brightest state of mind why this thread suddenly popped up

@Andrea82 I'm not sure what "lighten up" is regarding - no problem at my end sweetie.....

 

[mconnachan]

I was thinking the same thing. GBBs are among the most arid species. Just see how they live in the wild:

No roots to provide moist there, no deep burrows and it does not look like it rains a lot there.

@JoshDM020: There are tarantula enthusiasts who are zealous apostles of The Tarantula Keepers Guide, a book that apparently stipulates that the ICU is the solution to any problem with unknown cause, including molting problems, regardless of the species. The fact that decades of combined experience on ArachnoBoards has led to the general consensus that ICU's are doing more harm than good in most cases (if not all) is not enough to convince these religious zealots Best advice I can give you is to just give up this debate. You can't win

In most case ICU does not help in the slightest, best to let the T or other invert be, leave it in it's enclosure as it is comfortable there, most issues can be resolved in the T's own enclosure, rather than freaking it out in some overly wet death unit.

 

[Ellenantula]

I am surprised none of us noticed this thread when it was first posted. I feel so horrible for OP. Looking at the pix, it was grim - and poor GBB had been stuck 3 days already -- and likely no help offered would have worked. Still, I can't believe I didn't notice the thread before. I am wondering if that was a particularly busy time on AB with lots of other threads or something.
Anyway, just feel so bad post wasn't seen sooner.

 

[mconnachan]

Molting problems stem from humidity, deaths from t's that do not like humidity DO NOT result as molting issues. Who in their right mind would move a t into drier quarters that is having difficulty molting? Even if the t is a dry loving species, I don't understand how a warm humid environment will not at least 'help' it molt. The issues as far as I am concerned that present themselves with humidity on dry species are fungal and bacteria related. Please be careful with the advice quoted ^

Ahh, proof on arachnoboards, whats that? I was pretty sure that we all dabbled in the divine realm of experience. No proof you say, so, if we are dealing with the lack of why and how, tell me, how will humidity stress out a dry species during a molt? Let's talk about arachnids in general, youve got h arizonensis, dry loving scorpion, but molts underground in humid chambers. How about p muticus, burrows several feet underground, often at the base of roots, why go that deep? Why do dry tarantulas tend to be very heavy webbers, perhaps, to conserve moisture, maybe during periods like molting. I am just wondering, if proof is the thing here, why and how will humidity stress out a molting t which happens to be a dry species.

I edited my previous post to correct myself a little. Its just been the most widely accepted knowledge through all of my questions and searchings on these boards that dry species (such as G. rosea. You mentioned scorpions, but i have very little experience with them, and P. muticus (PBUH) which ive read about but have yet to own) tend to worsen when placed in ICUs (also, id like to see someone coax a P. muticus into an icu). That seems to be the MOST common reaction. Ive read a lot of reports on here of C. cyaneopubescens (the species in question in the op) also worsening in condition when placed in higher humidity. I wasnt saying that I had proof of anything, i was saying that NOBODY does, and giving "Molting problems stem from humidity," as a rebuttal for a species that doesnt burrow and webs in a dry environment (webbing cant retain moisture where there isnt any in the first place) isnt very sound.

Well, webbing can retain moisture after the water seeps into the burrow, or any water in a root system that seeps down. i think we have to start by acknowledging one thing, does humidity help tarantulas molt?

There is insufficient data to reliably answer that question. Some people think it does, some believe it makes no difference at all. With a GBB, though, in captivity, there should generally be no water outside of the water dish unless youve got a weirdo that likes to dump it. Its how i keep mine and it molted perfectly not too long ago. I would rather maintain its regular environment than make a stressful change to do something that may or may not have any effect.

If we are relying on data, we might as well all keep our arachnoxperienced mouths shut, not that i am 100% partial to data, but we have to recognize the knowledgebase we use.Granted, yes, the GBB is found in the venezuelan desert, but what do you also see with desert tarantulas, even amongst the females, the abdomen tends to shrivel up, so how impervious to dehydration are they really, yeah you can provide a water dish, but there is also the matter of evaporation with these drier tarantulas, (in the wild).

Impervious, no. Even the most resilient species will eventually dehydrate without water of some sort, that is true. In the wild, even in the desert, there is rain. Yes, that will result in a moist area of living, but that will also dry out relatively fast in that environment. In captivity, there is rarely the occasion where they wont have access to water. And it will usually only be in the substrate if the spider dumps the dish. But that will only effect the spider as it sees fit. It may dump the dish frequently or rarely, as personality varies from spider to spider. You arent wrong by any means with moisture in its natural environment, but there isnt very much even there. This isnt a burrowing species, so it really wouldnt benifit from excess humidity while molting in captivity any more than it would in the wild.

it wont dry out fast in a burrow, and in the wild GBBS DO live in burrows, if anything, we can call them opportunistic burrowers, one of the functions, as i understand it with humidity is that it keeps the exoskeleton pliable while the tarantula molts.

It COULD assist with that and really i feel like most of the issue is not knowing how much is TOO much. Because a desert dweller can have too much humidity. I imagine it would be like drowning a little more with every breath. They also excrete fluids from their own bodies as they molt that serve the same purpose you mentioned.
Edit: also, i feel like the fluids they secrete are much more suited for that purpose and regular water may not be enough to do that without BEING too much. Which is an interesting thought. Chemical research should be done on that.

I may have answered an older post, but these guys have had an extremely informative debate with regards to the subject, very interesting guys, IMO moisture must in some way play a part in the moulting process.

 

[Ellenantula]

In most case ICU does not help in the slightest, best to let the T or other invert be, leave it in it's enclosure as it is comfortable there, most issues can be resolved in the T's own enclosure, rather than freaking it out in some overly wet death unit.

I tend to agree. Not saying ICU never helped a single dehydrated T out -- but 1) you could dampen Ts own enclosure and not stress T with moving it (and I wouldn't do this with a GBB anyway) & 2) offer drops of water to mouthparts & 3) a "need" for ICU really speaks to husbandry in many cases -- Ts should have reliable water source offered at all times.
Sometimes moults fail and we never know why. Especially in this case with OP's GBB - a T that thrives in dryness and often takes most of moisture through its feeders.

But if T hydration (not really meaning OP's GBB but in general) had been an issue -- ICU seems like too little, too late -- the key for a successful moult is adequate hydration, housing, food, etc. needs met prior to moult.

And again, even with excellent husbandry practices, sometimes moults fail and we never really know why.

 

[keks]

I am surprised none of us noticed this thread when it was first posted. I feel so horrible for OP. Looking at the pix, it was grim - and poor GBB had been stuck 3 days already -- and likely no help offered would have worked. Still, I can't believe I didn't notice the thread before. I am wondering if that was a particularly busy time on AB with lots of other threads or something.
Anyway, just feel so bad post wasn't seen sooner.

That's what I'm thinking all the time since the first answer. There was something running very bad, usually everybody here wants to help. Poor GBB and poor owner.

For the ICU: I could imagine, that the stress by taking the t out of it's familiar (?) environment makes more problems than it helps? Or is this a wrong thought?

 

[JoshDM020]

I may have answered an older post, but these guys have had an extremely informative debate with regards to the subject, very interesting guys, IMO moisture must in some way play a part in the moulting process.

I like a friendly debate, especially when there's the oppurtunity for both sides (and the people viewing) to learn something and alter/form their own opinions in more constructive ways. Im still curious about chemical research with the molting fluids, though. I feel like i was onto something.