force molt?

ACoopBB24

Arachnosquire
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Aug 7, 2002
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i was wondering... is it possible for a T to force itself to molt to like repare itself from a previous bad molt?

thanx
 

blackacidevil

Arachnobaron
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I read somewhere that they can't......oh yeah, that's right, it was the previous post.

He said "no" so I guess not.
 

Devildoll

Arachnoknight
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Yes they can, and they do.

Though this hasn't been documented as much w/ arachnids as it has w/ reptiles, I have personally watched it happen and so have a number of experienced keepers i know.

I could provide examples, but i'm lazy.\


They will still need some time between molts, but they will have a quicker molt cycle if they are injured or had a bad molt.
 

Joy

Priestess of Pulchra-tude
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Originally posted by Devildoll
Yes they can, and they do.

Though this hasn't been documented as much w/ arachnids as it has w/ reptiles, I have personally watched it happen and so have a number of experienced keepers i know.

I could provide examples, but i'm lazy.\


They will still need some time between molts, but they will have a quicker molt cycle if they are injured or had a bad molt.
I'd agree with this, and add that females mated too soon after molting are famous for molting again soon afterwards, possibly as a result of some damage incurred during the premature mating.

Joy
 

ACoopBB24

Arachnosquire
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ok....then....

what about fangs.... do u think that if the fangs got damaged or sunthin during the molt...then it could "force" molt to set everything strait? im asking this b/c this may have happend with my usambara.

thanx for all the replies!
 

Tangled WWWeb

Arachnodemon
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Re: ok....then....

Originally posted by ACoopBB24
what about fangs.... do u think that if the fangs got damaged or sunthin during the molt...then it could "force" molt to set everything strait? im asking this b/c this may have happend with my usambara.

thanx for all the replies!

I would not say that you can count on this to occur, although any thing is possible. I had an adult female C. crawshayi that molted out with both of her rear legs severely bowed. She could not lift herself properly and sort of slid along the ground. This was about 10 years ago, and I had not started keeping detailed records , but I can safely say that she molted again way ahead of schedule. I have kept hundreds of tarantulas, and encountered numerous bad molts and that is the only time I have ever witnessed a "forced molt".

BTW, there have been threads dedicated to T's molting out with missing fangs. I think that Atrax and possibly Joy have some experience with this. I had a specimen that broke his fangs well into his molt cycle ( I don't exactly know when it happened) so I doubt that my experience would be of any relevance.

I wish you and your spider luck.

John
 
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Code Monkey

Arachnoemperor
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Jul 22, 2002
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I don't think it's so much a 'forced' moult, but if something drastic occurs, it has been observed to apparently trigger the physiological countdown to moulting - they still have to go through the entire, lengthy process, it just starts sooner. The Ts that do this don't experience much growth, but they do repair the limb, fangs, whatever
 
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