G. Rosea, bad molt.

[TeePete]

I got my G. Rosea, Pete, about a month ago. He hasn't eaten since I got him so I figured he was close to molting. I keep him at work and one of my employees let me know this morning that he had molted sometime in the middle of the night last night. During the day, I keep a heat mat on under his tank since we keep the AC on in the building but at night I turn it off because we turn off the AC and it gets warm and humid in the office. I over fill his water dish daily and keep a sea sponge in it always since he tends to like to hang out on it. I figure the humidity was okay. I didn't know exactly when the molt was going to happen. He never spun a mat or an enclosure and he was very active during the day yesterday so this caught me totally by surprise. Unfortunately, he's pretty mangled. His two front legs are basically useless, but they were shed. He didn't shed his abdomen so I've got him in an ICU right now hoping the added moisture will aide in the rest of his molt. Weirdly, he's smaller now than he was before he molted. His fangs are extremely bloody. I don't think he's going to make it but just in case he does, I was hoping someone could shed some light on my next moves. I figure I'll keep him in ICU until he seems stronger and more active. If he doesn't drop the front legs, do I need to remove them to prevent future molt problems? What do I do if he fails to shed his abdomen? I attached some before and after photos to help out. I'm pretty worried about my spiderbro tonight so any help would be appreciated.

Before the molt.

Top view of molt.

Bottom view of molt.

After molt (Notice the abdomen never fully molted).

After molt.

After molt (Notice the deformed leg).

 

[Venom1080]

bad molts sometimes happen, but your set up did nothing to help things along. i never had a spider have a bad molt so i cant say much on your next steps but im guessing that it was your set ups fault. heat pads, bark chip substrate, exo terra cage, sponge in the water bowl, are all bad and should definitely be removed if your T recovers and needs a cage again. i recommend a sterilite container with holes in the top and/or sides for a cage, eco earth or peat moss for substrate, just water in the water bowl, and no heat pad. as long as temps arent 24/7 below 70, and dont drop to the 50s, your spider is fine with them. heat pads burn Ts and do a lot more harm than good. if temps are that bad, a space heater is the best option. Grammostola sp. dont require any humidity besides their water bowl. they perfer very dry substrate, no need to even overflow the dish. leave the spider alone for now, dont bother it. i dont think a icu was the best course of action, this genus prefers dry, and icus have a lot of humidity. id put it in a container with slightly moist paper towels and a water dish and hope for the best. dont follow online care sheets, they suck. i highly recommend any future research to be done on this forum. good luck..

 

[BobBarley]

Get him water quickly. All of what I'm about to say is not your fault. There is so much misinformation about t's out there it's infuriating. Even more so that the misinformation is in the form of completely wrong "care" sheets and unknowing pet store workers(really it's not the worker's fault either it's the corporation's for being lazy and greedy).

The substrate is too rough. Don't use bark, use coco fiber. You have him in an exo-terra? Those things are way too tall for a terrestrial t. He probably climbed and fell (perhaps getting injured) many times. T's are actually fragile. Does he have a water dish? He needs a full one all the time. The substrate should never be damp though. Don't use a heat mat, it is detrimental and can very easily burn the t. This species is perfectly fine with temps down to 50 ish degrees Fahrenheit don't worry about heat. Was it a mature male before it molted? Doesn't look like it, but I should ask anyway. Good luck, and I hope this does not deter you from the hobby in any way and remember, this wasn't your fault.

 

[WeightedAbyss75]

I think he should make it out alright. Even with it's leg, they can still live pretty well. The only problem is the abdomen situation. I think the best course is just to leave it alone in the ICU. As a word of caution, don't freak out if your tarantula chews it's own leg off, because I know I would have T's can cut off circulation to the legs (I'm probably getting this wrong) and can them chew them off. As long as she can get that abdomen molt off, she should be ok. They are tough spiders Good luck, hope it pulls through. Also, everything everyone else said about the enclosure I would for it and for future T's if you're still going to be in the hobby. Hope it doesn't sour your experience...

 

[EulersK]

You can see the book lungs on the part of the abdomen that did shed, and that's very good. The tarantula could have suffocated, otherwise. The other huge worry is the issue of hydration, which is why people's first response was "get it to drink!" The ICU should help out a bit with that.

 

[TeePete]

bad molts sometimes happen, but your set up did nothing to help things along. i never had a spider have a bad molt so i cant say much on your next steps but im guessing that it was your set ups fault. heat pads, bark chip substrate, exo terra cage, sponge in the water bowl, are all bad and should definitely be removed if your T recovers and needs a cage again. i recommend a sterilite container with holes in the top and/or sides for a cage, eco earth or peat moss for substrate, just water in the water bowl, and no heat pad. as long as temps arent 24/7 below 70, and dont drop to the 50s, your spider is fine with them. heat pads burn Ts and do a lot more harm than good. if temps are that bad, a space heater is the best option. Grammostola sp. dont require any humidity besides their water bowl. they perfer very dry substrate, no need to even overflow the dish. leave the spider alone for now, dont bother it. i dont think a icu was the best course of action, this genus prefers dry, and icus have a lot of humidity. id put it in a container with slightly moist paper towels and a water dish and hope for the best. dont follow online care sheets, they suck. i highly recommend any future research to be done on this forum. good luck..

I appreciate all your advice. I don't think he's going to make it through the night. This hasn't turned me off from the hobby so I think next time I'll do a bit more reading before making another purchase. I'm pretty upset that it's my fault.

You seem to know quite a bit. I was thinking of my next sp. being a B. Smithi or maybe a G. Pulchripes. Are these also good starter Ts? I liked my Rosie but he was pretty boring in terms of coloration and his "pet rock" temperament. Any advice?

 

[TeePete]

Get him water quickly. All of what I'm about to say is not your fault. There is so much misinformation about t's out there it's infuriating. Even more so that the misinformation is in the form of completely wrong "care" sheets and unknowing pet store workers(really it's not the worker's fault either it's the corporation's for being lazy and greedy).

The substrate is too rough. Don't use bark, use coco fiber. You have him in an exo-terra? Those things are way too tall for a terrestrial t. He probably climbed and fell (perhaps getting injured) many times. T's are actually fragile. Does he have a water dish? He needs a full one all the time. The substrate should never be damp though. Don't use a heat mat, it is detrimental and can very easily burn the t. This species is perfectly fine with temps down to 50 ish degrees Fahrenheit don't worry about heat. Was it a mature male before it molted? Doesn't look like it, but I should ask anyway. Good luck, and I hope this does not deter you from the hobby in any way and remember, this wasn't your fault.

He's in the ICU with a low bowl of water now. It's not looking good. The Eco Earth is a coco fiber, right? Because that's what I bought. I actually was going to change the substrate this weekend but he molted and I didn't want to jar him about. Ended up having to moving him into the ICU but that's a different story. I acasually bought the shortest one they had because I knew Rosies were terrestrial. I never saw him climb, not once. He would start to and then stop with his back legs still on the ground. His water dish was always full and every few days I'd overfill it a tiny bit for moisture. I was scared he'd drown which is why I put the sponge in. I'll get rid of the mat now even though it never gets hot, only slightly warm. As far as I knew he was a juvie. Definitely too small to be mature.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[BobBarley]

He's in the ICU with a low bowl of water now. It's not looking good. The Eco Earth is a coco fiber, right? Because that's what I bought. I actually was going to change the substrate this weekend but he molted and I didn't want to jar him about. Ended up having to moving him into the ICU but that's a different story. I acasually bought the shortest one they had because I knew Rosies were terrestrial. I never saw him climb, not once. He would start to and then stop with his back legs still on the ground. His water dish was always full and every few days I'd overfill it a tiny bit for moisture. I was scared he'd drown which is why I put the sponge in. I'll get rid of the mat now even though it never gets hot, only slightly warm. As far as I knew he was a juvie. Definitely too small to be mature.

Thanks for your advice.

Alright, well I hope he recovers, but it doesn't look good. T's don't drown, they float so don't worry about that.

 

[Vanessa]

Yes, please don't give up on him yet. Although it doesn't look good right now, I have been surprised at the conditions that some, who have bounced back, have been in. Tarantulas have survived worse and he is still young.

 

[cold blood]

?? I dunno.

Op, literally everything you think you know about ts, and this t, is wrong...start over my friend. These are good starting points.

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/ch...w-to-really-take-care-of-your-g-rosea.226727/

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/quick-reference-guide-to-answer-common-questions.145454/

 

[WeightedAbyss75]

I appreciate all your advice. I don't think he's going to make it through the night. This hasn't turned me off from the hobby so I think next time I'll do a bit more reading before making another purchase. I'm pretty upset that it's my fault.

You seem to know quite a bit. I was thinking of my next sp. being a B. Smithi or maybe a G. Pulchripes. Are these also good starter Ts? I liked my Rosie but he was pretty boring in terms of coloration and his "pet rock" temperament. Any advice?

G. pulchripes are amazing. They are beautiful when fully grown and are pretty active. Basically the same care for a G. rosea and you're good. They are really active too. My 5" girl always moves dirt in her cage. Not burrowing, but just moves the dirt to one side then the other.

 

[WeightedAbyss75]

This is a great starter in the hobby

 

[viper69]

exo terra cage

An arboreal Exo Terra for a terrestrial can work fine if this minor modification is done, it saves the owner from buying a new setup

Mod: http://arachnoboards.com/threads/ex...rom-arboreal-to-terrestrial-pic-heavy.259864/

He probably climbed and fell (perhaps getting injured) many times

His T just molted, it wouldn't have the strength to do what you mentioned, nor would it. They sit there for days, sometimes weeks (depending upon size) so their exoskeleton may harden.

G. Pulchripes. Are these also good starter Ts

One of the best beginner Ts out there, get a good size too. I believe @cold blood still has a few

 

[Venom1080]

I appreciate all your advice. I don't think he's going to make it through the night. This hasn't turned me off from the hobby so I think next time I'll do a bit more reading before making another purchase. I'm pretty upset that it's my fault.

You seem to know quite a bit. I was thinking of my next sp. being a B. Smithi or maybe a G. Pulchripes. Are these also good starter Ts? I liked my Rosie but he was pretty boring in terms of coloration and his "pet rock" temperament. Any advice?

thats sad to hear.. research on this site and asking questions will get you prepared for another T in no time. theres some very knowledgeable people on this site who can help you with just about any question you may have. those are great starter species, i recommend those highly. other good starter genera are Euathlus, anything from Brachypelma, anything from Grammostola, Avicularia is great if you do the proper research, Chromatopelma, Aphonopelma, Thrixopelma. Chromatopelma and Avicularia have the best colors out of all of them if thats what you like. good luck with your next T.

 

[viper69]

To further clarify Venom's recent response. Euathlus species Red or Euathlus species Yellow are the ones you should look for, they are dwarf Ts out of Chile. Adults reach about 2", below is a MM E sp Yellow. They have the best disposition of any Ts, a close second is G. pulchripes, aka Chaco Golden Knee.

I'd strongly encourage you to get a Chaco, or E sp Red/Yellow. Both are very hardy, very easy to care.

Euathlus sp. Yellow - Mature Male

• viper69
• Jun 26, 2016
• 4

 

[TeePete]

So he made it through the night. He shed the remainder of his abdomen at some point last night which is awesome. He's extremely active but severely disabled. He sort of drags himself around right now. I thought maybe it was because the humidity was interfering with the hardening of the exoskeleton so I transferred him out of the TICU into a less humid space. I'll be back to update.

 

[magicmed]

So he made it through the night. He shed the remainder of his abdomen at some point last night which is awesome. He's extremely active but severely disabled. He sort of drags himself around right now. I thought maybe it was because the humidity was interfering with the hardening of the exoskeleton so I transferred him out of the TICU into a less humid space. I'll be back to update.

That's awesome! Hope he keeps getting better just remember to make sure he's got plenty of water in his dish

As far as G. Pulchripes and B. Smithi, both great beginner species, especially the pulchripes. As @viper69 mentioned @cold blood has some pulchripes slings for sale cheap, and he's a great breeder

Good luck!

 

[Kymura]

Posting to follow.
Hope this baby pulls through.

 

[WeightedAbyss75]

So he made it through the night. He shed the remainder of his abdomen at some point last night which is awesome. He's extremely active but severely disabled. He sort of drags himself around right now. I thought maybe it was because the humidity was interfering with the hardening of the exoskeleton so I transferred him out of the TICU into a less humid space. I'll be back to update.

Resiliant little guy, ins't it?

 

[TeePete]

Posting to follow.
Hope this baby pulls through.

Thanks, me too!