G. Rosea

aquaArachnid

Arachnoknight
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I have an adult female G. Rosea and for the last 3-4 weeks she's been showing signs of molting and still nothing. she still moves around and seems active. She's not drinking any water though. Has a nice full abdomen and has eaten a few crickets when i put them in front of her with tongs but usually she would just pounce on them. any ideas?
 

Chris_Skeleton

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You mean showing signs of premolt? Most likely she is drinking water at night. What signs is she showing of premolt? If she is eating then I wouldn't say she's in premolt right now.
 

aquaArachnid

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i noticed her body showing a shade of grey, a bald spot starting to form on her abdomen while the hair seems to not be thinning. theres never any dirt in the water dish..it just evaporates..but i still change it daily
 

Chris_Skeleton

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Is the bald spot turning dark? I have the same problem with my water evaporating and having to refill it. Don't worry about it, she's drinking from it sometime.
 

Chris_Skeleton

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If it's a light color such as tan or beige then it isn't in premolt. When it is approaching a molt that spot will start turning black. Has it kicked hairs lately?
 

aquaArachnid

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no, havent noticed any hair kicking hair yet. do you think she could be approaching her last days?
 

shypoet

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I have an adult female G. Rosea and for the last 3-4 weeks she's been showing signs of molting and still nothing. she still moves around and seems active. She's not drinking any water though. Has a nice full abdomen and has eaten a few crickets when i put them in front of her with tongs but usually she would just pounce on them. any ideas?
Well, if she is eating, more than likely she is not in premolt right now. During premolt, they don't eat, but will drink water, even if you don't ever see them drink water.

Just keep an eye on her, but don't worry too much.

Do you know for sure how old she is?
 

aquaArachnid

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i've had her for a year and a half and shes only molted once..so im guessing shes up there.
 

nicolevins

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My rosie is the same.
She's showing signs of pre-molt for the last 3 weeks, or so.

It's a waiting game with her. :)
 

aquaArachnid

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but the spot on her abdomen isn't dark showing signs of a new exoskeleton. it's a light beige color and it looks like no hair loss yet.
 

Shell

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What exactly are you worried about?

Not seeing her drink is not a cause for concern. I have seen, only 3 of mine drink once.

It's still eating, just being a little "lazy" about it from what you said. Again, not really a cause for concern. In my experience, they can go up and down with how they take their prey. Some of mine will readily attack at one feeding, and then the next time, the cricket pretty much has to walk right under them before they take it.

As far as premolt, the length of time varies with each individual spider.

I would advise that you just continue to keep the water dish full, offer food weekly or so and just leave it be otherwise. It knows what it's doing, and from everything you have described it just sounds like it's being a typical rosea. They are notorious for their strange behaviour.

If you haven't already read it, here is a good thread for you.
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=5292
 

Stan Schultz

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I have an adult female G. Rosea and for the last 3-4 weeks she's been showing signs of molting and still nothing. she still moves around and seems active. She's not drinking any water though. Has a nice full abdomen and has eaten a few crickets when i put them in front of her with tongs but usually she would just pounce on them. any ideas?
This the wrong time of the year for it to be molting, and from further comments you've made my guess is that you may be mistaking the normally occurring bald spot as it forms as the darkening in premolt.

Newly imported G. rosea usually molt once sometime during October through January, then fail to molt for 1 or 2 (sometimes 3) years, then begin molting more or less annually sometime during March through May. Note that there are always a few who jump the gun and molt a few weeks earlier, and a few laggards who drag it on for weeks after the normal molting season.

This is a "Hemisphere Season Shift" and it is usually the first clue you get that roses are weird ... even for tarantulas.

If you've had it 1-1/2 years and it's still apparently doing well, don't worry. Be happy. Let it do its own thing. Just sit back and marvel at it. I've been doing that for decades and still haven't tired of it!
 
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Kirsten

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:? My G. rosea just molted for the second time in my care on Sunday, and it's August. Her first molt with me was 10 Dec. I keep her in a room with no artificial lighting and a window across the room from her that gives her a natural day/night cycle since I got her 30 Nov. of last year. I assume she needs more than that to correct for location then. She appears to be about 5" LS now.
My P. scrofa molted for the first time in my care since I've had her (not long) just days before the G. rosea. They are from the same region, are they not? I guess they are still off-schedule?
 

esotericman

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Good. Now follow Stan's advise and relax a little. It'll make your hobby more enjoyable and the chance of making a mistake, less. They've been doing this for MILLIONS of years before humans showed up. Have a little faith in the biology.
 

Stan Schultz

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:? My G. rosea just molted for the second time in my care on Sunday, and it's August. Her first molt with me was 10 Dec. I keep her in a room with no artificial lighting and a window across the room from her that gives her a natural day/night cycle since I got her 30 Nov. of last year. I assume she needs more than that to correct for location then. She appears to be about 5" LS now. ...
Okay, so we now have this time table:

2009-Nov-30: Bought the G. rosea.

2009-Dec-10: G. rosea molted.

2010-Aug-22: G. rosea molted.

A believable story is that the G. rosea was in premolt when you bought it late last year, and shed right on schedule. Then, because you're doing a particularly good job of caring for it and it's particularly amenable to undergoing the Hemisphere Seasonal Shift, it is molting significantly earlier this year as part of that readjustment. This may be a bit unusual, but not unheard of. Remember my comment about "Note that there are always a few who jump the gun and molt a few weeks earlier, and a few laggards who drag it on for weeks after the normal molting season." Another perfectly valid argument is that yours could be one of those.

Yet another argument could be that it's so confused by all this that it's temporarily molting at random, and will correct itself given enough time. It is important to note that many, if not most, G. rosea require about 2 years to fully readjust. Prepare yourself.

Just keep track of these dates and the ones for the next 4 or 5 years. At that time I would urge you to write it up in a small report and submit it for publication in the American Tarantula Society's (www.atshq.org) Forum Magazine. By that time you should have gained enough experience with tarantulas in general and G. rosea in particular that you can draw some conclusions from your case and reports by others. It should be a most interesting article!

... My P. scrofa molted for the first time in my care since I've had her (not long) just days before the G. rosea. ...
Is your P. scrofa a wild caught individual or captive raised? How big is it (leg span)?

Very young/small tarantulas may molt very frequently. If yours was captive bred and is still less than about half grown, it will probably not shed on an annual schedule, but actually much more frequently.

If your P. scrofa is cage bred and approximately half grown or larger it may have adjusted to someone else's time table. While this is rare, I suppose it can happen.

Or, if the original owner kept it under constant light 24/7, it might be merely free-wheeling, i.e., molting whenever it gets around to it rather than entrained to any particular calendar.

... They are from the same region, are they not? I guess they are still off-schedule?
They are both from Chile (among other places), but are different species that probably inhabit different habitats and probably have different life cycles. While I don't know a lot about P. scrofa I don't ever remember reading of anyone who had trouble with their wild caught individuals making the Hemisphere Seasonal Shift, at least not to the extent that G. rosea does. Further, it would be extremely difficult to draw valid conclusions from your one case. My suggestion is that you maintain accurate records for your individual, compare them with those of other enthusiasts, and if you can make any apparently valid conclusions in 4 or 5 years, write it up and publish it.

Though we (or at least I) tend to sit around and pontificate about tarantulas, we really KNOW very little about them and what makes them tick. You have raised some interesting questions, and they are basic enough that you stand a pretty fair chance of actually answering some of them. If you have that capability, go for it!

I hope this helps a little. Best of luck.
 
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