Half a day after molt my rose hair tarantula still has not flipped over

charlieknkls

Arachnopeon
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Sep 12, 2020
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My rose hair tarantula finished her molt around 7:30 eastern time last night. She molted upright and flipped on her back towards the end of her molt. She had a small injury on the tip of her leg. I placed cornstarch on the injury to stop the hemoglobin/bleeding. When this did not work, i placed a small bit of tissue on the wound which appears to have stopped the bleeding. I have also been placing water on her fangs. She is drinking the water. She is completely separated from her molt. It has now been 16 hours, she is still on her back. She does respond when I drop a bit of water on her fangs by moving her legs. I’m getting pretty concerned. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

She has been with me two years and this is her first molt with me. She is an adult confirmed female.
 

Cmac2111

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If you're sure the bleeding has stopped, and she's responding to the water, then don't mess with her... she will still be very soft having just molted. Molting is a great ordeal for any T, and adults will take longer to recover. Can you post some pics of her? This would help us get a better idea of the situation.
 
Last edited:

Dorifto

He who moists xD
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Stop messing with it and leave it undisturbed, sometimes they take longer to flip.

Just keep an eye if it starts curling (death curling), not post molt curling stretching.
 

Cmac2111

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Agreed with above. At this point, leave her be and see how things play out.
 

charlieknkls

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Thank you. That’s what I have been doing. She is in a warm space with a shirt thrown over her enclosure. Peeking at her every so often. As Little as possible.
 

looseyfur

Arachnofur
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another vote for leave it to nature. Also maybe take a straw and blow some of that cornstarch away. I know its tough to apply acutely but thats a ton.
 

Pmurinushmacla

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Jesus christ thats a ton lol. Leg injuries are relatively minor, Ts can seal off an injured leg to prevent blood loss. In the future, unless its a more serious injury to the carapace or abdomen, let it do its thing.
 

charlieknkls

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Sep 12, 2020
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She has still not flipped. I have a feeling part of the abdomen is still stuck to her. She has wiggled and shifted some. The carapace is no longer under her, but there is a dried up string still attached to it laying under her which would be part of the abdomen. I am not 100% sure it is still attached to her as I have not flipped her. I have been dropping water on her fangs. She is responsive and stretches her legs when I give her water.
 

NMTs

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At this point I would put her right side up and see if she can walk. Four days after molting, she should have turned over long ago. Do it gently using something like a spatula or big plastic spoon. I'd turn her over and put her right on a shallow water dish so she can drink her fill, then see what happens.
 

charlieknkls

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Sep 12, 2020
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I finally did flip her. Sadly she passed away shortly after. 😔

yeah, i would have done that the next day.
I contacted a shop here that’s only focus is tarantulas and asked their advice. They were the ones who told me not to flip her. Told me to keep dropping water on her fangs. After I flipped her she made her way to her water dish and sat in it. I replaced her water dish with a more shallow dish and set her back on a damp paper towel in her enclosure. She went back to the water dish. I left her there. She passed away a few hours later.

I contacted a shop here that’s only focus is tarantulas and asked their advice. They were the ones who told me not to flip her. Told me to keep dropping water on her fangs. After I flipped her she made her way to her water dish and sat in it. I replaced her water dish with a more shallow dish and set her back on a damp paper towel in her enclosure. She went back to the water dish. I left her there. She passed away a few hours later.
I do wish I would have flipped her a little sooner. Was worried about her still being soft.
 

NMTs

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I finally did flip her. Sadly she passed away shortly after. 😔
I do wish I would have flipped her a little sooner. Was worried about her still being soft.
That's too bad - sorry for your loss. It doesn't sound like turning her over sooner would really have made much difference, so don't beat yourself up about that. There isn't much knowledge out there about how to help T's when they have health issues, so we can really only try stuff and hope for the best. That's why it's important to post on this site and others like it when you are dealing with things like this - so we all can learn from others' experience.
 

Cmac2111

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Sad to hear, hope this doesn't affect you too badly. As NMT's has said these things can happen and at the moment the steps we can take to recover these animals when disaster strikes are limited. Wishing you a better experience in the hobby going forward.
 

charlieknkls

Arachnopeon
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Sep 12, 2020
Messages
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That's too bad - sorry for your loss. It doesn't sound like turning her over sooner would really have made much difference, so don't beat yourself up about that. There isn't much knowledge out there about how to help T's when they have health issues, so we can really only try stuff and hope for the best. That's why it's important to post on this site and others like it when you are dealing with things like this - so we all can learn from others' experience.
Thank you for your condolences. Although she was just a spider in most eyes, she was loved. I do agree, I thought about that through my posting. She had been around for who knows how long. I wasn’t her first owner. She had been through at least two other people before coming to me two years ago. She went the two years with me with out a molt. Not sure how long before that. And having been through several people we really wasn’t sure of her age.
 
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