Help~ Avic Sling possibly stuck in molt and unresponsive

[happylittletrees]

Hey guys, I'm a new tarantula mom and I'm really worried about my 3/4" versi sling I've had for about 2 months. About 2 weeks ago she stopped eating, her abdomen was ready to pop, so I knew a molt was coming up soon. Last night I went to check on her and she was sort of diagonal, belly up, looked as if she had started the molting process but it was really hard to tell because of the way she positioned herself under a leaf. I just let her be and checked on her again this morning, but it doesn't look like she made any progress. I think maybe she has a few legs and her abdomen out, but it's just so hard to tell. I tried to move the leaf out of the way a bit to see and she is COMPLETELY unresponsive to any movement. It's been about 24 hours now and I'm really worried "/ Should I try and move her out to see what's going on- try and help her? I don't want to stress her out more if she even is still alive.

 

[Flexzone]

Can you post pics of the specimen?

 

[happylittletrees]

Can you post pics of the specimen?

I know they're crappy, but this is about the best I could do. Like I said I can't really see what's going on.

 

[Venom1080]

looks like its def molting, theres nothing you can do to help it. best thing to do is leave it alone completely and wait. but, ive never had a sling take more than a few hours to molt..

 

[cold blood]

Just leave it be...even if there was a problem, there really isn't anything you can do, especially with a delicate sling.

 

[Ranitomeya]

Generally if an invert fails to complete ecdysis before the exoskeleton begins to harden, there's little to nothing you can do without great risk. If you were able to somehow remove the old exoskeleton without damaging the new one underneath, you're left with a tarantula that might have minor or severe deformities until it molts again and sometimes severe deformities prevent future molting success. It really depends on how far out of the molt it's gotten.

If the legs are the only thing stuck, you could save it by trying to get its legs out, but you'll have to do some intensive care until it molts again if it's unable to move on its own. The Poecilotheria metallica male I just sent out for breeding had once failed to complete a molt when I forgot to monitor and maintain higher humidity as it approached a molt. It managed to lose all but three of its walking legs on its right side that I managed to successfully pull out of its old exoskeleton. I had to pre-kill food and put it right next to it since it could not feed on its own and it eventually molted, regrowing all its missing legs without any issue.

If the abdomen or carapace is stuck in its old exoskeleton, there'll be nothing you can do as the there are a lot more delicate parts to molt in those areas. In addition to the outer exoskeleton, invertebrates must also molt parts of the internal exoskeletal lining that they cannot break down and absorb, so just pulling the molt off does not guarantee that it can breath, eat, or poop properly.

 

[lunarae]

Ok, I'll give you from my experience when my A. versicolor was like that, that small and molting in it's web and all of that. The first time I dealt with it and saw it, it looked like it was half mangled and didn't molt right. I was worried as well. Give it a couple of days. Chances are it actually molted just fine but the molt is there so close to it, you can't make out that it's actually separated from it. Keep doing your care as usual with water and such. Just because it was 'unresponsive' doesn't exactly mean it's dead. It may not have moved because you didn't actually startle it enough for it to feel the need to move. It's in it's nest and this species makes it's nests in leaves so it may not feel the need to freak out at every little motion, I know mine wasn't and still doesn't freak out at everything, not unless your physically nudging it. So from the day that you knew that it molted, wait a week, then try and give it some food and see how that fairs. If your seriously worried, after two days from the day it molted, very carefully try and take the molt out, it will mean causing damage to the webbing, but if it's alive it'll let you know right quick and in a hurry that it is. That's what I did, when I saw mine was still alive, I left it alone, waited until feeding time and tried to feed it. Just when it's in the molting process, especially that size all you can do is hope and pray, little else can be done, even when they get bigger very very rarely can anything be done.

 

[magicmed]

How's the little one doing? If he did pass just remember that sometimes, it just happens, don't let that dissuade you from doing some research and getting another T remember juvenile will be a lot more hardy as well.

Good luck