How Long Should I Wait?

XzotticAnimal420

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 8, 2010
Messages
85
My Chaco has been upsidedown for about 6 hours with no movement. She has plenty of humidity, but hasnt moved..its taking her much longer than normal..how long should I wait before I get worried?
 

MadTitan

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 13, 2007
Messages
41
I've had good luck raising the temperature to greater than "room temperature". No higher than 85f and placing a few drops of water onto the T's mouth.

I once used a sun beam as the heat source, and my hand as the thermometer. After a night of no molting, the top popped in about 30minutes.

Hardly scientific, I know. Maybe just the water would have worked, maybe just the heat. Good luck.

Edit: I just realized I didn't answer the question. That's because I don't know. Long enough for my mild methods, I'd say.

Hopefully some more experienced people will come on and tell us how to recognize when drastic action should be taken, (like Robc had to for his T. spinipes). I'm sure waiting too long can be as bad as going in too soon.
 
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XzotticAnimal420

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 8, 2010
Messages
85
Update

I put a few drops of water on her mouth and set her in the bathroom during a hot shower and she started to move, so I maintained the warm humid temp in the bathroom for her before going to bed and when I woke up this morning she had molted with no problems, and looks great. Thanks everyone.
 

Musicwolf

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jul 2, 2010
Messages
283
I put a few drops of water on her mouth and set her in the bathroom during a hot shower and she started to move, so I maintained the warm humid temp in the bathroom for her before going to bed and when I woke up this morning she had molted with no problems, and looks great. Thanks everyone.
Sounds like an excellent plan - glad everything worked out well!
 

Motorkar

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Messages
468
My B. smithi last molted in august into adult female, it took her 12 hours all together so don't worry, sometimes it takes longer.
 

popcangenie

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 6, 2010
Messages
135
i have no idea where you guys are geting these numbers if the tarantula is not out in 42 HOURS then it is most likely its stuck
 

proper_tea

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 11, 2007
Messages
550
I'll put it out there that if your tarantula isn't out in 42 hours, it's most likely stuck. Heck, I've never had a T take more than 24 hours to get out, and not die as a result.

In my experience, if you see your spider flipped over and ready to molt one morning, and its still in the same position, having made no progress by the next morning, something has gone wrong, and your spider will very likely end up dead.

That said, I wouldn't worry about 6 hrs. My LP just molted, and it took him a good 10 hrs before he actually popped the top and started the process. Once he started, it was smooth sailing, and he's doing great.

Really, there's very little you can do. If your spider is having trouble, I believe it's more likely caused by some sort of internal injury, or being in an already weakened state for whatever reason. You can try to create optimal conditions for a successful molt, but you can't do much else. In the case of an emergency, you can try to help a spider finish a difficult molt, but I've had very few make it much longer after they were finished. I'm pretty sure their molting issues were just a symptom of something more serious going on.
 
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