I NEED HELP WITH GRAMMOSTOLA ROSEA! PLEASE!!

[JuanTarantula]

They'll most likely drop by. Cold Blood is a moderator, so he'll most definitely come around and share his thoughts. I'm curious about his opinion as I've never heard of a molt going this quick. But we don't know everything about them. There is still so much to learn and they keep surprising us.

That is true.They are amazing creatures, Puka Nina (my G. Rosea) never ceases to amaze me.
Every time I read something about Tarantulas, there seems to be 2 or 3 different opinions and theories.

Thank you all!

I'll let her be and try to get some sleep now, I haven't been able to sleep because I was so worried.

I hope it all works out, she's strong so I'm confident she'll be able to get through the trouble that my stupidity put her in.

I'll report back later.

Thanks again!!!

 

[viper69]

She is out, but not moving.... I don't want to disturb her.

I'm also worried about how quick the moulting was.

Why would you worry about how quick a natural process happened?

You really should have left it alone.

Strongly suggest you read about tarantulas here. Your husbandry can kill your T.

There’s tons of stories like yours here, if you had read them FIRST you would have seen the same advice and would not have been so frantic.

 

[JuanTarantula]

Thank you all for your help and support.

At the moment Puka is doing fine. She's completely out of the exuvia and moving around the so called "ICU".

I still haven't figured out how to move her back into her enclosure, I know she would be better outside of the "ICU", in her actual enclosure, but I don't want to make this stressful and traumatic experience any worse for her. Any thoughts or suggestion on this particular issue will be greatly appreciated. At the moment I think it's probably best to let her harden and regain some strength without bothering her.

She does seem to be a bit uncomfortable, probably because of the excessive humidity at the so called "ICU". Damn! I feel terrible, I am such an idiot!

Anyway! Thanks guys,I'll report back later and hopefully someone can learn from my mistakes.

Why would you worry about how quick a natural process happened?

You really should have left it alone.

Strongly suggest you read about tarantulas here. Your husbandry can kill your T.

There’s tons of stories like yours here, if you had read them FIRST you would have seen the same advice and would not have been so frantic.

As I mentioned, I know I screwed up <edit> by acting rashly. No need to rub it in.

I am here to learn and share my experience so I can hopefully keep others from making the same mistakes.

You are quick to judge, but I did read FIRST. Maybe I was not clear, but I didn't want to move her, is not like I regularly grab her and move her out of her enclosure. In fact, is quite the opposite, I try to never bother her and only move her when absolutely necessary. The problem is she seemed ill (even dead), she was not showing any of the signs that suggest she was undergoing a moulting process (again, I read about moulting, and none of the descriptions fit what she looked or acted like). Unfortunately, she started showing signs of going through a moult only after I had already placed her in the so called "ICU".

I read on this and other forums, but even if you say there's tons of stories like mine, I did not see a single case that matched the characteristics of mine.

Also, I am not worried about a natural process, I worry because I know I may have affected what would otherwise be considered a natural process. I am hoping my actions did not bring any harm to my T, that's all.

I know I messed up! Just try to understand I did what I thought was best for my T. after reading and finding no real explanation for what was going on, other than "might be dehydration" or "she might be dying".

Anyway... thanks for your comments, but I suggest you take it back a notch with the judging and blaming, even if it is deserved. Aren't we here to learn and support each other?

 

[LucN]

Leave her be. When she's good and ready, she'll move out of the container. Still odd that the molting went by so fast. Usually, it takes them hours to pull themselves from their old exoskeleton. You'll know if something went wrong soon enough, but let's stay positive.

Edit : Just so you know, Viper is direct in his replies and doesn't sugarcoat. You'll get used to his replies if you stick around long enough. Not a bad person at all, he's just tired of having to explain things. Good thing I don't mind as I have enough time on my hands when I'm around. But yes, the absolute best resource is within this forum. Books may be helpful, but most of them provide dated and just plain wrong husbandry practices.

If there's any specific questions, feel free to hit me up unless someone else addresses it first. And one last thing, I may sound super-knowledgeable, but the cold truth is that even in 12 years of T keeping, I've only kept Brachypelma, Grammostola, Aphonopelma and Tliltocatl. I'm good at helping newcomers with the basic species anything else is beyond my experience. Just so you know.

 

[viper69]

Also, I am not worried about a natural process,?

You wrote you were worried......See below your words, not mine.

I'm also worried about how quick the moulting was.

They do indeed look dead as you seemed to think. And there are TONS of threads from decades worth of postings just like that. Posters wondering if they should touch, prod, etc their T. With people telling them the SAME info as people have told you here "Don't touch, leave it alone". Not sure if you are suggesting you couldn't find such threads, but if you couldn't your searching wasn't thorough enough.

 

[JuanTarantula]

Leave her be. When she's good and ready, she'll move out of the container. Still odd that the molting went by so fast. Usually, it takes them hours to pull themselves from their old exoskeleton. You'll know if something went wrong soon enough, but let's stay positive.

Thanks!!

She's been moving around the container for a while now, very close to the walls, so I think she might not like the excess humidity. But you are right, it's better to let her be for now.

I've read that they can hurt themselves if they fall or drop from what might seem innocuous heights, particularly after a moult since their exoskeletons are very fragile. That's why I worry about her trying to get out of the container too soon.

Also, since my ignorance and stupidity placed her in a traumatic and stressful situation, I don't want her to have it even worse by having to regain her strength in what might be and uncomfortable container.

I was also surprised that the moulting was so fast and even thought she could have rushed through it because of my doing, and that worried me. However, I've also read that some moultings can happen in 15 minutes, so I guess that's fine.

Again, thanks for your help and support. I am very grateful.

Latest Update!

She got out of the so called "ICU". It happened at some point during the latest 15 minutes.

I just hope she didn't hurt herself by climbing out of there.

I feel so guilty, hope she's fine.

I'll let you know later on.

 

[MrGhostMantis]

As I mentioned, I know I screwed up <edit> by acting rashly. No need to rub it in.

I am here to learn and share my experience so I can hopefully keep others from making the same mistakes.

You are quick to judge, but I did read FIRST. Maybe I was not clear, but I didn't want to move her, is not like I regularly grab her and move her out of her enclosure. In fact, is quite the opposite, I try to never bother her and only move her when absolutely necessary. The problem is she seemed ill (even dead), she was not showing any of the signs that suggest she was undergoing a moulting process (again, I read about moulting, and none of the descriptions fit what she looked or acted like). Unfortunately, she started showing signs of going through a moult only after I had already placed her in the so called "ICU".

I read on this and other forums, but even if you say there's tons of stories like mine, I did not see a single case that matched the characteristics of mine.

Also, I am not worried about a natural process, I worry because I know I may have affected what would otherwise be considered a natural process. I am hoping my actions did not bring any harm to my T, that's all.

I know I messed up! Just try to understand I did what I thought was best for my T. after reading and finding no real explanation for what was going on, other than "might be dehydration" or "she might be dying".

Anyway... thanks for your comments, but I suggest you take it back a notch with the judging and blaming, even if it is deserved. Aren't we here to learn and support each other?

Don’t worry about viper’s response. He’s seen this a ton and it just gets repetitive with him. Good on you for taking on all this new knowledge and being willing to learn.

 

[LucN]

Latest Update!

She got out of the so called "ICU". It happened at some point during the latest 15 minutes.

I just hope she didn't hurt herself by climbing out of there.

I feel so guilty, hope she's fine.

I'll let you know later on.

You've got a little trooper on your hands ! If she was strong enough to climb out, odds are that she's well and will recover within a week or two. Remember to allow her fangs to harden up and become black before feeding again. I'd say a week to a week and a half. Next time one of my adults molts and I can watch the whole process, I'll document how much time it actualy took her to pull herself out. You can now remove the ICU from her enclosure.

Pro Tip : Contrary to many sources out there, additional humidity will not help a sick tarantula. Making their home too wet can actually kill them. Too moist conditions brings mold and mites... and rare fungal infections.

 

[JuanTarantula]

Thanks guys!!!

I have learned a lot from you today. You have been very helpful. Hopefully my case can help someone else from making the same mistake.

Once this is done, I'll try to make a sort of abstract of the most important outtakes of my experience for other readers to have the information summarised and compiled.

Thanks Again, your awesome!

You've got a little trooper on your hands ! If she was strong enough to climb out, odds are that she's well and will recover within a week or two. Remember to allow her fangs to harden up and become black before feeding again. I'd say a week to a week and a half. Next time one of my adults molts and I can watch the whole process, I'll document how much time it actualy took her to pull herself out. You can now remove the ICU from her enclosure.

Pro Tip : Contrary to many sources out there, additional humidity will not help a sick tarantula. Making their home too wet can actually kill them. Too moist conditions brings mold and mites... and rare fungal infections.

Indeed she is!!

Yes, I'll be sure to wait at least a week before I feed her.

It would be cool to know if other G. Roseas go through the moulting as quick as Puka, maybe is a trait of the species.

At the moment she is curled up between the ICU and a wall of her enclosure, so I haven't been able to take out the ICU. As soon as she moves away, I'll take it out.

Your tip on humidity is very important. I have read about it too, that's also one of the reasons I was worried to let her go through the whole thing in the ICU. Good thing she climbed out on her own.

 

[cold blood]

I agree, I don't know why one would worry about the molting process going smoothly?

Don't beat yourself up...moving her like you did is far from a death sentence, as you see with your still alive t.....climbing out of the ICU is also not something that would pose a problem....fragile after molting, sure, but that doesn't mean they blow up if touched or fall apart if they move...lol.

Molting in an ICU, especially such a brisk molt, is of absolutely no consequence.

We all make mistakes, its part of the learning process....the first time my rose hair flipped to molt, I flipped her back over....it was only once I was at work that I realized my error....that t is still alive and well some 20 years later. Be happy your mistake was a learning experience, without any bad consequences.

 

[viper69]

This T has genes for survival!

@cold blood I don’t know why he was worried either. I’m always happy with a smooth and fast molt.

 

[Xharyel]

Just a quick thought, could the ICU have influenced the molting speed? Since it's more moist/humid compared to an actual enclosure, is it possible that humidity was the trigger for it to molt right after being placed in there?
I remember seeing a thread with a guy saying that humidity triggered his M. balfouri to molt.

While I do know the most important thing for a successful molt is to make sure the T is well hydrated, rather than bumping up the humidity, this thread makes me wonder...

 

[LucN]

I'm merely confused since I've never heard of an adult molt going by so quickly, even if we substract the preparation hours while initially on its back, it's the first time I see the pulling of its new exoskeleton go by so fast. Granted, I never actually took the time to properly and fully document the molting process from any of mine thus far... Maybe I should really sit down and take detailed notes...

Hold on ! There's actually a couple of literature reference which I have on hand. Both Dale Lund and John Browning have a detailed account of a molt with time stamps. Let me check those out real quick and I'll edit this post.

Edit : Ok, so pulling themselves out in minutes is not unheard of !

According to Lund (1977), his A. anax pulled herself out of her molt in 20 minutes or so.

Browning's (1981) T. vagans, however, took approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes to fully pull herself out.

So, the time needed to pull themselves out of their old exoskeleton is still quite variable.

Hopefully, the next time one of mine goes through a molt, I might get lucky and have the opportunity to fully observe and document how much time it takes them.