I wonder if this theory has ever been thought of?

[atmosphere]

With all the people I see having many muti-molts.I have just seen it myself.If T's living in the same house release some type of hormone or something that causes other T's to molt. I wonder if it's ever been studied? Like I know if say two adult females move in to the same house there menstral cycles will start to fall insync with each other. Could T's be doing this same thing. I just thought I'd throw it out there. It seems even T's with differant growth rates will molt together on the same day.

 

[Code Monkey]

Being solitary in nature, there would be no reason for such a system to have evolved, though.

I suspect that people just like to notice the coincidences and forget about all the haphazard moultings. I've got 57 Ts and more than 30 of those are small slings. It's a given that in any given week there's probably somebody moulting, and probably a couple of somebodies moulting, so of course grouping appear to happen.

If there's anything of significance at all to the apparent clusters of moults, it would be far more likely to be tied into day length, lunar cycle, or something of that nature than a complex chemical messenger that would not have a role in anything other than our decidedly artifical captive environments.

 

[atmosphere]

Originally posted by Code Monkey
Being solitary in nature, there would be no reason for such a system to have evolved, though.

I suspect that people just like to notice the coincidences and forget about all the haphazard moultings. I've got 57 Ts and more than 30 of those are small slings. It's a given that in any given week there's probably somebody moulting, and probably a couple of somebodies moulting, so of course grouping appear to happen.

If there's anything of significance at all to the apparent clusters of moults, it would be far more likely to be tied into day length, lunar cycle, or something of that nature than a complex chemical messenger that would not have a role in anything other than our decidedly artifical captive environments.

Yea lunar cycles and day length would be good theorys.Better then mine actually I was hopeing someone would add to this thread.

 

[Steve Nunn]

Totally agree with CM. Theraphosids possess slit sensillae, which tell the T when it's exoskeleton is overstressed, this will trigger a molt. I have no idea why this isn't better known among more of the advanced keepers, I've heard people ponder this for eons on most of the boards. Anyways slit sensillae look like short furrows on the exoskeleton under a microscope and these "furrows" measure stress on the T's outer shell, too much stress will trigger a molt. This probably isn't the only trigger for a molt though, just one of them (I believe another is chemical in nature).

Cheers,
Steve

 

[luther]

In adult T's I had assumed that the process is anual, timed to coincide with the local insect population's breeding cycle. It makes sense to molt into a new skin, ready to fatten up on this year's bounty.

 

[MizM]

Didn't TTKG mention something about hormones triggering a molt? (I don't have it with me... an unusual thing!)

 

[MrDeranged]

I've also found that Barometric pressure may have something to do with it. In general, I've noticed that alot of my t's will molt around a storm coming up. Who knows....

Scott

 

[Garrick]

I do have a lot of my spiders molting lately, but it's clearly coincidence more than anything else. What's molted in the last month varies in age from spiderling to juvi to adult, in gender from male to female, in species from old world to new world. There is no connection, other than they've grown and it's time (and they're not G. rosea. God only knows when and why the adults of that species decide to molt. I have a large red phase who laid eggs. Her butt was balloon while pregnant, and I fed her back into glorious fatness after she dropped eggs, too. That was over two years ago. She's still eating regularly, but I digress). To clarify, I've got a shoebox full of 24 A. avic s'lings from the same sac. Only two of those molted this month. Out of 6 P. murinus juvs, two molted and the others are feeding still. Two female P. irminia juvs from the same sac are now about a month and a half apart in their molting schedule. All my spiders live in the same cabinet in the garage and I fed 'em all at the same time.
It depends on the individual bug, food, and temps; I doubt other spiders have an influence.

-Garrick

 

[ines68]

I go with the lunar cycles theory, when my Ts molt, there was a lot of people telling here that their Ts has molted. I found it extraordinary because the distance of the places where we live.