Juvenile B. Smithi - how often do they molt??

[Samwise]

So our female B. Smithi (she's about 3")arrived just before christmas with no problems (well, she lost a leg, but no biggie, she seems okay). She molted 2 days after she arrived - we were quite shocked being new to this and all. but she came out of it well. We fed her a week later and she ate. 2 days later and she's barricaded herself in the hide and blocked off the entrance with substrate - she's been like this for almost a week.

we just wanted to get an idea of how often she is going to molt - i mean, she's just molted so she wouldnt be going into premolt already would she? any reason she would be barricading herself like this? Probably just beginner jitters but wanted to make sure.

thanks in advance!

 

[Poec54]

Molt frequency of slings/juveniles is heavily dependent on temps and amount of food. Smithi's a slow grower.

 

[cold blood]

At that size with good temps and feeding schedule I would expect it to molt every 3-6 months...but there is not set time period, some molt a little faster, some individuals molt much less frequently. If its barricaded in, just wait till it emerges, which it will do when hungry. There is no way its back in pre-molt, its likely just acclimating, and burrowing is just part of that process.

 

[Samwise]

Thanks for info im still waiting for her to emerge, i will wait and wait and wait! cause thats real love

 

[viper69]

we just wanted to get an idea of how often she is going to molt

I keep feeding and molting records of all my Ts. For a decent comparison, when my B emilia (a close relative to B smithi) hit 3" DLS, from 2013-2015 she has molted once year and is currently about 4.5" DLS. Temps 75F Day/ 70-72F night. She's just a hair smaller than my female B smithi who is several years older than her actually.

As for feeding, suffice to say I feed her whenever she's hungry. I don't have her on a set schedule. That means she may eat 8 crickets in a week and continue regular eating, she's a pig. Or she may not get food for 1-3 weeks because of various reasons. In short she's not on some Nazi feeding program.

 

[bryverine]

Thanks for info im still waiting for her to emerge, i will wait and wait and wait! cause thats real love

Get ready for a long wait! Mine will periodically barracade her hole to emerge weeks later when she's hungry again.
Though I'm no standard for molting, I got mine about 1.5-2" in 2012; she's molted maybe 6-7 times (give or take 2). She just molted last month after not eating for about three months and is about 4-5".

 

[Samwise]

Get ready for a long wait! Mine will periodically barracade her hole to emerge weeks later when she's hungry again.
Though I'm no standard for molting, I got mine about 1.5-2" in 2012; she's molted maybe 6-7 times (give or take 2). She just molted last month after not eating for about three months and is about 4-5".