Mature male molts again??????

[davegrimm1]

My male b angustum molted out mature last summer and I have bred him with my female quite a few times , but yestereday I notice that he attempted to molt again, it was not successful because one of the legs and the apendages that contain the sex organs would not come loose, so he insidentaly died from it. I have never heard of a male molting out after maturing. I'm sure this is not common, but has anyone heard of this occuring ?

Dave

 

[maxident213]

It happens once in a blue moon, but rarely ends successfully.

 

[Midnightrdr456]

yea like was said, its very rare that it happens, and even rarer that they survive it. Most of the time they would die in the molt and even more likely is just pass on before even trying to molt

 

[DeTwan]

I've heard of it happening but even if the male survives he will lose his sex organs and be infertile.

 

[Stylopidae]

I've heard of it happening but even if the male survives he will lose his sex organs and be infertile.

Not always, but that is a common side effect of the post ultimate moult.

 

[C_Strike]

without trying to hyjack your thread..
Im wondering then, how many people have had encounters with males surviving a post ultimate molt?
Have they still had the sex drive?
Has any1 ever actually managed to free the sex organs and find the male continues making sperm webs? longshot..but hey, gotta ask!

 

[RED-LEG]

When I used to work in a reptile shop, we had a Brachypelma alboilosa adult male which moulted again after maturing. He lost both his palps and one of his front legs, but survived!

We kept him for around three months... untill some one sold him!

 

[Arachnoheebs]

I have a post (U) male B. angustum that was given to me as an ultimate male by Eric Reynolds (GoTerps). I too saw him on his back, getting ready to molt. Luckily, I was at home when it happened and was able to watch and help him. It took him about 8 hours and he was tired! He lost one palp in the molt and cast off the other one after a few days. I think I started a thread on here somewhere about it at the time with pics. It was somewhere around late spring/early summer 06. He still goes through all of the motions, builds a sperm web, crawls under, works a while and then sits on top of it. Eric said it was RARE, but can happen. He has the longest legs I have ever seen! He pounces on his food since he has no palps to help catch and hold on to it, but he does just fine. He is very special to me. I am hoping he makes it through his next post (U) molt, too!

Thx...
Keri

 

[LaneyKaz]

I had an avic that survived two post ultimate molts and then even tried for a third but he got stuck and wasn't able to successfully molt and later died...after his first Post ultimate molt he lost his palps and after the second his legs were pretty messed up but he lived way longer than he was supposed to. It was a pretty amazing thing to have him around that long!

 

[C_Strike]

try and post pics too if you have any.
Very interesting though

 

[M.F.Bagaturov]

You will find some info here:
http://tarantulas.tropica.ru/en/biology/reproduction#Life

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

I too have a male who made a post-ultimate molt successfully. It is a G. rosea and all appendages made it out ok. The only difference is that the once pronounced tibial spurs turned to small spike looking structures and the papal bulbs look reduced in size. I can't get a clear look at them because the spider is very jumpy but all in all it looks and acts like a normal mature male only without the "drive." Luckily enough the cast excuvia of when he was a normal mature male is fully intact and when the male dies, I believe a published pictoral of the differences will be done. It's absolutely amazing how normal this "post mature" G. rosea looks.

- Lonnie

 

[Joy]

I have had 7 or 8 males attempt post-ultimate molts. Only 3 of them survived the experience. One managed to retain a single mangled palp, but the others lost them, effectively preventing them from ever mating again

They did seem to retain their sex drives, however. All of them would drum assiduously to females, and the one who retained his palp was forever getting it tangled up in his sperm webs, so that I would have to periodically help him free himself. I currently have a post-ult B. albopilosum who lost both palps and who has covered his vivaria with silk in the manner of P. murinus or C. cyaneopubescens. I assume these are sperm webs, which he made and then was at a loss to know what to do with!

I have attached a picture of him below. He lost 2 other legs besides his palps in the molt, meaning he know looks more like an insect than an arachnid! Notice the legs that remain are very long and attenuated, which I have found typical of males who have undergone a successful post-ultimate molt.

Joy