Mexican Red Knee molting issues

DRamsey89

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Mar 2, 2017
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I have a mexican red knee juv tarantula which is molting. He/she seems to be having trouble removing his/her old skin. Shes been struggling for two days with it now. More recently she seems to have sort of curled up with the exception of one leg. Obviously there is a chance that ot has been a particually bald molt and he/she is exhausted or worse. We just dont know what to do. Has this happened to anyone before? What should we do?
Thanks
 

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Venom1080

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Sep 24, 2015
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Could you get some closer shots? Looks dead to me, I don't see a molting mat.
 

Venom1080

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Yeah, definitely molting.. probably stuck too if it's been like thsof rotwo days.
I don't have much experience with stuck molts but maybe @cold blood will know more.
 

Andrea82

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Is there any movement at all?
Can you tell which parts of the body are stuck in the old skin? If it is just the legs that are stuck, it may have a chance, if there is movement.
 

DRamsey89

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Is there any movement at all?
Can you tell which parts of the body are stuck in the old skin? If it is just the legs that are stuck, it may have a chance, if there is movement.
It looks like its rear two legs on the left are still in its old skin with its abdomen. Other legs seem to be free. There was movement yesterday but none that ive seen today although ive been at work so there might have been.
 

Andrea82

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That sucks. If it were the legs only, it had a fighting chance, but with the abdomen stuck as well.. not so much. You coukd try with a wet q-tip to soften it up, but I'm afraid there is not much chance of it surviving :(.
 

cold blood

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2 days is too long to wait to be able to help this t. Its exo has almost certainly hardened by now. And since its now curling, its likely dead or on the verge.

Wet q tips (some have had luck with wet paintbrushes) may be able to help if you are lucky...may not have many legs when you are done, but its the only way survival is even remotely possible.

This little guy got stuck like this in its first molt ever, I freed it, but could only save the palps and one leg on each side...still this one recovered.

There's a point with a bad molt where you need to intervene as death is inevitable. You have to be careful and gentle, its nerve wracking to be sure...but you have to act and act confidently, as even if you aren't successful, results are the same as doing nothing....gotta try.

I will say that the wet q tip works really well for removing the abdomen exo, I just place it and roll the q tip backward to gently slide it back...when the exo is still soft, it slides right off rather easily (at least it has for me).
 
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