molt unfolding

[gregor]

how do you unfold molts of smaller tarantulas?

 

[Konstantin Konstantinov]

Hi
Really gently,taking your time and filled with hope you won't destroy it or at least the bits that you need.lol
Seriously thats really it
Regards Konstantin

 

[NMTs]

The old trick of soaking them in water with a drop or 2 of dish soap really works to soften them up and make them more pliable. Use a couple of toothpicks to spread it out on a flat surface.

 

[arthurliuyz]

I use insect pins.

 

[Shinn]

Good lighting, water, mild detergent if the molt dried out, fine tools, and lots and lots of patience. It's fine if you don't succeed the first few times. Practice makes perfect.

I ripped my first few sets of molt and didn't know how tell inside from outside of the molt.

 

[JonnyTorch]

What @NMTs said. I use a little bottle cap from a Gatorade bottle, fill it with water, drop 1-2 drops of soap in it and gently mix it so it's not super bubbly. Then put the abdomen section inside the cup. Let sit for 5-10 minutes and unfold with two toothpics onto a flat surface. It's easier the bigger they are. The smaller they are it can be difficult.

 

[NMTs]

I did one yesterday from my D. rufoniger that measured 1.25" DLS stretched out. Turned out to be male (). That is about the smallest that I can manage with my sausage fingers, but I know other folks that can successfully unfurl and sex ones as small as 1/2"!

 

[JonnyTorch]

I did one yesterday from my D. rufoniger that measured 1.25" DLS stretched out. Turned out to be male (). That is about the smallest that I can manage with my sausage fingers, but I know other folks that can successfully unfurl and sex ones as small as 1/2"!
View attachment 429838

That's a bit too small for me. Just FYI, size depends a lot on checking molts with the naked eye. I have a confirmed female B. hamorii that is about 4" that I raised since it was .75" and it looked male (No visible spermatheca) for every molt up until it was about 3.5" and BAM, the spermatheca about punched me in the face. It wasn't visible at all until the last molt she had.

 

[NMTs]

That's a bit too small for me. Just FYI, size depends a lot on checking molts with the naked eye. I have a confirmed female B. hamorii that is about 4" that I raised since it was .75" and it looked male (No visible spermatheca) for every molt up until it was about 3.5" and BAM, the spermatheca about punched me in the face. It wasn't visible at all until the last molt she had.

Quite a few of my T's are smaller species, so I've had to get used to working with small molts. You're right, though - there's no way I could sex those little ones without magnification, even on my best day! I bought a $20 pocket microscope from Amazon and it has been a very helpful tool. It'll do 60X up to 120X magnification. Even with that, I still check molts from T's I've sexed previously, just in case I missed something...

Quite a few of my T's are smaller species, so I've had to get used to working with small molts. You're right, though - there's no way I could sex those little ones without magnification, even on my best day! I bought a $20 pocket microscope from Amazon and it has been a very helpful tool. It'll do 60X up to 120X magnification. Even with that, I still check molts from T's I've sexed previously, just in case I missed something...

Here's one for example, just molted this morning... 1.5" DLS Thrixopelma pruriens, now a confirmed female:




I could almost make out those spermathecae with a regular 10X magnifying glass, but the pocket scope shows them clearly at 60X magnification.