Molting questions - molting mats & bad molts

[SonOfSerket]

Hi, all.

I just wanted to ask a couple of questions about molting in T's, including asking for some ideas on what could have caused a bad molt in my Brachypelma auratum, which I now know is male. Long story short, this is the first molt he's had happen since I got him back in November, and it was particularly bad, with him losing right legs III and IV in the process.

The main thing I wanted to know was whether the molting mat actually helps them get out of the old exoskeleton? I know it is usually covered in urticating hairs to deter predators during this vulnerable time, but does it somehow also assist with the process of pulling themselves out of the exuvia?

The main reason I asked this was that the little guy did something strange. He laid a molting mat in one corner of his enclosure, but then proceeded to molt elsewhere, not on a mat. Could this have been a potential factor in the bad molt? If not, do any of you have any ideas on other factors that could have resulted in the bad molt? I think the humidity should have been high enough, as it was about 75%. Is that TOO low during molting for B. auratum?

I'd really appreciate any information any of you can provide. Thanks in advance!

 

[viper69]

and it was particularly bad, with him losing right legs III and IV in the process

If he's a MM, then, him dying in the next molt is both rare, and expected. They usually do not molt after maturity.

whether the molting mat actually helps them get out of the old exoskeleton?

I've always felt that was secondary, but technically I don't know.

Could this have been a potential factor in the bad molt?

Unknown

ideas on other factors that could have resulted in the bad molt?

I've never learned of any IME. They make it or they don't.

s that TOO low during molting for B. auratum?

Not in my experience. I've never worried about humidity in a molt- snakes yes, not Ts. However that does not mean I've been lucky for these past decades either, though the odds are unlikely to have so many molts and survival if it was THAT critical.