Molting Taking to long

TarantulaTanker

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 12, 2016
Messages
13
Can anybody explain why my A.Versicolor hasn't started to molt?

Its been 16 hours since she laid on her back.

Can anyone explain what's wrong with her?
 

Flexzone

Arachnodemon
Joined
Mar 1, 2015
Messages
721
Pics of specimen and enclosure, Whats is size, Depending on how large and\or old the specimen is molting can take a good amount of hours to fully complete, Give it at least 24 hrs, Should 36-48 hrs pass and the the tarantula does not seem to be making any progress at all over that time it may be stuck, But best to leave it be tell then.
 

Venom1080

Arachnoemperor
Joined
Sep 24, 2015
Messages
4,607
my rosie took nearly 40 hours to molt. +1 to what tarantula1995 said. slings shouldnt take more than 8 hours or so to molt.
 

Andy00

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Messages
153
I have a .5" versicolor that flips on its back for a good hour and then flips back on its feet. She is in premolt, so I think she's just messing with me. But who knows tarantulas r strange
 

Haksilence

Bad At Titles
Arachnosupporter
Joined
Dec 6, 2015
Messages
405
I have a .5" versicolor that flips on its back for a good hour and then flips back on its feet. She is in premolt, so I think she's just messing with me. But who knows tarantulas r strange
One of my P Mets did that to me for a week.
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
3,291
It's amazing how often we get asked for help with absolutely no details given :rolleyes:

As has been said, we need way more information. How large is it? Do you know for a fact it's a "her"? Have you seen it move at all? In short, you very likely have nothing to worry about. However, for future reference, the devil is in the details. And pictures never hurt anyone.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
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Dec 8, 2006
Messages
19,068
It's amazing how often we get asked for help with absolutely no details given :rolleyes:

As has been said, we need way more information. How large is it? Do you know for a fact it's a "her"? Have you seen it move at all? In short, you very likely have nothing to worry about. However, for future reference, the devil is in the details. And pictures never hurt anyone.
Exactly! When there's no information provided, all one can accurately answer are the questions provided. One could go on and speculate to the various possibilities, suggestions blah blah, and it would be worthless. Like those people that ask for a new tarantula suggestion and provide no info after said request. So you mention a few, and then they say "I already have that one", "I don't like blue/orange or..." Like really? Where was your brain when you asked for suggestions. I stopped answering that specific question a long time ago. If they provide more info, that's a different story.
 

TarantulaTanker

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 12, 2016
Messages
13
My A.versi is roughly 2.5"
She did a sucessfull molt last 2 months, only taking 1 hour to complete.

But this made me worry and till now he/she hasn't shown any signs of being alive.

Its been 34 hours now.

Is he/she dead?
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
3,291
My A.versi is roughly 2.5"
She did a sucessfull molt last 2 months, only taking 1 hour to complete.

But this made me worry and till now he/she hasn't shown any signs of being alive.

Its been 34 hours now.

Is he/she dead?
At this point, unfortunately, it has most likely passed. If it's not dead already, it has hardened inside of the old exoskeleton, and there's not much you can do. It won't hurt to leave it be for another day, but after that, I'd personally call it quits. I'm truly sorry to hear that, but at this point, we need to take it as a learning lesson. Bad molts happen - I just had one myself a few weeks ago. Usually there is nothing that you could have done to avoid it, however, pictures would help us critique your care. Avics are very fragile spiders, and while they're beautiful, they need some care. A user that has already posted on this thread, @viper69, is one of the best avic keepers on this forum. If you give some photos, I'm sure he'd be willing to throw in his two cents.
 

TarantulaTanker

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 12, 2016
Messages
13
At this point, unfortunately, it has most likely passed. If it's not dead already, it has hardened inside of the old exoskeleton, and there's not much you can do. It won't hurt to leave it be for another day, but after that, I'd personally call it quits. I'm truly sorry to hear that, but at this point, we need to take it as a learning lesson. Bad molts happen - I just had one myself a few weeks ago. Usually there is nothing that you could have done to avoid it, however, pictures would help us critique your care. Avics are very fragile spiders, and while they're beautiful, they need some care. A user that has already posted on this thread, @viper69, is one of the best avic keepers on this forum. If you give some photos, I'm sure he'd be willing to throw in his two cents.
I do own 4 avic species and 1 is the A.versi

A.diversipes 3"
A.braumhenseni 2.9"
A.metallica 3"
A.avicularia 4"

All did molted easily and didn't took long.


My A.met molted last week, with ease.

I can't seem to understand why my A.versi did not do so well.

Have you had an A.met sling that died of bad molts?

Or any T's that did.
If yes how many did die from your care?
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
3,291
I do own 4 avic species and 1 is the A.versi

A.diversipes 3"
A.braumhenseni 2.9"
A.metallica 3"
A.avicularia 4"

All did molted easily and didn't took long.


My A.met molted last week, with ease.

I can't seem to understand why my A.versi did not do so well.

Have you had an A.met sling that died of bad molts?

Or any T's that did.
If yes how many did die from your care?
I don't keep avics, so you're going to hear about terrestrials from me. For me, almost every T that has died specifically by getting stuck in a molt has bad circumstances.

My G. rosea decided to molt a few days after I rehoused her. I bought her from a guy on Craiglist who had the whole gambit of poor husbandry - heat mat, sponge in the water, you name it. She barely hit the substrate of her new home before flipping. I knew she was in premolt, but not that bad.

I had a C. andersoni that decided to molt during a two-day power outage in the middle of December. My house dipped to the high 40's F (below 10C) that night, and she didn't make it.

My B. vagans simply got stuck with no explanation.

Note that none of these were slings - every single one was either a juvie or a subadult, right around the size you're describing. Given your care history, I'd say it was simply a bad molt, nothing you could have done about it. That's just an educated guess, though.
 

TarantulaTanker

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 12, 2016
Messages
13
I don't keep avics, so you're going to hear about terrestrials from me. For me, almost every T that has died specifically by getting stuck in a molt has bad circumstances.

My G. rosea decided to molt a few days after I rehoused her. I bought her from a guy on Craiglist who had the whole gambit of poor husbandry - heat mat, sponge in the water, you name it. She barely hit the substrate of her new home before flipping. I knew she was in premolt, but not that bad.

I had a C. andersoni that decided to molt during a two-day power outage in the middle of December. My house dipped to the high 40's F (below 10C) that night, and she didn't make it.

My B. vagans simply got stuck with no explanation.

Note that none of these were slings - every single one was either a juvie or a subadult, right around the size you're describing. Given your care history, I'd say it was simply a bad molt, nothing you could have done about it. That's just an educated guess, though.
Thanks, atleast now I know that I'm not the only one getting a bad experience with T's :)
 

Storm76

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 30, 2012
Messages
3,794
With the amount of offspring in a sac from nearly every Avic species out there (minus such as minatrix who only have like 20-40), it's easy to assume that some probably "aren't cut out ot make it". It does happen despite the best and correct care sometimes. I've lost a few sling over the years while their brothers/sisters just molted fine. They're very delicate animals and when that small there's really not much you can do if they get stuck. Perhaps they just don't have the strength to pull through the ordeal, perhaps a defect somewhere prevents them from it. No matter the reason, if the T was cared for correctly, don't feel bad about it get some more slings and try again.

Personally, I love raising slings to adults. Not only do they grow on me way more that way, because you see their personality develop, but it proves your care is working out. That's just my opinion, though.
 

awiec

Arachnoprince
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
1,325
With the amount of offspring in a sac from nearly every Avic species out there (minus such as minatrix who only have like 20-40), it's easy to assume that some probably "aren't cut out ot make it". It does happen despite the best and correct care sometimes. I've lost a few sling over the years while their brothers/sisters just molted fine. They're very delicate animals and when that small there's really not much you can do if they get stuck. Perhaps they just don't have the strength to pull through the ordeal, perhaps a defect somewhere prevents them from it. No matter the reason, if the T was cared for correctly, don't feel bad about it get some more slings and try again.

Personally, I love raising slings to adults. Not only do they grow on me way more that way, because you see their personality develop, but it proves your care is working out. That's just my opinion, though.
I've experienced it many times myself, they have a lot of offspring because spiders are kinda low on the food chain, a lot will get eaten with 1 or 2 making it to adulthood to breed. In captivity we "baby" them to where the genetically weak individuals do end up being sold to people. The molting process requires an orchestra of enzymes breaking down the old exo and the spider must pump its heart very fast to build pressure so it can bust out of the weakened exo. If one of those little steps are messed up you have a spider who can't get out and will starve or exhaust itself to death. I had one of my Brazilian wandering spiders get stuck and it was too far in the molt that I could not help it even though I've assisted several of my spiders out of molts.
 
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