my blondi in a bad molt

Gillian

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Hi all,
Damnit! I'm feeding everyone, just now, and made my way to Kaja, my blondi. She is...
* flat on her back, under her hide log.
* her legs are all spread out.
* she appeared dead, so i VERY gently touched her. tiny bit of movement in a few legs.
* the skin on her abdomen is really wrinkled
* all 4 booklungs are VERY apparent
* i drenched the inside of her enclosure, and then paced the house, upset
* i came back, and she is moving her legs a lot more
* none of her appears to have been outside the exuvium
* she wasn't molting yesterday, so i'm hoping it was today, and i caught her


Damnit! I guess bleeding hearts like myself shouldn't have pets, as it upsets me tremendously, when they die. (I'm hoping she doesn't) Yeah, sure, there are a ton of blondis out there, but only 1 Kaja.

Peace,
Gillian
(i'll not sleep well tonight)
 

MrT

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What makes you think she is in trouble?

Ernie
 

Gillian

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Ernie,
I haven't seen her like this before, with her abdomen all shriveled up like that. She started moving as soon as the moisture went up. (sorry..I'm a worrisome t mom)


I just checked, and she has "popped her top". She was starting to come out...
Peace,
Gillian
 

Bjorgly

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Gillian,

Sometimes they lie on their backs for very long times before they molt. Even my 1.5" G.pulchra spiderling went about 8 hours before molting, I would imagine larger spiders take longer before they molt. I was worried just like you but everything turned out ok.

Mark
 

MrT

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Thats great,:)
I have one molting as we speak. Dueling molts. :D

Ernie
 

belewfripp

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Also, wrinkled abdominal skin can be just another sign of molting. Sometimes as it loosens it gets a wrinkled appearance because it isn't pulled 'taut' over the spider, as it were. It sounds like she's fine.

Adrian
 

Gillian

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made it..*phew*

Btw, thanks guys..Sorry to be such a crepe hanger. I just checked her, and she's fine. The last I checked her, before I HAD to go to sleep, was 11:45. I'll be exhasuted at work, but I don't care. I've heard over and over how, they don't make it in molt. Btw, OMG, she's HUGE! Her exuvium measures 5.5 inches..
I was checking her last night, when something caught the light of my flashlight. It was her fangs..Damn, I'd hate to be nailed by those..Big, fat, and long!

Ernie, I hope your's made it through ok.

I guess the look of her abdomen, and her stark, white booklungs is what frightened me. It appeared as if she'd been there a long time. As she was recovering, on her back..I noticed how t's can sometimes be sexed, that way. The swollen area between the 2 sets of booklungs was very apparent.

Ok, a couple of questions. I have seen Joy's really big, yet cool blondi terrarium. I have a 45G, and was wondering, if this would work for her..I just thought that the look of a really BIG t in a really spacious terratium would be so cool.

Also, when molting, does all the fluid pump out of the abdomen, to the legs? She had such a nice round, plump abdomen, and now its teensy.
Peace and, thanks..:)
Gillian
(my baby is definitely getting a pinky in a few days)
 

Vayu Son

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><

Gillian,

Most T's ive seen in molt have that wrinkled skin look with the booklungs bulging out, its just a stage in the process. The exuvium is pretty moist when it first comes off, i would imagine this is why it wrinkles. Actually, her new shell is wrinkled too, but its hard to see. They get their real length a couple days after the molt(usually) as it begins to expand.

Also it has been theorized that external humidity conditions really have nothing to do with the molt process once it begins. It does however depend on the spiders relative hydration before the molt begins. That said, it could be dangerous to drench the enclosure during molt since it takes surprisingly little water in the booklungs to drown and kill an immobile T.


-V
 

Gillian

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Vayu,
Perhaps I should have been more explanatory about "drenching". I got her enclosure very damp, but not where she was. There, it was hardly damp, and none went on her..:)
 
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