New Vinegaroon Possibly in Premolt and Barely Moving

[microbial6]

First time posting and first time vinegaroon owner. My new buddy "Pickle" got here yesterday (if you're shaped like a pickle and you shoot vinegar out of your bum, you get named Pickle), but when I removed it from the shipping box it was upside and by all means stiff and dead looking. I put it in its new viv to be safe though and after some time it started responding to my touch and waving its antenna limbs around. Over the next few hours it started reacting more to stimuli (moving the 2nd and 3rd legs, opening and closing its pedipalps/arching its back), and when I put water gel in front of it, it seemed to be drinking from it. It has an extremely swollen and pale opisthoma so I'm assuming it's in premolt and shouldn't have been shipped, but it's here now so I want to do what I can. It's almost certainly not gravid either because it's pretty juvenile looking.

The problem is though... I know they like to molt underground over a long period of time, and obviously this one is very much not underground. I put a little half log over it to make it feel more secure but is there anything else I can do to help it successfully molt? It still isn't walking around or anything, but it's very reactive to stimuli and I don't want it to feel stressed. Should I dig a burrow for it? Or just leave it under the half log but try to cover the entrance up a bit to stop so much light going in? Thanks for any help, I love this little pickle already so I hope it pulls through. I'll try to post a pic in comments.

 

[Smotzer]

Can you post pictures of your whole set up?

Essentially there’s not much you can do besides make sure it has deep moist substrate to burrow in but can’t make it burrow thoug. I wouldn’t dig one for it they are adept at that but you could prestart one undebreath the log if it’s partially buried. But I never did that for any of mine they did it themselves.

 

[microbial6]

Unfortunately it did die. I waited a few days and it began to get noticeably squishy sad as it had a great bioactive setup and would have been a happy little thing. Next one I’m getting will be local to avoid this.

 

[AmazingNature]

Hey that was a great reason and name-Pickle
Thats how I try to name things ;for a 'reason' or behavior/or other significant fact
I once had a BABY FEMALE sugarglider because i tried to explain it to a girl and siad it can glide with skin between its legs
she was like
' so its like a bat?.
.no...but it runs around and climbs my leg all the way up to sit on my head
her-oh so its like a monkey
me . no..
later that day im laughing im remembering the convo its a bat... its a monkey...which became in my head (batmonkey)

Bat...B +..
m onkey-unky
=Bunky

 

[AmazingNature]

EDIT

 

[microbial6]

Hey that was a great reason and name-Pickle
Thats how I try to name things ;for a 'reason' or behavior/or other significant fact
I once had a BABY FEMALE sugarglider because i tried to explain it to a girl and siad it can glide with skin between its legs
she was like
' so its like a bat?.
.no...but it runs around and climbs my leg all the way up to sit on my head
her-oh so its like a monkey
me . no..
later that day im laughing im remembering the convo its a bat... its a monkey...which became in my head (batmonkey)

Bat...B +..
m onkey-unky
=Bunky

Hahaha that’s great. Bunky is such a cute name too! I actually just named my D. medius “Moody” because not only is he a moody little spaz, there’s a scene in one of the Harry Potter movies involving a whipspider and a character named Mad Eye Moody haha. I need a name for my recently sexed T. stirmi now though, that one will be fun to name haha