wyllomoon
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2006
- Messages
- 23
Hello Again,
I hate to be a pain in the butt here with all my questions, but your advice helped me to save the life of my T. blondi a few months ago when she lost a leg (thank you!), so this seems to be the best place to come for help.
I have a juvenile Nhandu Chromatus (aprox. a 2" leg span) that I just moved to a larger enclosure. Within an hour of being moved she/he flipped over on her back and started moulting. She wasn't showing any signs of moulting before the move or I wouldn't have disturbed her. She was still upright and walking around when she went into the new enclosure.
Anyhow, the moult took about 4 hours from start to finish, but she appears to be stuck. Six legs came out, two middle legs are dragging the exoskeleton along beneath her. I've read several articles about what to do about this and most include the following points:
- Wait 12 hours to see if the T gets out of the old skin on it's own.
- Mist the T with tepid water and hope for the best.
- Try pulling the skin gently with forceps or pushing it with a wet paint brush.
- Last resort: remove the legs.
I don't like the sound of that last suggestion.
Could anyone here offer additional advice? It's been about 8 hours now, I've misted the T with water and tried giving the old skin a little tug, but had no luck so far. Would it be wise to wait it out until morning before messing with the little critter anymore or does something need to be done immediately?
Thanks in advance.
Lisa
P.S. I did read the thread in the FAQ about this, but it seemed like a bit of a different situation than what was posted there.
I hate to be a pain in the butt here with all my questions, but your advice helped me to save the life of my T. blondi a few months ago when she lost a leg (thank you!), so this seems to be the best place to come for help.
I have a juvenile Nhandu Chromatus (aprox. a 2" leg span) that I just moved to a larger enclosure. Within an hour of being moved she/he flipped over on her back and started moulting. She wasn't showing any signs of moulting before the move or I wouldn't have disturbed her. She was still upright and walking around when she went into the new enclosure.
Anyhow, the moult took about 4 hours from start to finish, but she appears to be stuck. Six legs came out, two middle legs are dragging the exoskeleton along beneath her. I've read several articles about what to do about this and most include the following points:
- Wait 12 hours to see if the T gets out of the old skin on it's own.
- Mist the T with tepid water and hope for the best.
- Try pulling the skin gently with forceps or pushing it with a wet paint brush.
- Last resort: remove the legs.
I don't like the sound of that last suggestion.
Could anyone here offer additional advice? It's been about 8 hours now, I've misted the T with water and tried giving the old skin a little tug, but had no luck so far. Would it be wise to wait it out until morning before messing with the little critter anymore or does something need to be done immediately?
Thanks in advance.
Lisa
P.S. I did read the thread in the FAQ about this, but it seemed like a bit of a different situation than what was posted there.