P. metallica premolt.... hide too small:/

Anoplogaster

Arachnodemon
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Jan 15, 2017
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Well, I had been meaning to rehouse my metallica for a while, but have been putting it off. Now, she is in premolt:banghead:

The problem I'm having is she normally closes off her cork hide and molts in there. But now, she is much larger and might have a difficult time molting safely in that same hide.

Question: Should I rehouse (and stress) her while in premolt? Or elect to wait and hope for the best? I'm fairly confident that a spider will not put itself into a bad situation that easily. But I keep having nightmares about her trying to molt inside that hide and getting stuck:(
 

Venom1080

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If shes in early premolt i would rehouse her. better to have a stressed spider molting than one molting in a too small hide..
 

DrowsyLids

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I prefer rehousing in premolt as opposed to post molt with OWs as they are almost sloth-like and don't give me too much trouble. I can't give any advice in regards to how it stresses the T, because I have no solid info on it. I can say I have never had issues with their molt after doing this. They're going to get stressed either now or after they molt depending on whenever you decide to move them.
 

viper69

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I'm fairly confident that a spider will not put itself into a bad situation that easily
Absolutely not true- it happens--- Rehouse that T.

I had an young female P. irminia female do it twice, she had only 4 legs after all her craziness.
 

Anoplogaster

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I prefer rehousing in premolt as opposed to post molt with OWs as they are almost sloth-like and don't give me too much trouble. I can't give any advice in regards to how it stresses the T, because I have no solid info on it. I can say I have never had issues with their molt after doing this. They're going to get stressed either now or after they molt depending on whenever you decide to move them.
Hmm.... that's a good point! I should take advantage of her sluggishness.
 

gypsy cola

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I have seen it goes both ways. You can be surprised what a T can do in a tiny spacy but... why risk it if you can change it.
 

Anoplogaster

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Well, she has plenty of room for a molt now:) I actually expected her to do it much sooner. Oh well.... at least I can stop worrying now.

And I'm totally making it a rule to rehouse OWs in premolt! This spider is normally a blue blur. But in premolt, she acted like an avic.... with a few lazy strikes here and there.
 

Christian Jocson

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Since the OP has solved his problem, I reckon I can ask my question here vs starting a whole new thread.

I have a 4" P.metallica that has been in premolt for quite some time now. Back in December is when she got dull in color, refused food and started to act more aggressive than usual. She even blocked her cork tube off. Unfortunately I had to remove her from her enclosure and pack her in a small deli cup as I was in the middle of moving. Since then she has been in her new exclosure and has gotten comfortable in it. The thing is it's been about a month and a half since she initially webbed herself in her cork tube and she still has not molted. During the day she is webbed off in her new cork tube but at night I sometimes find her wandering around her enclosure. She's very brown/gray in color which makes me wonder why she hasn't molted and why she wanders around at night. Any thoughts?

Pictured below is when I caught her hanging out outside her cork tube
 

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Anoplogaster

Arachnodemon
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Since the OP has solved his problem, I reckon I can ask my question here vs starting a whole new thread.

I have a 4" P.metallica that has been in premolt for quite some time now. Back in December is when she got dull in color, refused food and started to act more aggressive than usual. She even blocked her cork tube off. Unfortunately I had to remove her from her enclosure and pack her in a small deli cup as I was in the middle of moving. Since then she has been in her new exclosure and has gotten comfortable in it. The thing is it's been about a month and a half since she initially webbed herself in her cork tube and she still has not molted. During the day she is webbed off in her new cork tube but at night I sometimes find her wandering around her enclosure. She's very brown/gray in color which makes me wonder why she hasn't molted and why she wanders around at night. Any thoughts?

Pictured below is when I caught her hanging out outside her cork tube
Well, mine started wandering too. That's actually what got me to take notice that the hide may have been too small. I was thinking that she may have been searching for a more ideal hide. Who knows?
 

Christian Jocson

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Hmm could be. At this point, with all the time that has gone by since she's been in premolt, I'd rather not risk stressing her out wit a new enclosure that she'll have to get used to again.
 

Anoplogaster

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Alright, she's all tucked in for her transformation:) I actually got a wonderful feeling seeing this today. With her tiny old hide, I noticed the discomfort as she tried stuffing herself into it. I noticed the wandering behavior and the desperate attempts to build makeshift web hides in the back corner of the enclosure. Took the advice from you folks to rehouse her. Not sure if a spider can feel any sense of "relief." But at least I do, in knowing that she's in an ideal molting location now. She webbed it all up, and I knew immediately that was a good move! Such a great feeling to be so in tune with a spider's needs. An organism with only the most basic of senses. An organism that can't simply tell you what it needs. You provide, and it responds. I know spiders don't think the way our brains do. But deep down, I'm imagining her saying "Ahhh.... finally, a proper spot! Web web web! Let's do this!"

;)
 
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