Regal Jumping Spider Dead or Molting?

[elmerstud]

My wife got her first Regal Jumping Spider about 2 weeks ago. She has been carefully caring for him according to threads and care instructions she has found. He has had no problems eating crickets or playing around the desk/cage. We have noticed he never truly made a web hammock. Just evidence of webbing in the top corner of his cage. We just found him hanging in the top of his cage from one hind leg. She pulled him down and laid him out on a cotton pad. He moves ever so slightly but he is not curled up.
How do we determine if he is dead or molting?

 

[its just josh]

If he's molting he would've made a really thick hammock with no opening. It sounds like he's at the end of his life in my opinion you can try dilute honey on a q tip placed on his mouth (being careful to avoid his booklungs) to give him a boost but beyond that I wouldn't know what to do in this situation. Does he look a bit deflated? A sunken in abdomen could be a sign of dehydration.

EDIT: Or rather very carefully place him on the q-tip.

 

[elmerstud]

We’ll try the honey idea. He doesn’t appear any bit out of normal.

 

[SkittlesTheJumpingSpider]

We’ll try the honey idea. He doesn’t appear any bit out of normal.

How is he doing today?

 

[elmerstud]

He unfortunately is dead. We checked on him this morning and found him curled up in the same spot as we left him overnight. My wife seems to think he may have been older than we were lead to believe.
We only had him for a couple weeks but he never even attempted to make a hammock. He just hung around in the top corner of his cage. He didn’t give us any other indications of something wrong. He ate his crickets with no problem. He made a pretty good bond with my wife, climbing all over her hands and desk. The. Just all of a sudden he ended up hanging from his cage. We are T really sure what exactly happened.

 

[SkittlesTheJumpingSpider]

He unfortunately is dead. We checked on him this morning and found him curled up in the same spot as we left him overnight. My wife seems to think he may have been older than we were lead to believe.
We only had him for a couple weeks but he never even attempted to make a hammock. He just hung around in the top corner of his cage. He didn’t give us any other indications of something wrong. He ate his crickets with no problem. He made a pretty good bond with my wife, climbing all over her hands and desk. The. Just all of a sudden he ended up hanging from his cage. We are T really sure what exactly happened.

I'm so sorry for your loss, I understand how hard it is when you lose your spider friend. Hopefully you feel better soon.