Should I Be Concerned?

[LadyShia77]

I have a phidippus regius sling that I have had for a few months now. I'm a little concerned as it webbed up like it was getting ready to molt, but it has now been about a month since I have seen it. I have tried shining a light into the webbing, but I can't really tell what, if anything, that I am seeing. I have also thought about taking the end of a small paint brush and messing with the webbing, but I don't want to accidentally hurt it if it is in there still alive. I have been spritzing the enclosure. Should I be concerned and does anyone have any advice? Below are the enclosure with the webbing. I've seen posts about molting, but didn't see anything that covered this. Yes, that's a dead fruit fly at the top that I haven't removed yet. Thanks again.

 

[CRX]

They can take a long ass time to molt sometimes

 

[LadyShia77]

They can take a long ass time to molt sometimes

Is it normal for young spiders to take a long time? I got it at the end of March as a small sling and, if I recall correctly, it molted about 2 weeks before this last time and perhaps about a month before that (It was my first sling and second jumper in general). I have heard older spiders can take a while to molt, but not younger ones like mine. I, also, know they can molt many times and often as slings. I don't know how many times it had molted before I got it (seller didn't say) so don't know how close to being a sub-adult it is.

 

[Nicole C G]

At that point I may be concerned.

 

[LadyShia77]

At that point I may be concerned.

How long should I give it before investigating the webbing?

 

[Nicole C G]

How old is the spider and how long exactly has it been in there? When did it last eat and how full was it?

 

[LadyShia77]

How old is the spider and how long exactly has it been in there? When did it last eat and how full was it?

I bought it as a sling about the end of March. It ate a few hydei fruit flies before webbing up this last time. The picture is of my little guy back in April. He/she was too big to hide behind the flower right before webbing up this last time. I didn't get any new pics before it webbed up.

 

[Nicole C G]

Put some food in the enclosure. Like one fruit fly. And see if it comes out.

 

[LadyShia77]

Put some food in the enclosure. Like one fruit fly. And see if it comes out.

I've already put some in. So far, I haven't seen it come out.

 

[Poonjab]

Id be terrified

 

[ForTW]

Is it normal for young spiders to take a long time?

A stuffed regius can be in it's web through 2 molts. So about 1.5/2 months.

Anyways, they like drinking twice a week. I hope you sprayed the enclosure this often, if not it might have dried out. And if it wasn't fat before it disappeared, a month can get tough.

I'd destroy it's webbing. I destroy ours every week partly when opening the cup, they repair it the same day. No Problem.

 

[LadyShia77]

A stuffed regius can be in it's web through 2 molts. So about 1.5/2 months.

Anyways, they like drinking twice a week. I hope you sprayed the enclosure this often, if not it might have dried out. And if it wasn't fat before it disappeared, a month can get tough.

I'd destroy it's webbing. I destroy ours every week partly when opening the cup, they repair it the same day. No Problem.

I mist regularly. Perhaps a slight bit more frequently than that because of our ac. I will probably destroy the web some. I thought about it before now, but was concerned about injuring it. It has a good sized web, though.

 

[ForTW]

Hm....i am frequently impressed how much a Spider can endure!
I squeezed a good amount of Piloctenus in the lid with a fair amount of pressure, find some Cupiennius or Deinopis hiding inbetween the cup and the lid, they squeezed themselves in there and they all do magically fine. Almost flat.

Phiddipus juv you can't injure with a brush and you can squeezed them quite hard unti they suffer from injures.

Ofc i don't so this things on purpose and try to be as gently as possible.

Force ratio compared most true spiders are impressivly tough!

 

[LadyShia77]

As an update, I did end up losing my little Ghost. Not sure what went wrong to cause it, but it looks like he/she had a bad molt in spite of eating well beforehand and having enclosure spritzed at least every other day.

 

[Nicole C G]

As an update, I did end up losing my little Ghost. Not sure what went wrong to cause it, but it looks like he/she had a bad molt in spite of eating well beforehand and having enclosure spritzed at least every other day.

For Phidippus regius slings that are molting they need consistent high humidity for the time they are molting. (This is why P. regius is less recommended for beginners)
Not for sure if this was the case with yours, just mentioning.
A lot of juveniles go this way. I’m sorry for your loss.

 

[LadyShia77]

For Phidippus regius slings that are molting they need consistent high humidity for the time they are molting. (This is why P. regius is less recommended for beginners)
Not for sure if this was the case with yours, just mentioning.
A lot of juveniles go this way. I’m sorry for your loss.

I did the same thing as the last time he/she successfully molted. Idk what happened with this little guy. I just lost my clarus sling this morning too. I'm wondering if my ac is starting to make the air dryer than usual, because they all have been doing well until recently and spritz their enclosures at least every other day. If not every day. It also seems like it's only the ones I pay for online that I've been losing. Not my wc jumpers and not the two I've received as gifts along with the ones I ordered. Just the ones I paid for. Sorry, had to rant there. Losing Ghost and my clarus hit me pretty hard. I had had Ghost since March and had had my clarus for over a month.

 

[regalpaws]

I did the same thing as the last time he/she successfully molted. Idk what happened with this little guy. I just lost my clarus sling this morning too. I'm wondering if my ac is starting to make the air dryer than usual, because they all have been doing well until recently and spritz their enclosures at least every other day. If not every day. It also seems like it's only the ones I pay for online that I've been losing. Not my wc jumpers and not the two I've received as gifts along with the ones I ordered. Just the ones I paid for. Sorry, had to rant there. Losing Ghost and my clarus hit me pretty hard. I had had Ghost since March and had had my clarus for over a month.

So sorry for your loss. I had one that passed on me after I had her less than two months, it really sucks. :/
I hope I am not being insensitive by asking these questions... I try using distilled or purified water for all of my spiders, maybe its the type of water? Or the substrate perhaps; what kind do you use?
After I lost one of my P. regius, I got humidity/temp gauges for them just so I can monitor it better. It has really helped me.

 

[LadyShia77]

So sorry for your loss. I had one that passed on me after I had her less than two months, it really sucks. :/
I hope I am not being insensitive by asking these questions... I try using distilled or purified water for all of my spiders, maybe its the type of water? Or the substrate perhaps; what kind do you use?
After I lost one of my P. regius, I got humidity/temp gauges for them just so I can monitor it better. It has really helped me.

I used a coconut fiber substrate for my regius, coconut fiber mixed with creature soil and forest floor for my clarus, and distilled water when misting the enclosures.

 

[regalpaws]

I used a coconut fiber substrate for my regius, coconut fiber mixed with creature soil and forest floor for my clarus, and distilled water when misting the enclosures.

Hmm, I'm not sure what it could be from. Sounds like you certainly gave them the best you could!

 

[LadyShia77]

Hmm, I'm not sure what it could be from. Sounds like you certainly gave them the best you could!

I tried. The only thing I could think of is the ac possibly making the air in my home drier than usual, but we've been switched over to ac for a while now. I could see it affecting my regius more than usual since he/she had made the molt web shortly after it got warm enough for the ac, but my clarus should have been fine. Idk.