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- Mar 25, 2015
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Not really a question just a story that I thought might interest people:
A Pamphobeteus vespertinus in the large sling/small juvenile stage molted and he looked perfectly fine. However, after a while, it became apparent that he wasn't gaining anything in girth, on the contrary, he became skinnier and looked dehydrated. Nevertheless, the crickets had been disappearing. So I looked into his burrow and found a clump of mashed, mouldy, really yucky cricket parts. Next time I gave him a cricket I watched him closely: He attacked immediately, obviously hungry, but then he just squashed and mashed the cricket - it didn't get smaller and after a day he left the whole mess in a corner. Obviously he couldn't eat it. My conclusion was that he very likely hadn't molted properly (I didn't really look at the molt since I didn't expect anything to be wrong) and his stomach lining hadn't come off. I kept trying to feed him and hoping, but I always ended with a squashed but uneaten cricket. After a few months the poor thing looked very dehydrated because obvioulsy he couldn't drink either. I was tempted to just put him in the freezer but I decided to wait for the next molt in case he molted propperly then. I kept him really moist, to slow down dehydration, and waited.
And he made it! He molted again a couple of weeks ago, without gaining anything in size of course, and since then he has been eating just fine! I've been "stuffing" him, feeding every couple of days, and he finally looks healthy again, although he's about half the size of his sibling. Nevertheless, I'm very glad I waited it out.
Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this?
A Pamphobeteus vespertinus in the large sling/small juvenile stage molted and he looked perfectly fine. However, after a while, it became apparent that he wasn't gaining anything in girth, on the contrary, he became skinnier and looked dehydrated. Nevertheless, the crickets had been disappearing. So I looked into his burrow and found a clump of mashed, mouldy, really yucky cricket parts. Next time I gave him a cricket I watched him closely: He attacked immediately, obviously hungry, but then he just squashed and mashed the cricket - it didn't get smaller and after a day he left the whole mess in a corner. Obviously he couldn't eat it. My conclusion was that he very likely hadn't molted properly (I didn't really look at the molt since I didn't expect anything to be wrong) and his stomach lining hadn't come off. I kept trying to feed him and hoping, but I always ended with a squashed but uneaten cricket. After a few months the poor thing looked very dehydrated because obvioulsy he couldn't drink either. I was tempted to just put him in the freezer but I decided to wait for the next molt in case he molted propperly then. I kept him really moist, to slow down dehydration, and waited.
And he made it! He molted again a couple of weeks ago, without gaining anything in size of course, and since then he has been eating just fine! I've been "stuffing" him, feeding every couple of days, and he finally looks healthy again, although he's about half the size of his sibling. Nevertheless, I'm very glad I waited it out.
Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this?