T. Albopilosus

lackdawa

Arachnosquire
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Oct 3, 2020
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59
I know the T. Albo is a slow grower, but I have a mature female about 4.5" that hasn't molted in 8 months, is this normal? This is the longest she has gone without molting.
 

8 legged

Arachnoprince
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Nov 25, 2020
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From a certain size, molting becomes a rarity for females. From my point of view, nothing to worry about.
 

jrh3

Araneae
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Jun 4, 2011
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I wouldn’t call t. Albopilosus a slow grower. All of mine grew a lot quick than some of my Grammostola or Brachypelma species.

With that said they go longer between molt cycles as they get older so 8 months is nothing to worry about.
 

Liquifin

Arachnoking
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May 30, 2017
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Growth and molting rates are highly variable and there is no set time in between molts. Care, feeding, and temps are a massive influence to a tarantulas growth and no one can give you an exact estimate when it will molt. T. albo's are not slow growing as a species in my experience. They grow at a decent rate, but growth and molting rates are and can be variable from keeper to keeper as previously stated. Overall, I wouldn't worry and it's normal for adults to not molt for a long time or years as adults molt at a slower frequency in comparison to slings/juveniles. So just be patient and treat it well and it'll molt when it reaches pre-molt or whenever it's ready. I hope this helps.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
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Dec 8, 2006
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I know the T. Albo is a slow grower, but I have a mature female about 4.5" that hasn't molted in 8 months, is this normal? This is the longest she has gone without molting.
yes- older they get, the longer it takes. This is never something to be concerned about.
 

Thekla

Arachnoprince
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Oct 13, 2017
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1,878
IME They aren't slow growers, at least not at first. Mine grew from a 2nd instar to about 3 1/2" in one year... and then she stopped. ;) First moult after that was after almost 9 months, now she's about 10 months in her moult cycle (although, today, she didn't want to eat, so maybe premoult, hopefully ;)).

So, as the others have said already, nothing to worry about, it's completely normal. She might even take another year or two, who knows... ;)
 

PanzoN88

Arachnodemon
Joined
Sep 15, 2014
Messages
713
It is quite normal, I have a Nicaraguan T. albopilosus that I bought three years ago and molted for the first time in my care. So that is a good example.
 
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