T tried molting in the water dish, now further issues are ensuing

GiuseppeCharcodes

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Hey all, we're having a molt issue and I want to know if there are any further actions I should be taking. My A. avicularia molted about two months ago. He's about 4in dls, so large enough that I was not expecting another molt for some time.

Well, he tried. He went into his water dish, rolled onto his back, and was floating, nearly submerged in the water. I searched the forums and found previous advice suggesting that the spider either be removed from the water or the dish drained. I decided using a syringe to drain the dish would be the least intrusive course of action, and did so.

It's been nearly twenty-four hours, and I have not seen much, if any progress made in the molt. He occasionally will move his legs, but he looks exactly the same as he did when he started. I'll include pictures of the enclosure, with the spider in the now waterless dish.
 

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BoyFromLA

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I would just let it be, unless you know for sure what you are doing. Tarantulas, they just do that sometimes.

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BoyFromLA

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It may or it may not be.You can’t prove that. My take is, tarantulas choose the spots to molt, whatever the reasons are, and I respect that. It’s not my job to tell tarantulas where to molt.
 

viper69

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I'm not an expert in this area, but if a T molts in it's water dish isn't that a sign that the humidity isn't high enough in the enclosure? Not criticizing, simply curious
Not IME- keep my setups quite dry, not a single specimen in dish
 

GiuseppeCharcodes

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I've heard speculation that Ts will molt in the dish for more humidity, but never saw anything substantiating that.

To be clear, my main worry now is the sheer length of time this molt is taking. We're approaching 24 hours without progress. None of my other molts were this slow
 

spideyspinneret78

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I've heard speculation that Ts will molt in the dish for more humidity, but never saw anything substantiating that.

To be clear, my main worry now is the sheer length of time this molt is taking. We're approaching 24 hours without progress. None of my other molts were this slow
Hate to say it, but this isn't a good sign. If it's been that long, then maybe give it another few hours then if still no progress it might be time to check on the spider.
 

GiuseppeCharcodes

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Hate to say it, but this isn't a good sign. If it's been that long, then maybe give it another few hours then if still no progress it might be time to check on the spider.
I left for a few hours and came back. I'm not sure what's possible for me to even do if this doesn't improve. Supposing the worst does happen- did I address this situation wrong from the start? Should I have just let him continue to float in the water? Why did he even begin to molt this soon after his previous one? And did this start because something is wrong my husbandry?

I don't expect any one person to answer everything for me, because I'll continue to have questions for a while. I have more spiders though, and if the problem is coming from me, I would appreciate as much guidance as is possible from more experienced people.
 
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spideyspinneret78

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I left for a few hours and came back. I'm not sure what's possible for me to even do if this doesn't improve. Supposing the worst does happen- did I address this situation wrong from the start? Should I have just let him continue to float in the water? Why did he even begin to molt this soon after his previous one? And did this start because something is wrong my husbandry?

I don't expect any one person to answer everything for me, because I'll continue to have questions for a while. I have a more spiders though, and if the problem is coming from me, I want to fix it as soon as possible.
I wish I had an answer for you but I honestly don't know what could have caused this. I doubt it was because the tarantula was molting in the water dish, based on the photos. Sadly I had a similar case where a spider tried to molt but for whatever reason couldn't pop the carapace, got stuck, and died. I don't think you addressed the issue wrong. You left the spider alone, which is what you should've done....more likely to accidentally kill it if you intervened. You came here to ask for advice. If the spider didn't make it, I don't think there's anything you could've done. Sucks but sometimes it happens and nobody knows why.
 

GiuseppeCharcodes

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I wish I had an answer for you but I honestly don't know what could have caused this. I doubt it was because the tarantula was molting in the water dish, based on the photos. Sadly I had a similar case where a spider tried to molt but for whatever reason couldn't pop the carapace, got stuck, and died. I don't think you addressed the issue wrong. You left the spider alone, which is what you should've done....more likely to accidentally kill it if you intervened. You came here to ask for advice. If the spider didn't make it, I don't think there's anything you could've done. Sucks but sometimes it happens and nobody knows why.
It does suck, we care about our spiders.

If it's just one of those cases where things don't work out, I can accept it and just keep providing for the other specimens. Supposing this is the end for the avicularia, is there a humane way to end things for it? Obviously that's an extreme last resort for me, I'll wait for other answers before I resort to that.
 

spideyspinneret78

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It does suck, we care about our spiders.

If it's just one of those cases where things don't work out, I can accept it and just keep providing for the other specimens. Supposing this is the end for the avicularia, is there a humane way to end things for it? Obviously that's an extreme last resort for me, I'll wait for other answers before I resort to that.
There's some debate over which method is most humane for euthanizing tarantulas. I know that many people will put them in the freezer. There are other methods, but this is generally the most accessible for the average person.
 

Liquifin

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That's a death curl and not a molt position. Can you get a picture of the specimen?
 

GiuseppeCharcodes

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Certainly, and I'll include it with this post.

Now, if that's definitely a death curl and not a molt position, my next question is about my husbandry. How could I have provided a better enclosure, and is there any other information I can provide to determine if this was an avoidable death?
 

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Liquifin

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Certainly, and I'll include it with this post.

Now, if that's definitely a death curl and not a molt position, my next question is about my husbandry. How could I have provided a better enclosure, and is there any other information I can provide to determine if this was an avoidable death?
It looks leggy. Is it a mature male?
 

Dorifto

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Not IME- keep my setups quite dry, not a single specimen in dish
Dry substrate doesn't necessarily mean dry air, there is no better example than GBB's habitat, bone dry soil (desert like) but very humid air. Also even if your clinate is dry, the enclosure type (ventilation), it's size and the water dish size can keep it humid easily.

They do that in dry conditions, specially dry air.
 

coldbl00ded

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Usually, you need it to be damp, but not TOO damp. There are occasions where the molt gets stuck because it's too wet
 
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