To feed or not to feed? P.Regius, moulting into the 6th skin.

[Babs]

Hello Spider-fans!

A couple of weeks ago i've became a proud first-time-guardian of a small P.Regius female spider in its 5th skin. She was very active, ate good (1-2 Fruit flies a day) and she still loves her Terrarium (i made her a nice one, with live plants, branches, and a mini-Bonsai, good micro-climates). On March 4th she made a thicker nest and i think she is pre-moulting - she is alwas in her nest and comes only rarely to drink. Now..i've read a lot on the subject, but some people write that it's OK to give her some flies..some write that under no circumstance a live insect should be in her terrarium at this point...some feed their Spooderonis in moulting, some not.. I haven't fed her since the 4th.
My question is - should i feed her or not? And if this goes on for 2-3-4 weeks...will she starve without any food?? Like i said - she does come out for a few seconds but then goes right back after drinking on her well.
Thank you all in advance!

 

[additude]

Well, the concern with live feeding is that if she is going to molt, or has just molted, depending on the insect, it may be able to bite her and hurt/damage her for up to a week after molting. The Exoskeleton needs to harden first.
You do not want to starve it.
Here is a link to some more info from this forum: https://arachnoboards.com/threads/how-long-does-it-take-for-jumping-spiders-to-molt.345859/

 

[Babs]

Well, the concern with live feeding is that if she is going to molt, or has just molted, depending on the insect, it may be able to bite her and hurt/damage her for up to a week after molting. The Exoskeleton needs to harden first.
You do not want to starve it.
Here is a link to some more info from this forum: https://arachnoboards.com/threads/how-long-does-it-take-for-jumping-spiders-to-molt.345859/

yeah i have also read this thred - good infos all together. I guess i'll just wait for a day or two..and then try with a half-knocked-out fly :/
Thanks for a quick response!

 

[BoyFromLA]

Sorry, I am just passing by…

I literally thought this was ‘Poecilotheria regalis’ question asked on ‘Other Spiders & Arachnids’ forum.

 

[DerGraf]

Yeah, increased web weaving is a good signal for molting. It's perfectly normal for them to go on a feeding hiatus. That's why they usually fatten up first before they molt. Jumpers also are hunters. When they need sustenance, they go out. Trust your spider's behaviour. Her going out for a drink (but not more) is a good signal. Mine never even did that.

You say "if this goes on". The keyword here is "if", as in "it doesn't happen yet". Therefore I would call that overthinking. No use in worrying about something that's not even an issue. Only after she's in her nest for 2-3+ weeks there's reason to worry.

 

[Babs]

Thanks Graf - i did start with overthinking indeed

 

[Babs]

Update 11.03.22

She pushed the old skin out today! She is pretty agile, so I think the moulting went good.

Here some Info for my fellow newbies out there:
Female Phidippus Regius (White Bahamas), skin 5 to skin 6 took a week. Temperature was between 21-24°C, in the sun up to 28°C, moisture varied from 50-70%. I have positioned the terrarium so that she gets 1-2 hours of low winter sun per day. In the sunlight she would put her head and front legs out (to sunbathe?) so I figured she liked it. I kept replenishing the water daily and didn’t put any food in her terrarium. In the past two days she stopped coming out completely and today she was finally ready. New colours are dark brown with a lot of beige accents – she has turned lighter in colour all together. Her belly is really small at the moment so I think she will start eating again pretty soon
I am offering her 2 fruit flies today. (I think they are no danger to freshly moulted spider in her size).
PS: never put the housing in the sunlight unless you are arround all the time to monitor the climates in it.

 

[DerGraf]

I recommend waiting a bit to feed after a mold - just in case their fangs aren't fully hardened.
Usually they stay within their web until that's also done, but not always. Jumpers aren't T's and you don't have to wait a whole week, but 2-3 days are better safe than sorry. Those few days hungry are much less dangerous than a bent fang - which can lead to them being unable to eat at all.

 

[Babs]

Yepp - she is still in her nest, so i'm waiting for her to get out to hunt. Then i'm going to put the flies in.