What is going on with the colour of my G. Pulchra?

[sja69]

As a spiderling and a small juvenile, my G. Pulchra maintained a brown/grey colour until it's previous molt about 4 1/2 months ago when it turned a jet black.
Yesterday morning it molted and is now back to a brown/grey colour. It is about 5 inches now and I'm wondering if this is a common occurrence?

 

[tarantulagirl10]

Do you have a picture to share?

 

[astraldisaster]

How strange! There was another thread not too long ago about a T that lost its colors somewhat after molting. I'm very interested to see if anyone has an explanation.

 

[esotericman]

How often are you feeding and what types of food? My guess is that molting occurred faster than the pigments could be made, which could be due to lots of feedings at high temperatures.

 

[Walk Alone]

Sometimes after a molt, a spider will appear lighter due to remenants of the fluid that was between its old skin and the new exoskeleton. Also, it takes a few days for the exoskeleton to fully harden, which can also cause the spider to appear lighter in color. I suspect that your pulchra will darken over the next week, as I have seen the same with some of mine.

Congrats on the molt!

 

[fartkowski]

I have seen G. pulchras that were different in color before. If you can get a picture, that would help.
The ones I've seen were from jet balck to ones that have sort of a brownish tint to them.

 

[billopelma]

Don't know how typical it is but I have an adult G. pulchra as well as a P. antinous that occasionally do the same thing. They both have currently gone back to jet black...

Bill

 

[RobS]

My G. pulchra is still a juvie, a bit over two years old now and about 3-1/2"+. Three molts ago, she went from brown to black for the first time (though not jet black at her young age). I thought her adult color was coming-on, but then after the next molt, she went brownish again. Her most recent molt brought her back to a pretty dark greyish black, with no trace of brown anymore. I suspect your experience (as mine) is not unusual..

 

[cichlidsman]

this is normal. i have noticed it with all my t's after they molt. sometimes they are very light in color. and other times much brighter.

esotericoman made a interesting comment.

 

[billopelma]

this is normal. i have noticed it with all my t's after they molt.

Yes, that's normal but I think what we're talking about here is a 'permanent' state of color that lasts through the entire molt cycle, not just the freshness of a new molt and consequent fading over time.


Bill

 

[Bill S]

Yes, that's normal but I think what we're talking about here is a 'permanent' state of color that lasts through the entire molt cycle, not just the freshness of a new molt and consequent fading over time.

Actually, the OP asked about a spider that molted yesterday. We don't know how permanent the situation is yet.

 

[billopelma]

Actually, the OP asked about a spider that molted yesterday. We don't know how permanent the situation is yet.

'Actually', (since you so enjoy splitting hairs) whether or not it's permanent doesn't change that it is what I believe we were talking about, and discussing it doesn't necessarily infer that it will be. In my 'actual' experience, this situation is different than the usual molt cycle routine and I would very much doubt it's going to gradually fade back to shiny black before the next molt. That would be a new one on me anyway...


Bill

 

[webbedone]

I agree with Bill, A T will be a bit pale right after molt but it darkens up in a few days it doesnt just change the color entirely, it just turns a darker shade as the exoskeleton hardens up and it stretches. And going from one colour to another is compeletely different. This happened to some of my Pulchra slings during the sling to juvie transition but not to all of them. Some stayed their true velvety jet black after getting their adult colors after every molt, some did change to a brownish color but turned back to jet black next molt. All of them where fed the same feeders so i have no clue whats causing it.

 

[sja69]

Thanks for replies. He has since gone a little bit darker but whether or not he'll be as black as he was remains to be seen.

Before:


After:

 

[fartkowski]

Hi
It's hard to tell because the lighting is very different in each of the pictures.
Is it possible to get a shot with similar lighting?

 

[sja69]

Hi
It's hard to tell because the lighting is very different in each of the pictures.
Is it possible to get a shot with similar lighting?

Sorry they are dodgy pictures. The first was taken with my digi-camera which does tend to reflect a lot of light, and the second was taken with my Nokia mobile phone as I can't find my poxy camera! The second picture is true to Sabbath's current colour but you should be able to tell from the first one that he was blacker.

---------- Post added 08-12-2011 at 10:58 PM ----------

Actually, on closer inpection the first pic does look quite deceiving. Unfortunately that's the only pic I have of him from that instar but I'll try and drag up a vid I took if I can...