Why does T. blondi take so long to recover from a molt?

[becca81]

It seems that T. blondi seems to take longer than average to recover from a molt and begin eating again, even when small.

Does anyone know why this is? Even my slings is taking as long as adults of other species (medium sized) to recover.

 

[wolfpak]

my blondi is the complete opposite. 24 hrs. after moulting it starts to feed aggressively

 

[Elson]

my blondi is the complete opposite. 24 hrs. after moulting it starts to feed aggressively

Ya kidding? how big is your T.blondi?

 

[Becky Wheeler]

My Blondi is 3" And I usually give it a week before offering food and then it eats like a horse!.

 

[defour]

All the T. blondi I've kept seemed to recover from molting in an amount of time comparable to other tarantulas, taking as little as one day for small ones and as much as a month for adults.

Steve

 

[wolfpak]

Ya kidding? how big is your T.blondi?

it's about 3"

 

[Nick_schembri]

My 4" blondi ate a fuzzy mouse after 3 days. Before that it was a little under 3" and had recovered from the molt after 2 days

 

[siucfi]

It seems that T. blondi seems to take longer than average to recover from a molt and begin eating again, even when small.

Does anyone know why this is? Even my slings is taking as long as adults of other species (medium sized) to recover.

I agree my T.blondi is about 3in and it took her about two too three weeks before she started eating regularly agian. I was actually wondering the same thing at first I thought she may have had a problem with her fangs post molt but now she is back to being an eating machine.

 

[Greg Wolfe]

T. Blondi...

My two adult female blondi's take 2-4 weeks after a shed to recuperate and begin feeding again. I think they are exhausted from the molt and just want to lay there and harden up. Soon enough though, they will commence eating.

 

[Mike H.]

my blondi is the complete opposite. 24 hrs. after moulting it starts to feed aggressively

That is really not a good idea and you are asking for trouble, the fangs most likely will not be hard, always best for wait 5 to 6 days for a 3 to 4 inch spider to totally harden up, going a week post molt will not hurt the spider at all, just make sure it has a water dish..

Regards, Mike

 

[Spider-man 2]

Think of it this way Becca. Why does it take a 10 pound apple pie longer to cool down then a 1 pound apple pie?

There is just more mass in an adult blondi to harden up. My adult female just molted and I didn't feed her until a month afterwards and did just fine.

 

[becca81]

Think of it this way Becca. Why does it take a 10 pound apple pie longer to cool down then a 1 pound apple pie?

There is just more mass in an adult blondi to harden up. My adult female just molted and I didn't feed her until a month afterwards and did just fine.

For an adult I understand it. However, why would a 4" T. blondi take twice the time to harden up as compared to a 4" G. rosea? (and at this point, T. blondi isn't extremely bulky.)

 

[defour]

For an adult I understand it. However, why would a 4" T. blondi take twice the time to harden up as compared to a 4" G. rosea? (and at this point, T. blondi isn't extremely bulky.)

Good question. I haven't noticed any difference between the two, though. Have you seen this over several molts, or only with the latest one? If it's not a recurring thing, it could simply be that the latest T. blondi molt didn't go perfectly in some respect, but didn't go so wrong that the results were catastrophic. It may have just needed some extra time to get everything back in working order.

Steve

 

[becca81]

Good question. I haven't noticed any difference between the two, though. Have you seen this over several molts, or only with the latest one? If it's not a recurring thing, it could simply be that the latest T. blondi molt didn't go perfectly in some respect, but didn't go so wrong that the results were catastrophic. It may have just needed some extra time to get everything back in working order.

Steve

I've seen it over several molts. I've also heard similar things from other people in regards to T. blondi.

Could it possibly be a thicker exoskeleton?

 

[defour]

I've seen it over several molts. I've also heard similar things from other people in regards to T. blondi.

Could it possibly be a thicker exoskeleton?

Sure, thicker or otherwise different fang structures might do it, but I wouldn't like to guess. I'm just wondering why, if it is the case that they recover over longer periods, I've never noticed it. I'll have to dig out and read my old feeding logs, since I don't have any T. blondi anymore. I've had eight or so, all but one of which were purchased as small spiderlings and ranged from 4" to 8" when I sold them, and I've never noticed that they were unusual in this respect. Maybe I just missed it. How many similar observations have you seen?

Steve

 

[becca81]

How many similar observations have you seen?

Steve

Only about 4 that I've personally witnessed (three examples of my own plus one of a friend's). I can't really generalize, though, based on the tiny bit of info that I have.

I'm going to try to find some posts where people mention the long hardening time and see how big the spider was.