Moulting

[patsyking]

Hi All

I've just got a B.smithi sling and am wondering how often it is likely to moult? Its just a bit smaller than a 5p piece at the moment.

[Colin D Wilson]

Hi Patsy,
The first thing really is that you should be aware the temperature / humidity/ and feeding all play a big part in moulting frequency.
looking back through my own records for smithis they tend to moult every four to six weeks untill they get about 2 (ish) inches leg span then slow down fairly progressively as they get older. examples of this are 6 months for 3-4 inch LS and yearly (if not over this) for the adults.

[patsyking]

How old do you think it is?

Hi Colin.
Thanks for the info, much appreciated. I'm wondering how old my B.smithi sling is. Its just a bit smaller than a 5p piece.

[Colin D Wilson]

again, accuracy is swayed by how the spiders been kept before you had it but at this size it's probably a few months old.
Different spider species grow at different rates, and then males and females can have different growth rates too. smithi in particular are slow growers.

[patsyking]

Thanks Colin

Thanks again Colin. Its great to know that there is always expert advise available on here.

[Pam Turner]

Hi Patsy,
The first thing really is that you should be aware the temperature / humidity/ and feeding all play a big part in moulting frequency.
looking back through my own records for smithis they tend to moult every four to six weeks untill they get about 2 (ish) inches leg span then slow down fairly progressively as they get older. examples of this are 6 months for 3-4 inch LS and yearly (if not over this) for the adults.

To touch on what Colin said, my male smithi last molted on 10/24/07. He went from 1.25" to 1.66". He is just now starting to increase in abdominal size, getting a little darker on the legs, and missed a meal a couple weeks ago (though he ate this last round of feeding). The abd isn't really darkening up yet though, so I figure I got a while before anything happens.

My first smithi, was an adult female who molted yearly, without fail.