Moulting

[jason holland]

hiya all wondering if some of you can help me...

as you may have seen, i have a lovely little B.smithi, about... 3 inches long id say...hmm maybe 3.5... anyhoo

she moulted around the 10th of januray.

left her a week before she ate a baby pinky mouse (a really small one) and about... 7 crickets over the next 3 weeks, she just wouldnt stop eating.

anyway i bought some black crickets the other day, but she wouldnt eat them. now ive heard that some T's dont like the black crickets, so i got her some brown crickets. shes not eating those either....

all the temp and humidities fine, shes sitting outside her cave, and hiding inside her cave when she wants too... but just not eating to my knowledge. she just runs away from all crickets now or lets them walk under her... the last one sat under her fangs for a good 20 seconds lol..

surely this cant be the beginning of a moult allready? does anyone know how long T's tend to take before the next moult... well of this age... cos a month (even for a fast growing T) seems a bit fast

[Peter Lacey]

Sounds to me like she's eaten well after her moult but isn't in need of food for a while, T's do go without food for long periods. Stick to the guideline of introducing 1 cricket at a time, if it hasnt been eaten after 24 hours remove it and try again in a weeks time. You smithi will easily survive that small fast, just make sure she has access to a water bowl.

[jason holland]

yeah. tis what i have been doing lately, a water bowl near her cavey thing, and i damp each corner (bar the quater of the aquarium she likes) for humidity... so theres def enough water. im not worried tho, cos ive read T's fasting for months. i was just wondering if T's can moult that quickly after a moult. cheers tho

[Tom Forman]

sounds like you gave it 7 weeks feeding in 3 weeks time. It won't need anything for the next month.

I prefer feeding smaller amounts so I can feed regularly instead of one big feeding and then a long time of fasting.

Whatever you prefer really.

[jason holland]

well i really dont believe this, no signs of a moult, no balding, just not eating etc... just checked in on her as i havnt seen her today... she moulting as i type... really wierd, so im just gonna keep an eye on her, make sure shes ok. she hasnt eveen turned over yet. so first time seeing a moult! and 2nd time in just over a month... need to get lst nights crickets out now. i still cant believe shes moulting. seems we were all wrong lol

[jason holland]

ok really quick update, just making sure that the moult went ok (as i thought her home may have been slightly too small.... so making sure she wasnt stuck in her old skin etc... the moult was successful, just waiting for her to recover and right herself

[Simon Norfolk]

Thats pretty obscure. I take it you keep her pretty warm then? Has she grown much following the moult?

[jason holland]

shes (if she is a she) at a normal temp, heat on the side, hotest side (the one she likes) is at about 27 C which is fine, as they need between 24 and 30, so thats inbetween that. i cant really tell if shes grown that much since, ill be able to tell when she ventures out, but you can tell shes got bigger

[jason holland]

ok he or she has finally started venturing out, so heres some new pics

[Kate Arbon]

That is pretty strange for her to moult so quickly again. That only tend to happen if something goes wrong in a moult and they need to fix it. But I guess you just fed her up so well that she felt she could power through another moult. Don't think there's anything wrong with it, from those pics she looks really healthy and like a very nice T. Just makes me jealous that your 3" smithi moults twice so quickly and all my smithi slings are being really slow about it, haha.

Did you manage to save either of the skins? 3" should be plenty big enough to sex her if the exuvium hasn't been destroyed.

[jason holland]

yep. i have pics in another thread, (in the pics section) im gonna take some better pics with my gf's camera after the next moult tho. im sure your sligns will moult soon lol.