Wolf spider molt problem

[Rachel Briggs]

I've got an Alopecosa cuneata (I think the common name is Fox spider?) that I captured in my livingroom some weeks ago. When I found her she was missing legs 1 and 2 on her left side and was very small, about half an inch long at most not counting legspan. While checking on all my spiders last night, I did a triple take when I got to her.. "okay, doing good... oh nice, she got her legs back... what is THAT?" Well, she seems to have gotten stuck at some point, shedding everything but the top part of her cephalothorax which is now attached to her at about a 45 degree angle.

It's been stuck to her all day now and I have no idea if I should attempt to remove it myself or see if she does it. I'm afraid of it possibly complicating her next molt if I leave it alone, but she's extremely high-strung and I don't know how to go about removing it myself, or if I might end up hurting her if I try! I was considering putting her in the refrigerator for a few minutes to slow her down, then trying to remove it with tweezers, but I'm very nervous about attempting that. Also, I don't know if it's pinched in there tight or loose and just barely stuck, so I'm not sure how serious it is.

To make the issue clearer, and since she's too small to take a decent photo of with the camera I've got, I drew a diagram -

[Andrew Ferguson]

Hi Rachel, you may not get many answers today. Seems very quiet on the BTS site for some reason

I read somewhere else about someones tarantula having some of the old skin still stuck on the fresh moult. I'm 99.9% sure they were advised to leave it. The next moult should rectify any problems.

p.s. Nice picture by the way. Even the discreet RB08

Hope this helps. Try doing a quick search for stuck moult or something similair.

Kindest regards,

Andrew

[Rachel Briggs]

Okay.. I figured I should probably leave her alone but I'd been rereading The Tarantula Keeper's Guide a few days ago, especially the parts on first-aid for spiders, and then she gets stuck and all I can think of are the possible complications. I really should not read that before bed, I had a terrible dream the other night that a huge tarantula jumped onto the floor and busted its abdomen and I was panicking trying to remember how to fix it!

Also she doesn't really have my initials tattooed to her leg, she's way too tiny for that

[Colin D Wilson]

It wouldn't surprise me if that carapace removes itself within the next few days naturally.
I would keep an eye on her though just in case it "pulls" at her new "softer" exo when it comes away, it could just leak a little, hopefully not enough to cause problems though.

Colin

[Rachel Briggs]

If it does come off I hope it's soon since I'm leaving on the 21st and will be in Sunderland for two months while my mother takes care of my spiders, she's fine with feeding/watering them but isn't likely to know what to do in case they need medical attention

[Chris Sainsbury]

Just leave it be if it is just the carapace. spider will work it out on its own if it needs too.

cheers
Chris

[Rachel Briggs]

I just checked on her for the morning and something seemed to be missing.. yes, she shed that last bit today Thanks, everybody!

[Tom Forman]

how the hell did you make that picture??

[Rachel Briggs]

Sketched it out on paper, then scanned that and traced the lineart in Illustrator and colored it in Photoshop.

[Tom Forman]

well I reckon you could become a graphics designer.

This is as far as my art skills take me.

But then again I think I unleashed the talent inside of me with this one

[Rachel Briggs]

Hahaha, I was trying to get a degree in graphic design but the truth is I really hate designing layouts and stuff, I just like drawing things Being an artist might finally pay off though, I just sold my first pair of spider earrings a few days ago.

[James Box]

Tom, that's brilliant...it truly conveys the feelings of someone who uses MS Paint once every couple years

Rachel, your pic is really impressive! wish i had the patience to draw so precisely
should've entered that in the artwork category at the BTS show!