Help plz.... B.emilia still in molt position after molt

[angie starr]

I woke up this morning 2 find what appeared like my B.emilia molting. After looking closer I noticed she had already molted inside of her hide. She was covered in soil, but her legs were still moving.

I examined her old skin and there doesn't seem 2 be any problems there (all body parts have shed fine) It was very dried so she hadn't just shed. After watching her little legs wriggling 4 half an hour I decided it was best if I took a closer look at her. I gently removed any soil that was on her and around her 2 check underneath 4 any obvious signs of a problem, but there isn't any. I've moved her in2 a smaller container with higher humidity and tried 2 give her some water (with cotton bud) I've faced her the right way up again in hope she's just 2 tried 2 flip herself over. The fact that she has moved from her hide where she originally molted and now seems 2 be sitting in a death curl postion doesn't look good.

I am lost as 2 what else could be wrong with her or what else I can do 4 my little girl? At this time she is still moving her front legs, all her legs seem fine but r very weak. She put up no resistance when I had 2 handle her 2 turn her over and remove all the soil from her underneath. I have since moved her on2 moist paper towelling with a VERY shallow water dish and she is resting in a dark room.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[Mark Pennell]

get her near to a good source of clean water quick... that should pull her round in no time ate all.

Molting is stressful, and can take a lot out of them... so make sure it has water and try not to touch it to much...


Cheers
Mark

[angie starr]

get her near to a good source of clean water quick... that should pull her round in no time ate all.

Molting is stressful, and can take a lot out of them... so make sure it has water and try not to touch it to much...


Cheers
Mark

Thankyou very much 4 ur quick response Mark. I have placed her in a dark room on moistened paper towel with a very shallow water dish right by her. I'm only checking her every hour or so 2 make sure the towelling is still moist. I did try 2 offer her water by means of a cotton bud (with no response) She seems very lifeless and very near in the death curl position. should I try 2 encourage 2 drink or leave her be? thankyou

[Peter Lacey]

Angie, when a spider moults it rids itself of the old skin etc. Its new body is fragile, soft and wringled. It needs to be like this so that its new larger skin can escape through the hard older skin.
Once it moults it goes into the process of stretching the skin and slowly (over a period of days) the skin hardens. This is when the tarantula is at its most vulnerable. The legs will most likely appear white if the tarantula is young. The fangs take even longer to harden but you should notice obvious activities where the stretching out and in is quite apparent. Its a stressful time and its quite exhausting, which is why it takes so long. The one thing you shouldn't do is move it or disturb it. Its probably as welcome as asking the mrs to go down the shops just after she's given birth!
The moisture will help but personally I think you've made a bit of a boo-boo here. soz

[James Box]

good luck with your spider...i've had some close calls with this, and a few misses too...
i hope your spider pulls through

[angie starr]

Angie, when a spider moults it rids itself of the old skin etc. Its new body is fragile, soft and wringled. It needs to be like this so that its new larger skin can escape through the hard older skin.
Once it moults it goes into the process of stretching the skin and slowly (over a period of days) the skin hardens. This is when the tarantula is at its most vulnerable. The legs will most likely appear white if the tarantula is young. The fangs take even longer to harden but you should notice obvious activities where the stretching out and in is quite apparent. Its a stressful time and its quite exhausting, which is why it takes so long. The one thing you shouldn't do is move it or disturb it. Its probably as welcome as asking the mrs to go down the shops just after she's given birth!
The moisture will help but personally I think you've made a bit of a boo-boo here. soz

Thankyou 4 ur response Peter. Sadly I'm kinda feeling I have made a boo-boo of the whole situ here I guess on reflection I probably reacted out of shock (sadly) Even though I have seen many of my T's molt I've never witnessed or heard of any T molting then moving and resuming the molt postion and was probably even more worried by the fact that the molt was perfect. When I saw only her rump and legs poking out of the ground (even though I did give it some thought) I jumped 2 the conclusion that she was in trouble. I feel truely gutted 2 think I may of made worse the whole situation 4 her and can only prey she makes it though now.

[Kate Arbon]

Don't feel too bad Angie, everybody makes mistakes and it can be very difficult to decide what to do in a situation like this when you don't know if leaving or helping would be better.

I would hope that as long as you were very gentle, you won't have damaged her by moving her. Hopefully after some water and rest she will sort herself out. Keep us posted.

Good luck

[Peter Lacey]

Don't feel too bad Angie, everybody makes mistakes and it can be very difficult to decide what to do in a situation like this when you don't know if leaving or helping would be better.

I would hope that as long as you were very gentle, you won't have damaged her by moving her. Hopefully after some water and rest she will sort herself out. Keep us posted.

Good luck

Actually that should be my last sentiments too

Good luck

[Mark Lynes]

I doubt you've made a boo-boo as such, however I do think the spider is unfortunately doomed.Sorry.

Mark

[angie starr]

Thankyou 4 ur response every1.

Update: She's still hanging in there, All day she has seemed pretty lifeless but 4 the 1st time she has moved 2wards her shallow water dish

Fingers crossed

[Louise~Nichols]

Heya Angie,
Don't panic too much m'dear, spiders take varying amounts of time to recover from the moult. I've had my subs and adults laying around looking wholeheartedly pathetic for upto 3 days after a moult at times. All I do is fill the waterbowl, then let it overflow to wet the substrate for around a 1" diameter around the water bowl, then gently mist one end.

My best wishes are with you, stay calm, and intervene only to administer the necessary water or misting for the next day or so, but if the curling resumes, then place her in a small tub with about 5mm of water. Then leave it for 4 hours before returning her to her home, but hopefully this measure won't be necessary. As we have had a hot spell of weather over this past week, this could have contributed to your Emilia feeling a bit more out of sorts, so a gentle misting of her enclosure should cool the air temperature for her.

Good luck. xxx

[angie starr]

Heya Angie,
Don't panic too much m'dear, spiders take varying amounts of time to recover from the moult. I've had my subs and adults laying around looking wholeheartedly pathetic for upto 3 days after a moult at times. All I do is fill the waterbowl, then let it overflow to wet the substrate for around a 1" diameter around the water bowl, then gently mist one end.

My best wishes are with you, stay calm, and intervene only to administer the necessary water or misting for the next day or so, but if the curling resumes, then place her in a small tub with about 5mm of water. Then leave it for 4 hours before returning her to her home, but hopefully this measure won't be necessary. As we have had a hot spell of weather over this past week, this could have contributed to your Emilia feeling a bit more out of sorts, so a gentle misting of her enclosure should cool the air temperature for her.

Good luck. xxx

Thankyou so much Louise, at this time she has managed 2 drag herself 2 the water dish (about 1 inch away) and is resting on the edge, which is good news. I appreciate ur advice on what 2 do if she resumes the curl position but hopefully it won't come 2 that. I'm checking on her hourly just 2 make sure the tissue is moist, otherwise I'm leaving her WELL alone. Thx again

With Kind Regards

Angie

[Peter Lacey]

One remedy I use to rehydrate is to soak sphagnum moss and place this in the enclosure, I feel its safer than a bowl of water considering the lungs are underneath and the T may be weak. Its then fairly easy to add more water to the moss and I've found Ts that favour dry conditions sitting on moist moss. Seems recently my enclosures have dried out much more than usual which I guess is attributed to this warm weather as Louise suggests.
Alternatively kitchen towel makes a good alternative.

[angie starr]

Update: Although still very weak my little girl is still with us. I'm hoping with time, peace and quite she will pull through. I would like 2 thank every1 who responded with both advice and well wishes yesterday, Ur support was very much appreciated.

I'm still left with questions on whether I should of moved her or not? I know how fragile their bodies are when they have just molted and know it takes a few days 2 strengthen. My main consern in the 1st place was that her book lungs were covered in soil and only her legs and rump were visual. Also has any1 experienced a T moving from where they 1st molted 2 another area in their enclosure and resume the molt position even thought the molt itself was whole and intact?

I do appreciate ur views on this, if I have made a mistake I really want 2 learn by it. Would I of been better off gently brushing the soil off of her lungs or leaving her alone?

This does also make me ask another question. I have over the last few months stopped spraying all of my enclosures, instead I have been pouring water directly 2 the corner on which the heat mat is placed, I found this freaks certain species out less (although I still spray all burrowing species). The humidity remains correct but the soil is very dry (as u can see by the 1st picture). I have had other T's molt since with no problem but maybe thats been more luck. Any advice????

[James Box]

hard to say about humidity, alot of us have very different methods. i even know a chap who kept T blondi (a so-called "swamp monster" by one author) dry! he made up for lack of water dishes by a solid regimen of feeding.

my own approach varies per T, some get water dishes, some are kept quite dry, and fed if they want it (ie Aphonopelma chalcodes and my older Grammastola sp for example).
i have a few burrowers, and like you i spray, or pour water in. hard not to freak them out with the watering, but i try to mist gently, so it's not unlike light rain, which i'm sure they're capable of dealing with in the wild.
for spiderlings i mist regularly, sometimes the whole enclosure, sometimes one end, as i notice certain ones seem to hate wet substrate!

i'm really glad your emilia is improving...the summer heat may very well be playing a part, as my adult male A chalcodes seemed very dehydrated at first right after a moult, though he's fine now, and i know someone else with a B klaasi (i think) that looked very bad to begin with after moulting but is fine now.