avic A molting?

[james fenton]

my avicularia A was running around her tank as usual last night then about 11 pm she sort of wedged herself between a leaf decoration and the tank's glass and promptly curled up sideways. she started with just one leg tucked under her then as the night progressed she ended up with all legs under her as if she were dead. she has not moved from that posision since and i was wondering if any of the avic keepers see this as a sighn of a molt?
i have removed her from her tank and placed her upside down in a clean plastic tub with sum damp toilet roll and put that on a heat mat and coverd it slightly to provide darkness.

help........... james

[Peter Lacey]

Hard to say whether thats a moult or not but if it is you really should avoid touching it, they're quite capable of moulting themselves! However, moult or dehydration are what springs to mind. Dehydration would make your T frail so running around the enclosure doesnt seem right. If its happy to stay on its back and you can see gradual movements then its likely to be going into a moult. You should observe stretching and over the course of the day it should stretch out of its old skin and into its new. Maintaining moisture is said to help but make sure that heat mat doesnt dry the enclosure out.
My personal experience of Avics moulting is they hide into their web for a few days, I get a glimsp of them and a few days later the old skin gets chucked onto the substrate.
If she's going into a death curl she'll find it almost impossible to stretch her legs.
Good luck

[james fenton]

thanks for the advice

thankyou for the advice peter, having left her alone for pretty much the entire day and night now , she has not uncurled her legs at all or seem to make any movements. i am afraid that i seem to be one avic A less now.

[Peter Lacey]

Thats a shame James, worth leaving it for another night though.
How were you keeping it? what size was it? Has it been eating?