What are the first signs of moulting

[Daniel Richardson]

Hello peeps
Could anyone tell me the first signs of moulting as i dont know if i should offer another cricket yet? my b.smithi seems all settled in now and has been digging and preparing its burrow for hours last night and putting alot of web down,also i have noticed a patch on its abdomen but it does'nt look like a bald patch because i can still see hairs.

[matthew spooner]

offer crickets until the t refuses to eat any. pre moult signs are loss of appetite, darkening of colour and usually sealing itself in its burrow.

[Thomas Pitchford]

It can be a bit worrying to decide whether you should put food in the tank or not if you suspect a moult, but most T's go a fairly long time without eating before a moult. So you are pretty safe putting a cricket in and if it it is still alive in the tank four or five days later you can take it out and know that you tried. If a T is really bothered by it, it will kill it and not eat it. And obviously if you actually see the T is about to moult - heavy webbing on tank floor, burrowed in more than a day or two, actually flipping over on its back (that's usually a give away sign, right?) - you should be able to get the cricket out without bothering the spider.

[Yvonne Woolley]

Its so hard to tell sometimes, I did some cleaning mantenance on some of my vivs on Tuesday and all my ts were just as normal, I got up yesterday and my T. apophysis had made a moulting mat and was flat on her back, my B. smithi had moulted out in the night both had shown no signs at all, but what a nice suprise to see them both with thier new outfits so to speak and looking really well although I must add that my T. apophysis is looking all legs at the moment lol and will have to be moved into a much larger viv as soon as she has got over her moult in a few weeks.