whats going on?

[nick young]

my spid has refused food for a while after i cahnged the substrate. i kept finding crickets burrowed away where the spidling couldn't reach it. i therefore decided since it has been over two weeks to move my spid to a cleaned empty container with nothig but a cricket, hoping it would be able to catch it. i left overnight and checked but refused i tried the same thing for a couple of nights. Then i opened today with the intetnion of returning him to his old home to find my spid in an odd position with its legs close to its body. There is also a lighter patch on the back of the abdomen i assume is from urticating hairs. My spid however is not moving, i gentley nudged to see if it would and i got no response. now after nudgind it i realised he may be moulting and it was a silly idea but it was too late. my spid however does not have a darker abdomen but a lighter one and he is definately not on his back. i removed the crickets just to make sure, and a molt defiantley is quite due as its been 4 months and the spidling is only 3cm. im just hoping it s moult and my spids ok, how can you tell the difference between an upright moult and death?
happy days all
nick

[vincent winyard]

hi nick my young rosa molted the other day after 4 and a half months of not eating. she's about an inch in size. the best thing to do when they develop a bald spot on there backside and stop eating is to just leave them alone but make sure there's fresh water for the youngster all the time and the humidity is at the right level as this makes life a little easier for the spider to molt. i have my youngster in a critter box and to help with the humidity i lay a very damp cloth on top of it this seems to help. im not to sure about the difference between an upright molt and a dead t but surly if it's alive it should have moved by now. if you've put it back in it's original tank just leave it alone and keep the water and humidity in supply good luck mate.

[Peter Lacey]

Hi Nick
You haven't said the size of the tub, or tarantula or what species but generally tarantula should be easy to look after.
Tarantula often curl their legs in at what some call a stress curl, this pose is quite natural but does suggest the tarantula is uncomfortable with its surroundings (quite likely in an empty tub) or is perhaps trying to preserve humidity. The death curl is quite different in that the legs actually curl under the body. If you feel this is the case I'd suggest some moist kitchen towel at one end of your clean tub and put this in a dark place where its less likely to get disturbed. Unless the abdomen is looking wrinkled or unusually small I wouldn't worry too much about feeding, although you could provide a pre-killed cricket.
Tarantula will kick off urticating hairs as a defence mechanism and over the substrate. This can often result in bald patches on the abdomen, revealing a bone-like colour. When in pre-moult its often easy to see a dark patch near the rear of the abdomen which is the hairs of the new skin underneath. Its obviously easier to see this when there's a bald patch.
As your tarantula gets older the frequency of moulting will become less. You should try to disturb it less during the moult and cut down on feeding. One thing you should avoid is leaving cricket with a tarantula in pre-moult. If the tarantula decides to go into moult its at its most vulnerable and its a common way to lose tarantula from hidden crickets during this time.
Tarantula are adept at fasting, sometimes for months or even years. As suggested above try to make sure it has a clean bowl of water and you may find overflowing this helps during the moult period.

[nick young]

cheers guys

thanks for ur insightful responses and you were right it was just a moulting fast. sorry for such a delayed reply.
cheers for ur help