Acanthoscurria geniculata molting....advice needed!

[Paolo Trabucco]

hello everyone!
I came home tonight from work, to find my A. Geniculata , on pre molt position upside down, starting his process of molting.

Well the temperature inside the tank its about 25-28 c, the substrate its bone dry, and the water dish its full, do i have 2 leave it as it his now, or just spray some moisture on substrate ?
Any quick advice ? thankx

[jasonbotting]

just dampen round the water bowl but do not spray carefully tip a little water on the substrate

[Christopher Smallman]

To be honest if she is already on her back there is little you can do that would make any difference.

But I would not spray as even the air movement will spook her let alone any stray water dropplets as has been said trickle some warm water in the enclosure.

She will probably be just fine I have had both a Bonnetina cyaneifemur and Grammostola pulchra moult without me knowing so no damping down of the substrate and both made it without a hitch.

All the best

Chris.

[Paolo Trabucco]

thanks guys, i didn't expect that my "Kaka" would molted , since last night was very active . I really don't wanna disturb the molting T, so i just have to hope that its not gonna turn in a bad molt. I'm sure he will be fine tho, his got water so.... i just have 2 wait and see.
thankx for the advice

[Colin D Wilson]

To be honest all the pre moult conditions and the conditions now must have been right for it to flip over and start moulting.
The spiders prepared for this for some time now and, as Chris said, no adjustments to climate will make any difference. a full water bowl will probably be welcomed by the spider to help re-hydrate when it's started to harden up though

Even in "bad moult" situations where a form of ICU is set up, it's really still in the hands of fate as to whether the spider pulls through. It's not like a snake having a bad shed where some luke warm water helps out by softening the skin enough to slough off, the spider is in a predetermined "physical state" and, realistically, any severe temp/humidity adjustments could sway the situation for the worse.

I think, to be honest, it just makes us "the keeper" feel as though we're doing something to help

[R Thomas]

Luckily the worse moult any of my tarantulas has had lead to the loss of one leg. The tarantula seems happy enough with his remaining seven though. We tend to think that just because we are there that we can do something to fix a bad moult situation. In all honesty I do not think I could willingly break off a leg or scapel away the old moult so nature will have to take its course. A tarantula dying of natural causes would be less heartbreaking for me than one that I killed in the process of trying to cheat nature.

I just like to think that my job is to keep the enclosure at the right temp and humidity and the tarantulas job to moult - hopefully we are both able to do our respective jobs to the best of our own ability.

Lets keep our fingers crossed for a successful moult.

Richard

[jasonbotting]

just dampen round the water bowl but do not spray carefully tip a little water on the substrate

after reading the replys to this post i would follow there advice as mine is wrong! i was only going by what the pet shop told me what to do . we were all novice once as i am now. Once again sorry

[Colin D Wilson]

after reading the replys to this post i would follow there advice as mine is wrong! i was only going by what the pet shop told me what to do . we were all novice once as i am now. Once again sorry

Nothing wrong with your advice at all Jason, overflowing the water bowl and not to spray the tank is all good. As said the spider will welcome a full water bowl when its finished moulting no doubt.

The main point i was making is that the conditions the spider has when preparing for a moult are the ones that matter the most, what we do after the spiders started has very little effect so it seems.

Also there's no need to appologise, we were all beginers at some time, no-one knows everything and we are all still learning as we go.
Difference levels in peoples experience and the ability to learn from one another are what makes forums like these so important to the hobby.

[Christopher Smallman]

after reading the replys to this post i would follow there advice as mine is wrong! i was only going by what the pet shop told me what to do . we were all novice once as i am now. Once again sorry

Hey Jason you were spot on with your advice mate

Its the exactly the same thing I said and I only said warm water because it soaks into the substate quicker rather than pooling on the surface.

Chris.

[Paolo Trabucco]

Thank you all for your expert advices, I just want 2 let you all know , that my A Geniculata "KAKA" Made it throught the Molt, without loosing any legs, or having any problems. At the moment his by the water dish, and his straching, my next step, will be to recover the exuvium, hopefully he will let me have it.
I wait for a week or so to do that though !!