Double moult?!

[Paul Arnold]

I purchased my juvenile female G.Pulcheripes in April this year. She was approaching a moult at this time with all the visible signs,sure enough two weeks later she completed the moult. Its now June,I've been feeding her, though not excessivley,and I've come in to the room this morning and she has moulted again but with no warning whatsoever!! There was no bald patch on her abdomen,starting out pink,turning to grey and then black. No apparent appetite loss (one minute she was feeding,the next she is renewed)
It has taken me completely by surprise!! Is this common with this Tarantula? Please don't tell me that the next moult will occur in 2 yrs time because of this anomaly lol lol.
I've never had any of my others do this,something I've not seen in 10 yrs of keeping .
Nevertheless I am very pleased as the colours are really starting to show now Beautiful she is. In fact I'ts made my day because I simply wasn't expecting it Hurrah for Tarantulas

[Paul Arnold]

P.s She shed at 4" inch and shed again within 2 months and is now 5" +

[Andrew Oels-Wallis]

My G. pulcheripes did nearly the same thing, as when I got her in December 2010 she only had 6 legs, then in January she moulted with 8 legs again, but 2 were under-developed. She moulted again in February, with everything is now in full use. She's now around 5" and never lost her appetite either.

I don't know if this is common in Ts with less than the correct number of legs, but it seemed like a very short time-scale for the whole thing to happen. It's now June, and she's just a hungry hippo now!

[Ray Hale]

Hi Andrew, its not uncommon, although not the norm, for tarantulas to initiate a second moult in close proximity to the first. I first noticed it way back in 1998 when a juvenile Haplopelma lividum moulted with a deformed chelicerae. I assumed she would either cope with the deformity athough it was pretty bad or simply be unable to eat and eventually die. Within three weeks she moutled again. This time the result was an improved although smaller fang. I have seen it happen a number of times since. When a spider loses legs during a moult for instance or if the old skin is stuck to the new. Its not the most common of things but it does happen and usually the result is positive. Of couse the other thought would be that males will moult in quick sucession although if you have sexed it then this is obvioulsy not the reason. Damn clever these tarantulas you know. We have only just begun to understand them.

Hope this helps

Ray