Baby Mexican Red Knee

[Paul Gee]

Hi.

I have had my baby Smithi for about 14 months now, and he/she has molted 3 times since January 1st 2013. The last molt was back in May last year, 8 months ago, and I was just wondering why he/she hasn't molted since?

The spider is kept at a good temperature, good humidity, eats well and always has access to water which is only sprayed to the insides of the enclosure.

The spider is about 1 Inch leg span, and kept in a round enclosure about 3 inches in diameter, is this too small for the spider? Is it the enclosure size that could be stunting the growth of the spider? I know the enclosure needs to be at least twice the leg span, but I am thinking maybe the enclosure could be too small now.

If I do need to rehouse my spider, will a plastic Cricket tub be ok to use? I mean the tubs that the Crickets come in when purchased from the pet shop?

Thanks

[Peter Roach]

Everything sounds normal to me

If you want to speed up things just up the temps and feeding.



ps. What do you class as good temperature and humidity ?

[Paul Gee]

Hi Peter.

The temp is fluctuating around 68 - 72F, and the humidity is just below 50%, as I understand these species like it dry.

The spider looks fine, eats around 6 to 8 size 1 cricks per month.

Problem is, I don't know if the spider has molted since last May because I work away from home for 3 weeks at a time, and I was wondering if he/she has molted and possibly buried the shed skin!! I like to give the enclosure a complete clean out after each molt to lower the risk of mite infestation, so I cannot really tell whether the spider has molted or not since last May unless I do another clean out and look for the old skin? I don't want to stress the spider too much by cleaning too often.

[Paul Gee]

Panic over. My baby MRK molted last night (16/02/14). 9 months since the last molt.

[Stuart Baker]

Congrats. As you're probably aware, the moults will get less frequent with time. As a general rule, the bigger the spider, the bigger the interval between moults.

[Paul Gee]

Congrats. As you're probably aware, the moults will get less frequent with time. As a general rule, the bigger the spider, the bigger the interval between moults.

Thanks Stuart.

I did wonder if this was true. I understand they will moult less frequently when they reach Juvie or early adult stage, but not as less frequent when they are still babies.

I guess I could be in for a much longer wait until the next moult??? That's what I expected from owning a Mexican Red Knee