Molting Vs. Death Curl

Do T's always molt with their legs sprawled out?
Reason why I'm asking, is I was at a local petshop (This place is actually worst then Deathco) and they had a StrippedKnee. Well, this place keeps all their T's in little KK's hanging on the wall, and I asked to see the Stripped knee. Well, it was balled up in a cornner, kind of vertical, so it's abdonmen was up in the air, and all of it's legs were curled. "it looks dead." Was the first thing I said. The lady, reassured me it was not, that it was judt molting. Then she asked me , (this parts great!) If I was farmilliar with keeping tarantula's, because they molt sometimes. She said that she was leaving it alone until it was done molting.
I was pretty sure it was dead. I know T's don't always molt on their backs, but isn't curled legs a good indicator that it has moved onto T heaven? BTW, this place keeps their T's in horrible conditions, no water dish, on this saw dust looking substate, no hide, and no room for them to move around. I was actually kind of bummed, beacsue if it looked more lively I was gonna bring it home. It wasn't mature, maybe about 3 inches to four.

I'm not sure what you mean by "sprawled out".
I've never gotten to witness any of my Ts molting upright (hubby has) so I couldn't tell you what that looks like in comparison to a death curl, however, IME, the molting position does look different than a death curl...simular, but not the same. I would be inclined to think the T was probably dead given those conditons and the possibility that the lady working there only knows the word "molt" because someone told her once. The only way I can think of to describe the difference is that when a T is molting the legs are "bunched up" whereas when it's dying they are "curled up"...if that makes sense.

if it's still 'moulting' tomorrow don't buy and tell the gal she's bent lol
Rev

reverendsterlin said:

if it's still 'moulting' tomorrow don't buy and tell the gal she's bent lol
Rev

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LOL true! If that's the case then you can also tell the lady that "sometimes tarantulas molt and sometimes they die too...especially when they are kept in deplorable conditions".

In response to the "sprawled out" comment, yes, from my experience, when on their backs getting ready to pop their tops, their legs do seem to be somewhat spread out...definitely not curled up under their carapaces...I hate pet stores . (period) :evil:

I witnessed my female Blondi molt upright. it was very fun to watch (2 hours) though i almost fell asleep.



-Mattyb

I'm glad you've asked this! I'm asking the same question in my mind about our G.Aureostriata. I've been hoping that it's a molt coming on. (S)he's been acting a little strange, and instead of his usual hangout of his hide, he's dug out a corner of the KK this last week, and prefers to position himself head down into it (instead of the normal poised-to-watch-for-food head with head forward). Yesterday his legs looked crunched in, I thought, omg, is this the death curl? Then today, sprawled back out, then later, almost like a headstand, now tonight, most the legs tucked in again and he's got himself crouched right down against the dirt. (Organic soil.) It seems there might be webbing material through the soil in the area too. It doesn't look like web, per se, but the soil kind of sticks together in a mass when you move it.

Temps appr 72, hum. 65-70. Ate not very long ago. Doing everything "by the book" and he's looked well until now.

Trying very hard to leave the bugger alone, but he's got me concerned with these odd behaviours. Keep telling myself, this must be a molt! but on the other hand (with all the deaths I've been reading about) I find myself worrying.

I must sound like such a newbie. :8o Well I am. First T, have yet to experience a molt. Now I know understand what all the fuss is about!

I must sound like such a newbie. Well I am. First T, have yet to experience a molt. Now I know understand what all the fuss is about!

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i have 6 t's and have never seen any of them molt. its always a done deal when i get up or home from work. selfish.... mutter... ungrateful .... mutter ..cricket munchers...mutter mutter :wall:

LOL liz, it might be better that way. Did you ever have an idea a molt was about to take place? Did they act out all weird? I would be soooo happy to look and discover a molt right now (even if I've missed it) so I'll know all is normal.

Hope you catch the next one!

Here's a couple of pics. The first one my son took, with the spider doing a strange hanging tuck. The second one sort of shows the headstand with his head on the dirt that he's doing a lot of in recent days. He has also been seen scrunched down into the dirt, like in a crouch. These ever-rotating positions, and hanging out in that webby dug out, are all very new behaviours for "him."

I doubt now that he's working on dying, as the sighting of what I feared was a death curl occurred only twice and very briefly.

Will increasing temps help a molt-in-progress along at all?

Sandra said:

Here's a couple of pics. The first one my son took, with the spider doing a strange hanging tuck. The second one sort of shows the headstand with his head on the dirt that he's doing a lot of in recent days. He has also been seen scrunched down into the dirt, like in a crouch. These ever-rotating positions, and hanging out in that webby dug out, are all very new behaviours for "him."

I doubt now that he's working on dying, as the sighting of what I feared was a death curl occurred only twice and very briefly.

Will increasing temps help a molt-in-progress along at all?

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I've seen my Ts in stranger positions, trust me ...what yours is doing seems somewhat normal (come to think of it, the first pic looks like it's even cleaning its leg...very normal indeed)...maybe cause you fed "him" so much, he's just trying to keep from regurgitating all his yummy cricket juices, and has to change positions once in awhile to re-position his GUT!

As far as increasing the temps DURING a molt I'm not sure...it could help a bit...but increasing temps in general speed up the growth process, so I'm not sure if they would increase the actual molt per se....

Hey, are you saying he's fat??

He gets about one cricket every five days.

So he's being normal eh? Ok. He's just being really "different" for him. Especially the crunching himself into the dirt, head down. I'd think that'd be such a vulnerable position to hang out in. Like I said, for the most part he'd hang out backed into his hide, with head facing the entrance as if on wait and watch. Cool about the cleaning, haven't seen that before. Wondered what that position was all about. lol

I might be relocating him. He's in such an ideal room right now, but having trouble keeping room temps above 72 without the space heater running continually (which we don't want to do, with this particular heater).

Thanks for the reassurance, will let you all know if anything exciting happens.

Sandra said:

but having trouble keeping room temps above 72 without the space heater running continually (which we don't want to do, with this particular heater).

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I know what you mean...I found a space heater/with fan just sitting around the house and am using that...it's a Pelonis...not bad, but old and noisy...seems pretty safe though...

I forgot to mention, I also have a G. aureostriata...looks pretty much identical to yours...but it's not as big an eater unfortunately...seems to take much less food for it to build up the energy to molt than all my other Ts...odd....

I've only ever seen tarantulas in a pet store once, and from that one experience I have no desire to go back. I do all of my spider-related shopping online, and I've found that to be a much more pleasant experience. Vendors online are usually tarantula hobbiests with a collection that got too big, as opposed to a local PetCo with a pimply clerk working the cages who doesn't know a dog from a dingo.

That's true, Petstores suck, but if I see something interesting at one for a good price I will get it. Online dealers are a lot better because they do know what they are talking about and have plenty experince with T's. And I have said this before, I will rescue T's from petstores.
BTW, my B. smithi molted the other night, and I got to see the whole thing, and at no point and time did she look anything like the one at the petstore. I have not went back, and I'm now more than 100% it was dead.