New Rose Hair Molting

So I adopted a rose hair (roughly 3.5" dls) from a friend about two months ago, and I assumed that it was in premolt. After I set it up in the new enclosure, it immediately webbed itself into the hide. Last night, I got to witness it actually flipping onto it's back. Very cool sight to see.

That was about 12 hours ago, and it doesn't look like it's progressed at all. I've never had a tarantula this size molt before (I have all slings and young juvies, other than a mature rosie), so I'm not sure what to think. I did a search and saw people saying it could take 8+ hours, but this still seems excessive. I'd think that at this point I would at least see it break through the carapace. Do I have cause for alarm?

As always, thanks for the help this forum provides :biggrin:

Just be patient and leave it be. The worst thing you can do with a molting T is touch it. Even if it was stuck in molt, its very unlikely you have the surgical precision to remove the carapace without causing harm to the specimen. And if its dead,(not saying it is or isn't) poking it wont do a lot of good will it? Just wait and see.

Well yeah, "Do not poke" goes without saying, I believe. I was just asking if this is normal, since I haven't had a T this size molt under my care before.

It's now been 24 hours, and it hasn't progressed even a little bit. I'm beginning to accept that it's either dead or going to die, judging by some other things I've read on this (and other) sites.

EulersK said:

Well yeah, "Do not poke" goes without saying, I believe. I was just asking if this is normal, since I haven't had a T this size molt under my care before.

It's now been 24 hours, and it hasn't progressed even a little bit. I'm beginning to accept that it's either dead or going to die, judging by some other things I've read on this (and other) sites.

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Any progress now? Roseas do everything slowly so it's possible that it is just taking its time, although 24 hours is pretty long for a 3.5" juvie. Was it you that had a similar problem with an OBT sling waiting to moult recently also? Correct me if I'm wrong sorry

No, that wasn't me. It's now been 36ish hours, and he's still in the same spot. However, just as I was typing this, I went to check on him. He has started to do those wave-like motions to get out of the exuvium, which is great. I can't tell if he's broken through the carapace yet, but just the fact that he's moving is good to me.

EulersK said:

Well yeah, "Do not poke" goes without saying, I believe. I was just asking if this is normal, since I haven't had a T this size molt under my care before.

It's now been 24 hours, and it hasn't progressed even a little bit. I'm beginning to accept that it's either dead or going to die, judging by some other things I've read on this (and other) sites.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I figured you knew that. But you can't always be sure with everyone. Haha

Hope he (she?) makes it out. I know I always get a little tense when the big ones molt.

Over 48 hours later, still in the same spot. Those wave motions have stopped by now, and he isn't moving at all. I've never had a T die on me before, and ironically, this is the first one that was tame enough that I could hold it. Had to happen eventually, I suppose. If anything changes, I'll post on here.

Im afraid that 48 hours for a juvie is far longer than it should be, just incase (because of the previous movement) id say leave him for another 12 hours but if there’s no change after that it really is too late, sorry ae =(

Yeah, we're at the 2.5 day mark now. Should I just put him in the freezer later on tonight if nothing changes? I'm sure he's still alive, simply stuck.