Tips and Tricks for Preparing Exuviums (Molts) for Sexing!

I feel like this is an important thread for keepers of all experience levels. GO!

Get a spray bottle, a paper towel, some magnifying glasses and a couple pair of tweezers...


-AJ

It's not particularly difficult to prepare them, although ruining them is pretty easy so my best advice is to work slowly and carefully. Find a flat surface that is deep enough to hold water (I use a clear lid from a deli cup), put the teeniest dot of dishsoap you can manage in the center, add a bit of water and swish it around til you've got lightly soapy water. Add the molt; I find starting at the front and letting everything open up there first makes things a bit easier. I use two toothpicks to then very carefully spread out the opisthosoma, starting at the pedicel area, I gently put one toothpick into the folds and gently pick up the fold and work with it til it opens up. Be careful not to apply too much pressure. If you start seeing the discarded bits of white booklung, you're on the right track. Before you're done, all 4 should be facing you and in their correct positions (that is, like they would be as they are on the T). Once I've got it open enough that I can see what I'm doing, I'll pour out any excess water; the longer the molt sits in the soapy water, the more malleable it becomes, and the easier it is to rip.
I'll try to find the video that I came across early on that really helped me (to be edited).

What does the soap even do? I just use straight out tap water with no ill effects. There's no point in wasting soap like that.

I just squirt the area I need to unfold with a little bit of Windex. It will relax the molt just enough to be able to unfold it with a pair of toothpicks or something similar. I don't like soaking the molt in soapy water, I find that if it gets to water logged it will tear and fall apart easier.

Later, Tom

klawfran3 said:

What does the soap even do? I just use straight out tap water with no ill effects. There's no point in wasting soap like that.

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It helps the water to penetrate the molt so it's more malleable. The setae have a natural water resistance/surface tension and I have noticed a difference between attempting to open up a molt with just water versus soapy water. Also it's not a huge amount of soap...I don't know about you, but one tiny dot of dish soap isn't going to break me.

But to each their own. If water works for you, awesome. Philth (and I assume other people) uses Windex. I like my soapy water and I'm hardly the only one who does this. The OP was asking for tips and tricks from owners, not the one way to rule them all.

VODKA. I am not kidding you guys, VODKA. I use it for sexing all my Ts (and for drinking. I am a heavy drinker so it's always on hand. I'm drinking it right now! -lol-). Just a smidgeon of it in the bottom of a wide, flat dish, and the exo opens up like a flower. The alcohol works quicker than water and I've never had a problem with things breaking apart like I have with the soap/water mixture. Whenever I use water I inevitably break a leg or two off the exo. If you want to preserve the exo but get an accurate sexing out of it first, use vodka. Simply fill a shallow tray with it and set the exo in. After about 30 seconds, you'll have something you can work with under a microscope - easily bendable/malleable. When you're done, just leave it out flat on a papertowel to dry and harden back up. Easy peasy.

For smaller molts, soak in water, carefully take out onto a surface that you could lighten up from beneath - take picture with camera in macro mode - check on your screen said picture in full resolution - better size, better detail - helps if you don't have a bino.