Finicky Little Girl...

MalevolentForce · Aug 31, 2014

Hey guys and gals!

I have a baby Mexican Red Knee (sorry, I'm not too familiar with the scientific names) who just molted a couple days ago! She's about 3 inches from leg to leg now. Her body grew quite a bit and she looks like an awkward teenager! Ha.

Anyway... I've been trying to remove her "molt" and she won't let me. She molted in her cork bark (it's a hollow log type, and the molt is inside). Every time I try to grab the cork bark, she runs up to it and sits on the edge so she's touching the cork bark and her bedding.

How do I get her molted exoskeleton out? I don't want to piss her off. She really is a sweet little girl and I don't wanna make her mad or hurt her.

RegallRegius · Aug 31, 2014

When she is ready for her post-molt 1st feeding, try to get her as far away from her cork round as you can so that she eats away from it. She will be pre-occupied with feeding, and hopefully you can get the molt out. If you can't get it, no worries... she'll push it out when she gets tired of it. Good luck!

pyro fiend · Aug 31, 2014

i agree just give her a little time dont wana harm her wiel shes soft. eventually shell let you take it away ^_^ most likely while noming XD

scorpionchaos · Aug 31, 2014

Brachypelma smithi

viper69 · Aug 31, 2014

There's no need to clean out the old molt, but your own need. What do you think happens in the wild, the Environmental Cleaning Staff comes in for them to tidy up???

pyro fiend · Aug 31, 2014

scorpionchaos said:
Brachypelma smithi

most likely but iv also seen auratum and an annitha with the same name tag in pet stores. so without a pic its a toss up really.

MalevolentForce · Sep 1, 2014

She's definitely a Mexican Red Knee. I think B. Smithi is the right scientific term. Ha.

That name sounds familiar.

Thanks for the feedback guys. She's never done this before, and I've had her since April 2013 at a 2.5 inch leg span. Maybe she's on her period!

This is her about a week ago. She molted like three days ago. Dat booty. <3

pyro fiend · Sep 1, 2014

MalevolentForce said:
She's definitely a Mexican Red Knee. I think B. Smithi is the right scientific term. Ha. That name sounds familiar.

Thanks for the feedback guys. She's never done this before, and I've had her since April 2013 at a 2.5 inch leg span. Maybe she's on her period!

View attachment 129575
This is her about a week ago. She molted like three days ago. Dat booty. <3

def smithi. prob got your moneys worth for sure lol

sub looks nice and dry may wana add few pebbles to her dish tho just incase

mainly because that dish is huge XD she looks nice tho!

MalevolentForce · Sep 1, 2014

pyro fiend said:
def smithi. prob got your moneys worth for sure lol

sub looks nice and dry may wana add few pebbles to her dish tho just incase mainly because that dish is huge XD she looks nice tho!

Why thank-you. She's a doll. I've held her a few times and she's never even reared up trying to kill me. She's a gentle fuzzball. I pet her butt when I come home from work sometimes, too. I need to fatten dat booty up again, she's got a tiny booty after that molt she just had. Feeding time!

I'll look for some rocks. Her legs surpass the bowl by just a bit.

I luff her.

pyro fiend · Sep 1, 2014

MalevolentForce said:
Why thank-you. She's a doll. I've held her a few times and she's never even reared up trying to kill me. She's a gentle fuzzball. I pet her butt when I come home from work sometimes, too. I need to fatten dat booty up again, she's got a tiny booty after that molt she just had. Feeding time!

I'll look for some rocks. Her legs surpass the bowl by just a bit. I luff her.

lol i say that about all my T's over 2" after a molt "god you got a small bum!..you must be hungry.." XD iv got a friend kinda liking them and with my last T molting [0.1 a. genic 3"] i made a comment she had a black girl booty.. well when she molted and she seen the new paintjob she snapped right on it with "dang what happened..thats a white girl butt!" -.- XD.

but you love how some of the most surprising sp are love-bugs.. a pal has a p. met who will bolt out the enclosure and chill on your hand no matter how much you want her off.. thank god shes only 2" HAHA one T i wont be feeding any time soon.. and not gona touch that subject with my coaxing paint brush XD

she may be a little bigger then the bowl but its better to be safe then sorry. i know all my T's use the rocks as leverage when they drink even my 4.5+" rosea in a 2inch bowl... id feel bad if the slippery rock/plastic/ceramic made any of my T's drown =\ so i always put some in no matter wat even my 1.5in slings get small rocks XD

Formerphobe · Sep 1, 2014

Can anyone cite an instance where a tarantula drowned in its waterbowl?
Putting pebbles in the bowl is to keep crickets and other prey items from drowning. However, for most terrestrial species, if you're putting so many crickets in that the T can't or won't eat them all in one sitting, then you're offering too much food.

Nice looking B smithi.

Storm76 · Sep 1, 2014

MalevolentForce said:
She's a gentle fuzzball. I pet her butt when I come home from work sometimes, too.

Simply put: Please don't. These animals don't like to be touched, worse even cuddled or the like. The urticating hairs on the NW species are a defensive mechanism to prevent anything to try such an act, like eating them, touching them...the like. They don't see, they sense smell and vibrations with their hairs, so everytime you touch them it sends basically sensory overloads through their system. One day, that might yield a different reaction than walking away or staying put...

If you're looking for something to pet, get a cat or a dog.

viper69 · Sep 1, 2014

It's also possible (and there are medical reports on this) for people to get urticating setae from touching a T and the person scratches their eye w/out thinking. The setae, once under the eyelid is not pleasant to say the least and may really harm your eye.

Formerphobe · Sep 1, 2014

viper69 said:
It's also possible (and there are medical reports on this) for people to get urticating setae from touching a T and the person scratches their eye w/out thinking. The setae, once under the eyelid is not pleasant to say the least and may really harm your eye.

Can also penetrate the cornea and cause some rather remarkable pain and continuing issues.

MalevolentForce · Sep 3, 2014

pyro fiend said:
lol i say that about all my T's over 2" after a molt "god you got a small bum!..you must be hungry.." XD iv got a friend kinda liking them and with my last T molting [0.1 a. genic 3"] i made a comment she had a black girl booty.. well when she molted and she seen the new paintjob she snapped right on it with "dang what happened..thats a white girl butt!" -.- XD.

but you love how some of the most surprising sp are love-bugs.. a pal has a p. met who will bolt out the enclosure and chill on your hand no matter how much you want her off.. thank god shes only 2" HAHA one T i wont be feeding any time soon.. and not gona touch that subject with my coaxing paint brush XD

she may be a little bigger then the bowl but its better to be safe then sorry. i know all my T's use the rocks as leverage when they drink even my 4.5+" rosea in a 2inch bowl... id feel bad if the slippery rock/plastic/ceramic made any of my T's drown =\ so i always put some in no matter wat even my 1.5in slings get small rocks XD

That's hilarious. Right now my girl has a tiny white girl booty. Ha. She must be starving! I've never seen her have trouble in her water bowl, but better safe than sorry. And I've actually never had a cricket drown in the bowl, either...

---------- Post added 09-02-2014 at 10:32 PM ----------

I never knew I was not SUPPOSED to touch her. I've only done it a few times, so I'm glad I haven't bugged her too terribly much. I do hold her from time to time (I've held her like 3 times since I got her in April 2013). I really am surprised at how friendly she is, to be honest. I usually leave her alone and play with my reptiles - Ball Python (born in 2007) and Leopard Gecko (born in 2013). I mostly just look at my spidah and observe her. And just like my two reptile boys, I greet all three with a good morning and goodnight.

Is it obvious I'm single?! Ha.

:laugh:

viper69 · Sep 3, 2014

MalevolentForce said:
I never knew I was not SUPPOSED to touch her.

There's no law that reads you are forbidden from handling your T. You may do whatever you want. W/that said, just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you should, ie handling a T. Remember, they are an animal that senses their environment through touch primarily, EXTREMELY sensitive to touch/vibrations.

Handling is something they prefer not to undergo based on the body behavior/posturing I have observed with many NW and OW species, not too mention that they are shy animals relative to other species that live on land in my opinion.

---------- Post added 09-02-2014 at 11:14 PM ----------

Formerphobe said:
Can also penetrate the cornea and cause some rather remarkable pain and continuing issues.

Yep, I figured if someone was TRULY interested they could look it up themselves.

Finicky Little Girl...

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