Why do my Ts molt in the water dish.

keeper2013

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Messages
39
I've been using bottle caps for water, but I'm switching to something that hold more water. The caps are dry after 24-36 hours. Bigger water dish will allow humidity to. Anyway, my last 3 molts have all been right on top of the bottle cap. I've posted the last 2 molts and you can see what I mean. Is it the color that draws them or because thats where the water is. I figure they drink just be fore the molt starts and thats why they finish up laying on top of it. Have other noticed molts happening in or near the water dish. First pic is a porteri, second is Guyana Blue.
 

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Oumriel

Arachnosquire
Joined
Mar 4, 2014
Messages
89
My avics all molt in their tube web houses but quite a few of my ground dwellers will molt in corners that are damp or will build their mats over the water cap. When I see them hanging out by the water dish and they are in pre molt, I will soak a corner and almost always they will molt either on or close next to where I soaked. Humidity aids in molting, probably keeps the old exo from drying out too quickly during the process, and helps the spider from becoming dehydrated right after.
 

Ultum4Spiderz

Arachnoemperor
Arachnosupporter
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Oct 13, 2011
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4,545
Maybe T;s are smart enough to molt in the spot with best humidity (your water dish !). Your Avic tank looks a little too dry also success full molt though :) I lost my first Avic to dry substrate & bad molt.
 

14pokies

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 25, 2014
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1,735
Maybe T;s are smart enough to molt in the spot with best humidity (your water dish !). Your Avic tank looks a little too dry also success full molt though :) I lost my first Avic to dry substrate & bad molt.
both comments above are spot on. raise humidity a little when u suspect a molt.be care full with a bigger dish tho cuz it looks like your ts are used to molting right over them...dont use something big enough that they might drown in until they molt again in a different spot. if you keep good records u can predict a molt cycle to some degree. just right down the temps in the room,when you feed them and of course the last molt.if its molting every six months @ 78 degrees when fed 2 crickets a week. you can kinda assume that if it stops eating at 5 months and 15 days that a molt is coming and u can raise the humidity a little bit.
 

keeper2013

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Messages
39
My avics all molt in their tube web houses but quite a few of my ground dwellers will molt in corners that are damp or will build their mats over the water cap. When I see them hanging out by the water dish and they are in pre molt, I will soak a corner and almost always they will molt either on or close next to where I soaked. Humidity aids in molting, probably keeps the old exo from drying out too quickly during the process, and helps the spider from becoming dehydrated right after.
Good point.

---------- Post added 11-08-2014 at 10:17 AM ----------

Maybe T;s are smart enough to molt in the spot with best humidity (your water dish !). Your Avic tank looks a little too dry also success full molt though :) I lost my first Avic to dry substrate & bad molt.
You're right it was to dry. I keep it on the dry side, but I should have paid more attention to it. The molt was perfect though. It was intact and looked like another Avic. The porteri is the one that went crazy with his webbing.

---------- Post added 11-08-2014 at 10:21 AM ----------

both comments above are spot on. raise humidity a little when u suspect a molt.be care full with a bigger dish tho cuz it looks like your ts are used to molting right over them...dont use something big enough that they might drown in until they molt again in a different spot. if you keep good records u can predict a molt cycle to some degree. just right down the temps in the room,when you feed them and of course the last molt.if its molting every six months @ 78 degrees when fed 2 crickets a week. you can kinda assume that if it stops eating at 5 months and 15 days that a molt is coming and u can raise the humidity a little bit.
I keep good records, almost to a fault. This guy acted like he was in pre-molt for a month. Could not figure him out. With winter on the way and drier house air, I plan on raising the humidity for all of them.
 
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