G. rosea going to molt?

Mlotec

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 25, 2005
Messages
15
This is my first T so had a couple quick questions. I've had the T for only about a month and a half, Ive been feeding it a couple crickets a week sporadically. On the last feeding i put a cricket in which it took out fast nothing different and 4 hours later I decided to put one more in for good measure since I would be away that weekend. It didn't want anything to do with it. I decided to leave it in the cage for the weekend. When I got back cricket was still there so I took it out. I left it alone for a week just making sure it had water in the dish. Week goes by and its abdomen isn't jet black so I decided to drop a new cricket in see what happens. Nothing completely ignored it left it in overnight. Cricket was still in the cage alive so I took it out. Now I'm thinking it must be in pre-molt or it has decided to fast which I was really hoping wasn't the case. Another week goes by and when I went to change the water yesterday I finally seen the jet black abdomen almost charcoal in appearence. Here are some of the questions I have that I hope the community can help me with. :?

Do tarantulas turn into pre-molt mode that quick?

The T has about a 4inch legspan if its abodmen has just turned jet black and it is in pre-molt about how long until it molts?

Anything I should be concerned about in?

Thanks for any input :)
 

shogun804

Arachnogeneral
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 5, 2004
Messages
1,387
1> yes the abdomen can turn black in color over the course of a few days.
2>their is really no way of telling how long it will take before it decides to molt, especially with a G rosea they can be very unpredictable. when it does decide to molt just let it do its thing.
 

Windchaser

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 13, 2004
Messages
2,996
Many factors contribute to a tarantula's growth rate. These include how much they eat and the temperature of their environment. Each tarantula is a little different. Some will fast for a long time before molting and others will eat right up to when they molt. This can even vary for a single tarantula as it grows. So, the answer to your question is that yes, sometime the premolt cycle can be very short.

Usually, once the abdoman turns black, the tarantula will molt within a week or two. Occasionally it will be slightly longer. Again, temperature plays a big part in determining this. Warmer temperatures speed up a tarantula's metabolism while cooler temperatures slow it down.

As the molt approachs, make sure you a full water dish is always available. A T needs to be very well hydrated during the molt. Contrary to what some say, the ambient humidty level is not that important during a molt. How well a T is hydrated is much more important.

Once the T has flipped on its back, leave it alone. They are very fragile at this point and need to be left alone. Once it has molted it should be left alone for several days to allow its new exoskeleton to harden. Don't feed it for at least 4 days. I usually wait about a week. At a minimum, you should wait until its fangs harden. You can tell this by the color of the fangs. Harden fangs will be a dark brown, almost black. Immediately after a molt they are white. Then they gradually turn pink, then darker red and finally dark brown.
 

cloud711

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 27, 2005
Messages
505
ive read somewhere that if you overfeed a t it will grow faster. my question is: is it true that when the t grows in this process(overfeeding) they wont be as healthy as a t that grew normally? :)
 

king7

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 27, 2005
Messages
343
i think they call it 'power feeding' but i may be wrong.

my chile went on fast for 12 months so i wouldnt worry about it not eating :)
 

Puppet Master

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 14, 2005
Messages
226
The more you feed them the quickeir they will grow, the problem is a really fat T may climb the sides of its cage and fall and hurt her abdomen, the fatter they are the more fragile they are.
 

cloud711

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 27, 2005
Messages
505
i feed crickets to my small g rosea twice a week. will that be enough for my t? how much food consumption is considered as power feeding? :?
 

Windchaser

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 13, 2004
Messages
2,996
cloud711 said:
i feed crickets to my small g rosea twice a week. will that be enough for my t? how much food consumption is considered as power feeding? :?
There has been a ton of discussion on this topic already. Do a search for power feeding.

Feeding twice a week isn't necessarily considered power feeding. Though you didn't say how many crickets you give at a time. Feeding twice a week is more than enough. I feed all of my tarantulas with the exception of my T. apophysis two to three crickets once every one to two weeks. Small spiderlings get one feeding per week. My T. apophysis gets fed a little more. Ususally she gets 6 crickets at a feeding.

The Tarantula Keeper's Guide states that in general a diet of 6 to 8 crickets per month is a good diet for an adult tarantula.
 
Top