Fake Molt?

siras78

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Messages
22
I just got a 2" H. Giga in the mail today. I rehoused it into a vial with some peat/vermiculite and a few sprays of water. A few hours later I was walking by and I saw it on its back. It was moving its legs in and out, over and over slowly. I figured it was either dying or molting. I left it alone but checked on it every 30 minutes or so. It stayed like that about 4 hours before it flipped back over and acted like nothing had happened. It didn't molt. None of my other Ts have done this before, is this common? What exactly was it doing? Thanks! :)
 

angelarachnid

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 25, 2004
Messages
384
WOW

This is a first for me.

Can you keep data on when this happened and when the next moult occurs please, this would make a very interesting article for a journal.

If you have the last moult data that would be excelent.

Ray
 

Steven.WK

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 26, 2006
Messages
168
It might have been dehydrated during shipping. And it took some time to recover in the vial you put it in. My experience is that if a T is about to molt during shipping. It'll molt while in transit and the results are usually not good.
 

chubfarm

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 9, 2006
Messages
52
i bought i chaco Sunday at a reptile show,i live about 2 hours from the show,and by time i got home it had molted.but anyways it may have been stressed from the travel.and just need time to adjust.
 

MindUtopia

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 30, 2005
Messages
2,041
Spyder Man said:
It might have been dehydrated during shipping. And it took some time to recover in the vial you put it in. My experience is that if a T is about to molt during shipping. It'll molt while in transit and the results are usually not good.
I agree, perhaps it could have been a reaction to stress or dehydration. I have heard of people finding T's death on their backs even when there was no indication they were ready to molt and that dehydration/stress could have been a factor in these deaths. But so long as it has water and is now up and about and doing fine, that's a good sign.
 

bluebell

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 4, 2005
Messages
45
I had that happen but with a different type of T (a rio grande golden - can't remember scientific name). Anyway, when it arrived, it was on its back with legs curled in. I thought it was dead, but when I blew on it, it twitched, so I misted it lightly. It took about a day and a half but it finally righted itself and has been fine ever since. I'm marking its behaviour down to shipping stress.
 

Water spider

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 24, 2006
Messages
52
Spider I caught from our house (Zelotes latreillei) was trying to climb the wall of her enclosure, but somehow slipped and dropped on her back. She lay on her back maybe an hour, looking just like a molting tarantula. Then she righted herself up, and has been OK since.
 

siras78

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Messages
22
Thanks for the replies everyone! It still looks fine this morning and has webbed the vial up a little. Hooray! :clap:
 

bonesmama

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 28, 2004
Messages
1,017
I recently heard of an adult G. rosea that kept flipping back and forth for the first week that it was brought home. We couldn't figure out if it was the wood chips it was on or dehydration. But after the T finally had a couple of drinks, she stopped flipping.....
 

Becca

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 9, 2003
Messages
286
I received an A.hentzi last week (19th ap), when I opened its container it was on its back, so I left it and checked on it later. It had righted itself so I transfered it into its new container.
It moulted on Monday (25th)...
 

siras78

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Messages
22
Well, he/she didn't make it. :( It tried to molt for real yesterday. Today when I noticed it hadn't really gotten anywhere I assisted. I managed to get part of it free but that wasn't enough. I left it to rest and when I came back it was gone. :(
 
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