Abdomen darkening in Pre-Molt

[miss moxie]

I can't believe he's been that dark for that long and hasn't popped! Here's hoping its soon!

I'm surprised as well, but he is a big boy. I'd say five inches easy.

Hey moxie do you just leave a water bowl? Or do you spray/ mist a little bit when they are going to molt?

All of my Ts, no matter how big or small have 24/7 access to water. Unless they dump sphagnum in or web into it so that it wicks out before I get a chance to refill it.

But when I notice a tarantula go dark for pre-molt or suspect they may molt soon when they're hiding out in a hide, I make sure to douse one corner really well. My logic is that the bump in humidity helps keep their exuviae from drying out before they can free themselves. I have to say though, he spent the last day parked over the corner I doused.

 

[Jmanbeing93]

Interesting pictures, moxie. I learned quite a bit about molting today. Feeling more confident about owning a T, now that I know what to really look for. If your spider went out in public like that, he would be arrested for pedaling crack.

 

[miss moxie]

He still hasn't flipped. He's taking his sweet, sweet time apparently. Not much else to say! I keep an eye on him but his appearance hasn't really changed at all.

Here he was, September the 8th, 2017. Approximately 27 hours since the last update, and 171 hours since the initial post.

 

[Jmanbeing93]

@miss moxie Looks really close, any minute now.

 

[ChaelP]

He still hasn't flipped. He's taking his sweet, sweet time apparently. Not much else to say! I keep an eye on him but his appearance hasn't really changed at all.

Here he was, September the 8th, 2017. Approximately 27 hours since the last update, and 171 hours since the initial post.

Do females stay longer in premolt than males? My 4" male B.Boehmei molted 2weeks after his last meal, but my 4" female N.Chromatus is now in her 3rd week after her last meal but her abdomen doesnt seem to be darkening yet?
Same with my 2.5" male B.vagans, molted after a week from his last meal, but my 2" female B.Vagans now 3rd week since her last meal and isnt about to molt yet.
Is gender a factor on how long a T stays in premolt? Also males tend to mature and grow faster. Or it just depend on the individual?

 

[miss moxie]

Do females stay longer in premolt than males? My 4" male B.Boehmei molted 2weeks after his last meal, but my 4" female N.Chromatus is now in her 3rd week after her last meal but her abdomen doesnt seem to be darkening yet?
Same with my 2.5" male B.vagans, molted after a week from his last meal, but my 2" female B.Vagans now 3rd week since her last meal and isnt about to molt yet.
Is gender a factor on how long a T stays in premolt? Also males tend to mature and grow faster. Or it just depend on the individual?

I'm not really sure if sex plays a part in how long it takes a tarantula to molt, but I do know that males typically go through everything faster. They mature faster and they die faster. That's just their design.

I have to say this is the LONGEST period of time I've personally experienced any tarantula, male or female, have their abdomen go dark without molting.

@EulersK @cold blood @14pokies @boina @Venom1080 -- Any thoughts on this? Males taking longer to molt than females or vice versa? Or is sex completely null and void when it comes to molting time? I know size plays a factor.

 

[Venom1080]

Whats the question? If males literally molt faster? That wouldn't make any sense imo.


Also, I hope you just have a day off and stayed up all night @miss moxie ... I saw your posting at 2am..

 

[miss moxie]

Whats the question? If males literally molt faster? That wouldn't make any sense imo.


Also, I hope you just have a day off and stayed up all night @miss moxie ... I saw your posting at 2am..

A day off. All of my days I'm off. I'm a no good bum without a job. I was a full time student but didn't sign up for classes this semester for family reasons.

Yes, they were asking if one sex/gender molted faster than the other. I didn't think so, but I thought I'd ask others first. I don't know everything.

 

[ChaelP]

A day off. All of my days I'm off. I'm a no good bum without a job. I was a full time student but didn't sign up for classes this semester for family reasons.

Yes, they were asking if one sex/gender molted faster than the other. I didn't think so, but I thought I'd ask others first. I don't know everything.

To be clear, my question was do females stay longer in premolt than males. Not the actual molting process itself

 

[miss moxie]

To be clear, my question was do females stay longer in premolt than males. Not the actual molting process itself

Ah, I understood what you meant but explaining it in my own words might have made it sound different. To me, pre-molt is part of the molting process. There is no molt at all without pre-molt, right? They are different steps of one process. And if a female was in pre-molt longer, then from pre-molt to hardening up would take longer when you account for the long pre-molt.

 

[Venom1080]

That doesn't make sense to me, I'd say no.

 

[boina]

I'm going with @Venom1080 on this - I think it's the individual and it definitely depends on temps. Since I keep my Ts on the cooler side (low 70s) they can look completely black for up to 2 weeks, depending on species, individual and size. I haven't noted any difference according to sex, though.

 

[cold blood]

To be clear, my question was do females stay longer in premolt than males. Not the actual molting process itself

no....in fact it seems to me that ultimate molts for males may take the longest....otherwise i dont think sex of the t plays any role.. .its still the exact same process.

 

[miss moxie]

no....in fact it seems to me that ultimate molts for males may take the longest....otherwise i dont think sex of the t plays any role.. .its still the exact same process.

Ahhhh, perhaps that's what's happening with my auratum boy then. I suspected he'd mature with this molt and if the maturing molt takes the longest then that would make sense.

I've never had a male molt into maturity, just juvenile males and one raggedy old Euathlus sp. "red" MM that was no good for breeding but was being sold dirt-cheap with a female and I took him. He was a good little MM while he lasted, even ate sometimes.

 

[ThisMeansWAR]

Wow, fantastic photos there @miss moxie ! I have a female B. auratum with almost exactly the same baldness going on. I also received it like this and I have been waiting forever for a molt. Congrats!

 

[miss moxie]

Wow, fantastic photos there @miss moxie ! I have a female B. auratum with almost exactly the same baldness going on. I also received it like this and I have been waiting forever for a molt. Congrats!

Thanks! My B. auratum female is a little bald too but nowhere near like he is. I've never seen such a bald abdomen before. Part of me wants to touch it (I won't, I know better) because it's creeping me out imagining it might feel like human skin. But I'm a weirdo.

 

[miss moxie]

NOTE: I'll just go ahead and get this out of the way. Should you mess with a freshly molted tarantula? Nope! Should I mess with a freshly molted tarantula? Nope!! They're very -very- delicate at this stage and should be absolutely left alone the entire time. Don't rush to yank their exuviae, don't move the enclosure around-- let them be.

I only did it so I could get pictures for this thread, and I took every precaution from spending a good 30 seconds slowwwlllyyy sliding the lid off so that the vibrations inside the enclosure were minimal at best to slowwwwlllyyyy pulling at the molt so as to not disturb him and to be sure none of it was still stuck to him. I left the lid sitting atop the cage on my dresser so I only had to snap the lid off and lift it once. From there it was easy to lift the lid off without jarring him even a little bit. It still could have gone badly. I took the risk and the consequences were on me. I do not advise anyone to follow my example, even if you're sure of your motor skills and coordination you can still mess something up.

Disclaimer aside, he finally did it! It has been approximately 17 days, 12 hours, 38 minutes and 52 seconds since the initial post. I'm pretty sure he didn't mature this molt which was disappointing because I'm excited to get my first breeding project under way but it was easy to accept. It just means I get more time to enjoy this beautiful boy.

I caught him halfway out of it early this morning (about 7am EST) and it didn't take him long to finish up. He flipped back over onto his "stomach" about an hour ago (about 10am EST) and is resting. The colors on his knees are killing me! I am so glad I took pictures of this, because I've never personally seen a T push their exuviae off in a way that made it fall into a threat pose. Look at the second picture and tell me it isn't like his old bones are guarding his new body.

I don't know where a ruler is off the top of my head, so... I improvised. This steelbox game case is about 6.7" (17cm) tall, and 5.3" (13.5cm) wide.

 

[ThisMeansWAR]

Absolutely fantastic photo series and post, thanks for sharing.

 

[miss moxie]

I'm not much for common names, but it's pretty obvious why B. auratum is known as the 'flame' leg.

 

[ThisMeansWAR]

*knee