- Joined
- Oct 13, 2004
- Messages
- 991
Update
She is fine this morning. Her molt measured 8". She had been in her hide for about a week or two, which is unusual for her, she is usually out and about. She came out of her hide two days ago and went to the moist side and didn't move around much. Yesterday she stayed in one spot which is what got me worried, I offered her an orange head and she didn't move at all. That was when I lifted her up to see if she was ok. Basically, I was looking to see if there was any mold or fungus on the bottom of her abdomin because she was on the moist side and not moving. What through me off was that when I got her, only a couple or few months ago, she was really skinny, so I assumed she was fresh from a molt, so I was not expecting a molt. Also, she was very active less then two weeks ago, I would think that a spider this size would have a longer period of inactivity prior to a molt.
I think a little human intervention is ok. With a smaller spider, I might consider flipping over, if I found it starting to molt upright. Then again curiousity might just allow me to keep it as is. But this girl is huge and heavy, it would not have been smart of me to attempt to flip it. Besides she was already too far into the molting process by the time I found her. I did carefully slide the water dish out from under her however. That did not seem to disturb her, I was slow and careful.
She is fine this morning. Her molt measured 8". She had been in her hide for about a week or two, which is unusual for her, she is usually out and about. She came out of her hide two days ago and went to the moist side and didn't move around much. Yesterday she stayed in one spot which is what got me worried, I offered her an orange head and she didn't move at all. That was when I lifted her up to see if she was ok. Basically, I was looking to see if there was any mold or fungus on the bottom of her abdomin because she was on the moist side and not moving. What through me off was that when I got her, only a couple or few months ago, she was really skinny, so I assumed she was fresh from a molt, so I was not expecting a molt. Also, she was very active less then two weeks ago, I would think that a spider this size would have a longer period of inactivity prior to a molt.
I think a little human intervention is ok. With a smaller spider, I might consider flipping over, if I found it starting to molt upright. Then again curiousity might just allow me to keep it as is. But this girl is huge and heavy, it would not have been smart of me to attempt to flip it. Besides she was already too far into the molting process by the time I found her. I did carefully slide the water dish out from under her however. That did not seem to disturb her, I was slow and careful.
