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Bad Molt

Martin Oosthuysen

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Okay I received 3 Avicularia species recently,little more than a day ago. I posted a photo and noted the one looks in pre molt, in fact the early the next morning it molted. Sadly this was my first time to see a Bad molt ever, I suspected the T on receiving it wasn't hydrated enough. Upon receiving it I did change the enclosure,also trying to push up humidity. Obviously this didn't help,or maybe I avoided an even worse molt result from occurring but its all speculation. So on inspection one leg was badly stuck, I left the T as is. I then proceeded to purchase a Brush with soft bristles, after work say around 9 hours later I used that brush to assist me in removing the bad molt. I would wet the brush and dab the affected area lightly in the direction of which the old molt/leg would have come off naturally, behold the badly stuck leg came free. The molt removed,and no damage at all to the leg that was stuck. Reasoning behind the brush was,if we examine an old molt we wet it to expand it again since it shrinks so it stood to reason this is what happened the T tried to shed the skin being not hydrated it was stuck. Dabbing it with a paintbrush,hydrated the skin expanding it leg came free. So even after 9+ hours this still worked,hopefully this could assist someone in the future two lessons the other keep your T's hydrated. Not saying you aren't,but it could be that you receive a T like me not knowing what the other person did wrong.
 
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Ceratogyrus

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Sounds like you did what was needed by wetting the affected area. :)
Just for interest sake, upping humidity doesn't help the spider much. What is more important is internal hydration by drinking water or the moisture they get from their prey. Obviously in this case there was nothing that you could do about making sure it was hydrated, so looks like everything turned out as well as it could have. :)
 

Martin Oosthuysen

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Sounds like you did what was needed by wetting the affected area. :)
Just for interest sake, upping humidity doesn't help the spider much. What is more important is internal hydration by drinking water or the moisture they get from their prey. Obviously in this case there was nothing that you could do about making sure it was hydrated, so looks like everything turned out as well as it could have. :)

I tried my best,and let it finish the molt. I then improvised by applying a similar technique when we examine an old molt. Even if shriveled,water applied would make it expand. So the improvisation came from,using a paint brush hoping it would expand or loosen the old exoskeleton.
 

Ceratogyrus

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I tried my best,and let it finish the molt. I then improvised by applying a similar technique when we examine an old molt. Even if shriveled,water applied would make it expand. So the improvisation came from,using a paint brush hoping it would expand or loosen the old exoskeleton.

That was definately the best thing to do in that situation.
Just saying for everyone else that is reading this, that increasing humidity doesn't help in the moulting process much if they are getting stuck. Making sure the spider is well hydrated before a moult is the best, but obviously you didn't have this luxury having just received the spider, so job well done. :)
 

Martin Oosthuysen

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That was definately the best thing to do in that situation.
Just saying for everyone else that is reading this, that increasing humidity doesn't help in the moulting process much if they are getting stuck. Making sure the spider is well hydrated before a moult is the best, but obviously you didn't have this luxury having just received the spider, so job well done. :)

It was my first ever,never encountered this before. I spend hours a day tending to my T's, call it an obsession or over protective. So in short I was stressed,no one that could help me I tried something. Could have done more harm, luckily I didn't. So hope this helps others in some way,and warn as well.
 

Ceratogyrus

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Luckily this one was not too bad.
I have had a few bad moults before.
The worst one that survived was a T.apophysis.
Similar situation to you in that I received the spider and the following day she moulted. Also got stuck, but lost her front 4 legs. After some good feeding and moulting successfully, she is now a huge adult female with no problems. So sometimes these things happen, but in the end they mostly turn out great. :)
 

Martin Oosthuysen

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Luckily this one was not too bad.
I have had a few bad moults before.
The worst one that survived was a T.apophysis.
Similar situation to you in that I received the spider and the following day she moulted. Also got stuck, but lost her front 4 legs. After some good feeding and moulting successfully, she is now a huge adult female with no problems. So sometimes these things happen, but in the end they mostly turn out great. :)

Hopefully I won't have to go through this again, but if I do I will be more prepared. Also like you said, receiving a T this happened to you as well. So chances are,I might see more in the future.
 

Ceratogyrus

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Hopefully I won't have to go through this again, but if I do I will be more prepared. Also like you said, receiving a T this happened to you as well. So chances are,I might see more in the future.

It happens sometimes. Lost my big adult female P.spec Lowland the other day. She is on a yearly moult cycle, moulted in December successfully and then attempted another moult in January for some or other reason and passed away stuck in the moult.
I love my spiders, but everyone has losses (Whether it be your fault or something that is out of your hands), so I have kinda accepted that when they die and the conditions are acceptable I don't lose too much sleep over it.
I know we have these in artificial conditions, but you need to consider that in the wild out of a sac of 2000 A.geniculata that hatch from a sac, only a male and female need to survive to continue the species (Along with maybe a few males that get eaten before mating). So lets call it 10/2000 babies need to make it to adulthood. That's a percentage of 0.5%
Sometimes spiders just die for "no reason".
 

Martin Oosthuysen

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It happens sometimes. Lost my big adult female P.spec Lowland the other day. She is on a yearly moult cycle, moulted in December successfully and then attempted another moult in January for some or other reason and passed away stuck in the moult.
I love my spiders, but everyone has losses (Whether it be your fault or something that is out of your hands), so I have kinda accepted that when they die and the conditions are acceptable I don't lose too much sleep over it.
I know we have these in artificial conditions, but you need to consider that in the wild out of a sac of 2000 A.geniculata that hatch from a sac, only a male and female need to survive to continue the species (Along with maybe a few males that get eaten before mating). So lets call it 10/2000 babies need to make it to adulthood. That's a percentage of 0.5%
Sometimes spiders just die for "no reason".

I fully agree on the survival rate in captivity being phenomenally high compared to the wild,we give them better conditions for survival. Its just pretty difficult for me to watch a sling in desperate need of help,and not being able to help. I judge my actions harshly,within this hobby and my personal life. Like you said things happen,but I just hope I can help the outcome to be positive.
 

Ceratogyrus

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I fully agree on the survival rate in captivity being phenomenally high compared to the wild,we give them better conditions for survival. Its just pretty difficult for me to watch a sling in desperate need of help,and not being able to help. I judge my actions harshly,within this hobby and my personal life. Like you said things happen,but I just hope I can help the outcome to be positive.

If I can save the spider, i definately try.
I just have come to the realization that sometimes it is not possible. I have heard of spiders that survive a bad moult, just to be hit by moulting problems at all subsequent moults, so sometimes I guess its just not meant to be.

Just glad that your Avic pulled through and sounds more like it was a case of new conditions rather than anything genetic. :)
 

Martin Oosthuysen

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If I can save the spider, i definately try.
I just have come to the realization that sometimes it is not possible. I have heard of spiders that survive a bad moult, just to be hit by moulting problems at all subsequent moults, so sometimes I guess its just not meant to be.

Just glad that your Avic pulled through and sounds more like it was a case of new conditions rather than anything genetic. :)

Yes,I should be thankful and not complain. It was just a shock, first time. Hopefully this technique could help others in the future, depending if they want to try it. As for me I can vouch it worked,and will try it again. Off topic,did you read the research they did in 2003 on pokies ? They looked at distribution etc,I have that actual report as a PDF.
 

Martin Oosthuysen

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I will check and reply.
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