Hi;
I'm in a dire situation and really looking for help!
In short, I'm a professor that has conducted research on arachnology, and give presentations and workshops on tarantulas. I have kept 12 tarantulas over the past 7 years with great success. So, I do have a lot of knowledge and experience with tarantulas, but now have a situation that I have only read about and need immediate assistance from someone that has experienced something similar, or can recommend me to someone who can assist, etc.!
I have an exceptional cobalt blue female, whom am I handle frequently and really means the world to me! She is truly a one-in-a-million tarantula. However, around late December 2020 she lost her third leg on her left side. She molted this past Friday evening and had a terrible molt. It seems that the space and she made for herself to molt was not large enough and she mangled her front leg (nearly unattached at the trochanter, with a skew bending at the patella), lost her second leg in the molting process, and her newly grown leg is caught in her molt. Everything else on her seems to be okay. I have included the following picture:
The questions are:
When should I try to remove the molt?
--Since it is attached to her leg, I want to at least cut as much of the molt away as I can, as I am not sure when/if she will remove it.
Should I attempt anything with the front leg?
Should she be moved into an ICU?
--Her terrarium is relatively moist, but I want to make sure she has adequate humidity
How long should I let her alone without intervening?
--When it comes to molting, I typically let the tarantulas alone, but I don't want to miss the opportunity to intervene and assist her. She is still ‘soft’ from the molt and she ‘is’ a Cobalt Blue. That is, even though I handle her frequently, she still can be extremely defensive and fast while in her terrarium. She becomes the calmest and sweetest spider as soon as she is on my hand or arm, but while in her terrarium, she displays typically Cobalt Blue behavior. Thus, I don’t want her to become defensive and hurt herself if I try to assist her.
Thanks for the help!!!
'D.J.'
I'm in a dire situation and really looking for help!
In short, I'm a professor that has conducted research on arachnology, and give presentations and workshops on tarantulas. I have kept 12 tarantulas over the past 7 years with great success. So, I do have a lot of knowledge and experience with tarantulas, but now have a situation that I have only read about and need immediate assistance from someone that has experienced something similar, or can recommend me to someone who can assist, etc.!
I have an exceptional cobalt blue female, whom am I handle frequently and really means the world to me! She is truly a one-in-a-million tarantula. However, around late December 2020 she lost her third leg on her left side. She molted this past Friday evening and had a terrible molt. It seems that the space and she made for herself to molt was not large enough and she mangled her front leg (nearly unattached at the trochanter, with a skew bending at the patella), lost her second leg in the molting process, and her newly grown leg is caught in her molt. Everything else on her seems to be okay. I have included the following picture:
The questions are:
When should I try to remove the molt?
--Since it is attached to her leg, I want to at least cut as much of the molt away as I can, as I am not sure when/if she will remove it.
Should I attempt anything with the front leg?
Should she be moved into an ICU?
--Her terrarium is relatively moist, but I want to make sure she has adequate humidity
How long should I let her alone without intervening?
--When it comes to molting, I typically let the tarantulas alone, but I don't want to miss the opportunity to intervene and assist her. She is still ‘soft’ from the molt and she ‘is’ a Cobalt Blue. That is, even though I handle her frequently, she still can be extremely defensive and fast while in her terrarium. She becomes the calmest and sweetest spider as soon as she is on my hand or arm, but while in her terrarium, she displays typically Cobalt Blue behavior. Thus, I don’t want her to become defensive and hurt herself if I try to assist her.
Thanks for the help!!!
'D.J.'
