Molting excitement!

[ipreventdeath]

My G. roseas have been showing signs of an upcoming molt for a few weeks now. They haven't eaten in two weeks either. For the last two days the larger of the two has been working on creating a silk hammock and when I went in to check on the progress, she was found on her back. I'm very excited for this one. This will be the first molt by this spider in my care. It was visually assessed to be female based on the ventral sexing method and I'm excited to find out definitively after this molt. Soon it will get its name.

 

[harleyqueen]

Cool. Hope the moult went well .

 

[ipreventdeath]

Thanks harleyqueen. The molt went very well--took less than 4hours and spermathecae were present. Now to figure out a name for this girl.

 

[harleyqueen]

Venus, goddess of love. Glad the moult went well

 

[Capers Koloda]

Venus, goddess of love. Glad the moult went well

That is if she is docile LOL overall that is a great name

 

[ipreventdeath]

She is extremely docile at this point in her life. She hasn't even flicked a hair. I'm more fond of Greek mythology and the names within. One of my favorite corns snakes I kept was named Leonidas. He was just shy of 7ft long and was a beast--eating rats and whatnot. I'm thinking of Athena. Seems very fitting to me.

 

[Capers Koloda]

Oh I love that name "athena" I like it

 

[ipreventdeath]

I decided in Athena as her name. It fits well. Athena is the daughter of Zeus and was born wearing armor. She is enlightened and calm, only going to war in defense. Seems like a good fit

 

[ipreventdeath]

Just came home from work tonight to find the other t all wedged up between a slab of cork bark and some silk leaves... completely vertical. I noticed this morning that she had webbed more so than usual, but hardly what I thought would be enough during a molt. Sure enough at midnight I noticed that her carapace was split and that she was slowly wedging herself out. Has anyone else seen this type of molting behavior before? I'm slightly worried she won't have enough room to get completely out or that her legs may be at a weird angle that could inhibit a smooth release... I guess only time will tell.


Has anyone seen this before?

 

[ipreventdeath]

And she's out! Had me worried for a few there. Her new shell appears to have a much more developed pink hue. A welcomed change from her previous one of light brown.


She just fell out and plopped in the dirt... Weird.

It was quite exciting watching the process from start to finish. I missed the last one when I fell asleep. I'm glad I could be up for this one.

And as an update, she is confirmed as being female. Decided to name her Artemis as she was the Greek goddess of hunting, the wilderness and wild animals. She also known to be a bringer of sudden death.

 

[DalilahBlue]

Good show! Leave her be until she's up and moving around and don't feed until until her fangs are dark black. Likely will take 7-10 days but my B. vagans took over 2 weeks.