I have a small young mexican red legged tarantula, about the size of a 50 cent piece. Its the first molt (that I've seen). It began around 16-20 hours ago and seemed to be progressing well, then for the last 5 other 6 hours she's been on her back, legs curled, and throwing molt stuck to her abdomen. I panicked thinking dehydration, so I put her I'm icu. I put a drop.of water on her mouth (all very gently of course). I lightly touched her leg and she VERY SLOWLY moved a leg ever so slightly . But thats it. I took this photo. I am terrified and on the verge of a breakdown. What do I do from here? Anyone have experience that may be able to give advice????
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Someone help, is this a death curl?
- Thread starter Tmommy83
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It's hard to tell from the picture but the abdomen area looks very wet?
When tarantulas moult it takes a lot out of them and best not to interfere or touch it at all, but it does look like some of the moult is stuck to the abdomen?
If there is a tear to the abdomen you can put some corn starch on the leak,
But other than that and offering water there is little you can do
I'm sorry I can't be of more help
When tarantulas moult it takes a lot out of them and best not to interfere or touch it at all, but it does look like some of the moult is stuck to the abdomen?
If there is a tear to the abdomen you can put some corn starch on the leak,
But other than that and offering water there is little you can do
I'm sorry I can't be of more help
MrGhostMantis
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That doesn’t look good, I can’t say much more without a better picture but you will likely need to euthanize.
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Try using a soft brush dipped in water and gently try freeing the stuck moult.
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The spider was already set up for you to give it a drink...no need to move, damage or stress it out further. ICUs are horrible in my opinion. A wet paint brush and tweezers should be able to remove the rest of the molt. Make sure the anus is clear. You may have to add a wetting agent if you can't free the anus and booklungs.
