First Molt!

[Valentine Pirate]

My boyfriend was worried about our P. irminia last night when we went to water due to very slow movement, and when he tried to herd him back to the burrow the T barely moved, had a delayed threat pose, etc.(he was pretty concerned when he nudged it wrong and the poor T fell from it's perch on the cube) Had my suspicions on pre-molt, looked this morning and guess who's on their back? Got into an odd place where it's borderline wedged under a piece of leaning cork bark, and the boyfriend about had a heart attack thinking it was dying. With assurances (and hopefully a fresh exuvium in a couple of hours) he let it be, but I'm excited to get the first molt out and confirm the sex. Can't find my camera, but when I do I'll try to post pics later

[Boanerges]

VERY nice and exciting!!! Congrats and good luck with the molt

[Valentine Pirate]

Thanks! I'm hoping it won't take much longer, just got home from work/errands and though it's definitely more of a "curl" now with pulsing legs, still no actual extraction yet Ah well, will check in the mornin or before bed

[Alexandra V]

Hehe molts are always exciting. Good luck with it, I'll keep my fingers crossed for a girl for ya!

[Valentine Pirate]

Ach... I don't know if this is beginners nerves or a problem because after checking this morning there's no progress, and no movement is it unusual for molts to take this long with a sling? I'm actually afraid that it might be a dead critter, but what I've read has told me to keep distance... At what point is it a good idea to start and ICU?

[Boanerges]

It's been over 24hours and it is not out yet? Is it partially out or has it not even started to get out of it yet? Is it still on its back?

[Valentine Pirate]

It's been over 24hours and it is not out yet? Is it partially out or has it not even started to get out of it yet? Is it still on its back?

Not out yet, hasn't even started. And still on it's back, After as long as it's been (a little before when I posted the thread) I'm pretty sure something went wrong. When we bought it, the enclosure was included and was a decent sized acrylic cube with a layer of substrate and some corkbark that it had established a burrow in and seemed to be thriving. Water and food provided, placed near a snake tub in the warmer part of the house, so I don't think anything in the environment changed dramatically... More confused than anything =/

[Jessica Loesch]

You said she looked awkward ... is the space too small?

[Valentine Pirate]

You said she looked awkward ... is the space too small?

Was my first concern, but there was room for legs to fully extend and with the way the prosoma was facing it would've extracted towards the open area in the enclosure. After some closer inspection last night I spotted a food bolus in the corner that I've missed during cage tidying, and it looked like it had white mold growing on it. You think that there might have been a fungal thing going on that caused issues?

[Boanerges]

Was my first concern, but there was room for legs to fully extend and with the way the prosoma was facing it would've extracted towards the open area in the enclosure. After some closer inspection last night I spotted a food bolus in the corner that I've missed during cage tidying, and it looked like it had white mold growing on it. You think that there might have been a fungal thing going on that caused issues?

It is possible but I would doubt that little bit was the cause. But there is no way really to tell if it was or not. Could have been lack of humidity, air ventilation, dehydration, the mold or any number of internal things that we are unaware of Is the tarantula still alive? Is it in ICU? Any progress?