Molting

[Ballpython2]

Here is a picture of my female Chilobrachy (sp)...Can some one tell me when she is going to molt?

[edie]

It is generally very hard to tell when a tarantula is going to molt from a picture. Molting will depend on how large the tarantula is, if it had a recent injury.. so on..
It looks like a decent sized spider, so it probably won't molt frequently.. My larger tarantulas molt once a year to maybe once every other year. If it stops eating, starts webbing up a flat area, it could be a sign that it will molt soon.. but soon for a spider can take months!

[bignasty]

That's a nice looking tarantula! Very fat for an Old World tarantula.

You can usually identify if the tarantula is going to molt by looking at the abdomen. If the abdomen starts to darken, you can expect it to molt in a few month or so. Also, if the tarantula is fasting for months already, that means it's already in its pre-molt stage.. although it may still eat a few times before molting.

[Ballpython2]

That's a nice looking tarantula! Very fat for an Old World tarantula.

You can usually identify if the tarantula is going to molt by looking at the abdomen. If the abdomen starts to darken, you can expect it to molt in a few month or so. Also, if the tarantula is fasting for months already, that means it's already in its pre-molt stage.. although it may still eat a few times before molting.

thanks big. The majority of my T's abdomens are huge. I love having my Ts full all the time so it was (per se of course) speed up the molting process. I did put some crickets in there about two hours ago and she las left them alone so if they arent gone by 12pm I'm just going to take them out and leave her alone.

[edie]

Careful not to over feed though! A larger abdomen is easier to burst in a fall (or so I've heard through other keepers). All my T's have always had pretty medium sized abdomens, I always cut down on the number of crix they get if they are getting too large.