About two hours later (I think) and the G.pulchra has finished molting.
I sat for the entire time watching it, and bloody hell is it an amazing process!
However, there was a slight complication during the molt, the old exoskeleton was stuck to her abdomen and she (I'll refer to them all as she from now on) was running round almost as soon as she flipped back over trying to get it off.
A similar thing happened with my sub adult B.smithi and a friend kindly helped her by moistening the troubled area and gently pulling off the skin. Using this experience, I had to do the same thing with the sling, however it seemed that all that was needed was a little moisture and it fell right off.
I'm hoping that I did the right thing, and that I haven't caused her any damage, but perhaps this was a warning to me that the humidity wasn't high enough, and that is certainly something I will be keeping a much closer eye on in the future.
I'll report back when I get home from work to let you know if she is ok. Fingers crossed.
Bigger Food
14 years ago
I think you did the right thing! My red knee is going to moult any day now, the abdomen has gone really dark all over and I've moistened the substrate quite well so hopefully the moult should be a smooth process.
ReplyDeleteI can understand your anxiety, teeny tiny creatures are in some ways more hard to look after than big ones!
Yeah, I think humidity during a molt is more important for slings than it is for older spiders because they can drink from a bowl to keep them hydrated.
ReplyDeleteA sling in pre-moult isn't eating so it isn't really getting any moisture, so it has to rely on the air to supply that moisture.