Yesterday I got home only to discover my favorite T has molted, my joy was very great but it soon turned to unhappiness. Mental lost one of her front legs and today I arrived home to find that her molt is stuck to one of her back legs.

I am not sure what to do, take her to someone that will remove a part of her leg to which the molt is stuck and maybe end up with her dying due to the stress or just let her sort herself out. This is not easy for me seeing her this way and I would like to ease her discomfort but I am not willing to risk loosing her.

At least I know with each new molt she will be able to regenerate the lost legs, but her current situation will make it a bit difficult for her to feed.

Vixen82 wrote: Yesterday I got home only to discover my favorite T has molted, my joy was very great but it soon turned to unhappiness. ...

What kind of tarantula is it?

How big is it (DLS)?

How many other tarantulas have you had? (Trying to get a handle on your experience level.)

How long have you been keeping tarantulas? (Trying to get a handle on your experience level.)

Vixen82 wrote: ... Mental lost one of her front legs and today I arrived home to find that her molt is stuck to one of her back legs.

I am not sure what to do, take her to someone that will remove a part of her leg to which the molt is stuck and maybe end up with her dying due to the stress or just let her sort herself out. This is not easy for me seeing her this way and I would like to ease her discomfort but I am not willing to risk loosing her. ...

There is little danger here. Leave it alone in its cage for a week or 10 days. If possible, throw a hand towel or tea towel over the cage to darken it a little, and shut out excessive disturbances. After that, if it doesn't get most or all of the skin off by itself, carefully remove as much of the molted skin as you can with a pair of forceps or tweezers. Leaving a little on the leg will do no harm.

Read Stress? You Wanna Know About Stress?

Read Fangless Zombie?

Read Growing Your Own .

In fact, back up the Spiders, Calgary webtree a few branches and read the whole thing.

Vixen82 wrote: ... but her current situation will make it a bit difficult for her to feed.

Not as much as you might think. This is a more or less common occurrence. If they are in more or less good health it's only a minor setback. And, even baby tarantulas can go remarkable periods without food if necessary.

If your observations indicate that the tarantula is having trouble drinking or otherwise acquiring water, get back to us.

Hope this helps. Best of luck.


We need to learn to view the world from the perspective of a large, fuzzy spider!

Where to start....

I have four tarantulas, placing them in order with dates I got them....

Mental - Poecilotheria Ornata
22 August 2012

Jessi - Brachypelma Albopilosum
01 October 2012

Jami - Grammostola Rosea RCF
09 October 2012
The day I got Jami, I got advice from you regarding her keeping, and been sticking to it ever since.

Lee - Stromatopelma Calceatum
03 November 2012

What is Mental's exact DLS I can't confirm at the moment as I don't want to disturb her due to the molt issue, but if I had to take a guess close to 10cm.

Once again thank you Uncle Stan, she has been covered up, and the links has been read.

This is my P. Fasciata that had a bad molt in august. She is permanently housed in an ICU but is doing fine. I would say do what Uncle Stan said. But don't be sad your spidey will turn out ok.

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Thank you Shaun, I am stickler when it comes to advice, so if the more experienced keepers gives me advice I follow it to the T, even though I have had my T's for over a year now I still consider myself a newbie to the hobby and still learn a lot every day.

Keep us updated on mental. Sure that he will turn out ok. Take it one day at a time.

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