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I think my rose hair is molting, but I just wanted to run this by you guys (especialy you, Vez. You rock!) because this is my first T. Here is what's been going on.
1: Some where areound the end of July, the T's cage changed. The two burrows that she had made had been covered up. Not sure if she did that, or if just a few of my relatives were messing with her while they were staying here. I was on finnishing a vacassion at the time.
2: She had stopped eatting. She had begun one of those infamous fasts that I hear rose hairs go on. I've been offering her food every week or so, and she has refused to eat. (Although she has jumped a bit and move twords the food the last few times, as if she wanted to eat, but then doesn't.)
3: She had stopped being docile. For the first time, she began flicking hairs. I've had never seen her do that before, and she had a full coat when I bought her. I left her alone for about a month before trying again, and she still put up a fight when I tried to nudge her into my hand. She never had a problem with it before.
4: Yesterday, I saw her putting down lost of webbing. Like, LOTS of webbing. About a fourth of her cage now has a web floor. Her little log cave, and her waterdish are all webbed up. She'd made webs before, but this just looks like a lot to me.
5: She is currently flipped over on her back and not moving at all. Or, so it seems. She is not curled up, but grather, stretched out. With her front legs out front, and her back legs out back. She's snuggled between the outside of the log, and the glass of the tank.
What's going on? If she is molting, what should I do? Is she just dying, and is about to curl up on me? How should I change the temp. or humidity. I heard that can be a problem during a molt. How long do they take?
Boy that's a lot of questions.

Yup. She molted. She's probebly full grown by now. When is it o.k. to feed her? I know she needs rest after all that hard work. What should I do now?

>>Yup. She molted. She's probebly full grown by now. When is it o.k. to feed her? I know she needs rest after all that hard work. What should I do now?

GLad the molt turned oout good Josh. I was going to tell you that all the signs you indicated, especially the being tempermental, are all good signs of a molt. Tarantulas dont die on their backs, unless the molt goes wrong, so a T on its back is indeed molting.

I'd give her at least a week, but maybe wait 2 before feeding her. One thing that is important is to pace her when feeding. When she starts eating again, she will seem to have a voracious appetite. She would eat 10 crickets at a time every day if you fed her that much (maybe slight exageration), but you should only feed a couple crickets once or twice a week. That is a much healthier schedule.
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KJ Vezino
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