Spiderlings will grow quite fast if kept in the right conditions and fed regularly. Spiderlings
can shed as often as weekly or bi-weekly. As they grow it will become a monthly
occurrence until they finally reach adulthood where shedding will occur annually.
Skins from spiderlings.
MOULTING
The process of ecdysis
(shedding/moulting of the exoskeleton) is when the spider is at
it's most vulnerable.
If you find that your tarantula is on its back in the enclosure, DON’T PANIC. It is
probably not dead, just getting ready to shed. As your tarantula grows, it will need to shed its
exoskeleton.
The sequence below is of a Costa Rican Zebra Tarantula (Aphonopelma
seemani)
The tarantula will usually spin a web on the floor of the enclosure. The spider then flips
itself onto its back.
The carapace then starts to split as does the abdomen.
The tarantula then starts to pull itself out of the
old exoskeleton.
The process of shedding can take quite some time. This
tarantula has started to pull its legs out of the old exoskeleton
The process of shedding is almost complete. The new
exoskeleton is still soft, the fangs are white and haven’t hardened.
A few hours later the exoskeleton of
the “new” Costa Rican Zebra tarantula has begun to harden.
