# Mexican Red Knee sling shedding?



## nailsinhiseyes (Nov 28, 2011)

Helllooo! i brought a mexican red knee spiderling (my first pet spider) about a month and a bit ago (i think i got him the 15th dec) and i read somewhere that there supposed to shed about every 45 days. i know brachyplemas are slow growers, he just doesnt seem to look like hes going to shed :L ive been feeding him every other day with a dead small cricket which he is eating. surely he must be ready to moult soon seeing as he has most likley had that skin for a while? any help/info?  oh and i think he has only had 1 shed so far (according to the website) thank you


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## Kamike (Aug 3, 2009)

nailsinhiseyes said:


> Helllooo! i brought a mexican red knee spiderling (my first pet spider) about a month and a bit ago (i think i got him the 15th dec) and i read somewhere that there supposed to shed about every 45 days. i know brachyplemas are slow growers, he just doesnt seem to look like hes going to shed :L ive been feeding him every other day with a dead small cricket which he is eating. surely he must be ready to moult soon seeing as he has most likley had that skin for a while? any help/info?  oh and i think he has only had 1 shed so far (according to the website) thank you



Mine hasn't moulted for 9 months despite eating a cricket a week without fail. Its still only 3cm and showing no signs of being ready to moult. Just let it do it's thing as and when it ready and maybe cut back on the feeding a little.


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## nailsinhiseyes (Nov 28, 2011)

oh thats sad  thank you, i will


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## Lu Lizard (Jul 24, 2011)

They do take ages. Coincidentally, I bought a 1cm b.smithi sling in december too and it has just shed at the weekend. It seemed to have a dark abdomen and was off food for weeks. I also got a 1cm b.auratum back in july and it has only shed twice. Neither of them look much bigger, or showing adult colours as still dinky. My wife swears that I have been conned and have actually bought house spiders! 

What temperature is it at? I recently cranked the heat up a wee bit to 25 degrees and it seemed to help.


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## nailsinhiseyes (Nov 28, 2011)

is that a flame knee? i love them  i think they could quite easily be mistaken for house spiders :') but they do look very taratulary when you look close. ive just had it at room temperature, which is around 20 degrees C. maybe i should get a heat pad, how do i place it and stuff?


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## Lu Lizard (Jul 24, 2011)

It is so cold at the moment, even with a heatmat.

b.auratum is a flame knee and they are very attractive Ts. I'm working my way thru the brachys


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## nailsinhiseyes (Nov 28, 2011)

i shall get one then  it is indeed, i love the brachys  thanks for your help!


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## sarahsaz (Jun 1, 2011)

I had a b. smithi that shed only twice in a whole year and that was a first instar when i got it, they are such slow growers compared to other brachys.

My Auratum is miles ahead, only got him/her a couple of months ago and its already showing adult colours!


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## nailsinhiseyes (Nov 28, 2011)

Maybe I shall have to invest in one of them too when I get a heater  thanks for letting me know that, I didn't realise they were that slow :/


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## powerblade272 (Nov 12, 2011)

*B, Smithy moult*

I brought my 1cm B, Smithy on the 1st of October 2011 and it has moulted 5 times since then and now bigger than a £2 coin. It has progressively shown amazing colours and behaviour. It has now decided to bench press its plant pot and moves its water dish around its viv. To my amassment, the other night it obviously couldn’t be bothered to walk round to the front of its hide so decided to lift it in the air and climb under. I have kept a record of its progress and taken pictures of every moult.


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## Jazzy B Bunny (Jun 21, 2007)

I got mine 2 weeks ago and its already moulted  'She' has got darker but you wouldn't notice that she's any bigger really.


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## nailsinhiseyes (Nov 28, 2011)

why has everyones moulted and not mine  wow thats awesome! the pictures are great as well, thanks  it sounds like your red knee has got one personality  how comes yours has shed so much? have you done anything that im supposed to be doing? :L i just looked in his tub, i found an uneated cricket and he was like burying himself like underneath the mud inside the plant pot which he's never done before. i dont know if he looks any darker though :/ do you have any picture of pre-moult? ive put in another cricket to see if he will eat that. oh and speaking about shedding! my stick insect moulted this morning! yaay!


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## Jazzy B Bunny (Jun 21, 2007)

Here's Susie after moulting


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## nailsinhiseyes (Nov 28, 2011)

ah yes she does look darker than mine. thats a great name, susie the spider  mines called henry


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## Jazzy B Bunny (Jun 21, 2007)

nailsinhiseyes said:


> ah yes she does look darker than mine. thats a great name, susie the spider  mines called henry


Cute name! I also have a 'Bob' who lives in the living room (house spider) And I'm after a versicolour who I will name 'Hippie' :lol2:

This is Susie before she moulted, looks more pinky.


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## powerblade272 (Nov 12, 2011)

@ nailsinhiseyes. Tiggles is kept at a constant 65f with a humidity of 60%. I started him on 1st inster crickets for the 1st 3 moults then moved him/her up to 2nd inster crickets after the 4th moult. He/she was on about 5 1st inster crickets a week or until its abdomen looked full then I left him/her for a week. He/she will just keep eating if I allowed it. Now he/she is on three 3rd inster a week. I kept it in a ferrero rocher container with a layer of coconut bark and its little container it was delivered in until his/her 3rd moult, and then I transferred it to a 10" x 4" viv with 2" of coconut bark for it to dig in and a plant pot. The whole floor of its viv is now a mat of silk. Tiggles turns a pale white and becomes docile as hell, going off its food and totally unresponsive to any interaction for about a week before he/she moults. (Sorry for the he/she or him/her text as I don't know what it is yet.) I have no pre-moult pictures but I will take some next time.


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## nailsinhiseyes (Nov 28, 2011)

i have no idea how to read the humidity or temp because them thermometres and hydrometres dont fit in. ive just been misting it every other day. i htink i need to feed him less. my tub is about the size of a forrero rocher box and i use normal compost (somebody told me that was fine?) thanks for all that info, very useful


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## kris74 (May 10, 2011)

nailsinhiseyes said:


> i have no idea how to read the humidity or temp because them thermometres and hydrometres dont fit in. ive just been misting it every other day. i htink i need to feed him less. my tub is about the size of a forrero rocher box and i use normal compost (somebody told me that was fine?) thanks for all that info, very useful


You don't need to mist them as much as that. As long as the sub is just off dry then it will be fine as long as it eats ok. I've had mine 2 or 3 years and I'm sure it has moulted once, possibly twice. So slow that I can't even remember :blush:

Edit.. Compost is ok as long as it's not carrying fertilisers. Organic is the way forward. Wilko own brand FTW


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## nailsinhiseyes (Nov 28, 2011)

it dries out pretty much every other day and i dont spray it too much so i think its ok   i blasted the compost in the microwave before putting him in  i think it was normal organic, i cant remember :L wow, why are they so slow!!? thinking of getting my second adult tarantula because the spider shop got these: Insect Tarrium with LED Light( 5ltr) Suppliers of Arachnids and other quality Invertebrates and they are awesome  have you had any experience with pink toes?


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## powerblade272 (Nov 12, 2011)

*Update*

Hi people, just thought I would update some photos of Tiggles, not moulted yet but shouldn’t be to long. I decided to take it out today for its 1st handle. She climbed onto my hand very confidently and sat nicely then was happy to clamber over the wife’s hand and sit. Very docile and pleasant spider.


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## nailsinhiseyes (Nov 28, 2011)

oh wow, shes beautiful :


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## powerblade272 (Nov 12, 2011)

Thanks  she still moving her furniture around lol hows yours getting on now?


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## EffyDaydream (Jan 29, 2012)

nailsinhiseyes said:


> is that a flame knee? i love them  i think they could quite easily be mistaken for house spiders :') but they do look very taratulary when you look close. ive just had it at room temperature, which is around 20 degrees C. *maybe i should get a heat pad, how do i place it and stuff?*


Heat mat is a good idea! If the conditions are right I think they tend to grow faster (right temp and humidity, etc). You should only put the heat mat under half of your container - or just a part of your container - so there is a warm spot and a cool spot, so the T can regulate it's temperature. :2thumb:


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## kris74 (May 10, 2011)

powerblade272 said:


> Hi people, just thought I would update some photos of Tiggles, not moulted yet but shouldn’t be to long. I decided to take it out today for its 1st handle. She climbed onto my hand very confidently and sat nicely then was happy to clamber over the wife’s hand and sit. Very docile and pleasant spider.
> 
> image


Nice. Mine escaped and was loose for 6 weeks when she was that size. Found in my wardrobe on the back pocket of a pair of trousers about 6.5 foot from the floor! She's getting a new house this week as her breeder box just isn't cutting it any more..


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## powerblade272 (Nov 12, 2011)

*Update2*

I promised to update you as to how Tiggles would look before a moult, however, she has caught my off guard and moulted this morning, so if you look at the previous update pics of her on our hands that’s how she looked yesterday. She normally turns very pale but this time she hasn’t. This is her 6th moult since I got her on the 6/10/2011. I'll post some pictures in the next couple of days of how she looks after her moult.


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## nailsinhiseyes (Nov 28, 2011)

mines still the same  he hasnt moved from the same spot for a few days now and i dont think he's been eating, the cricket it just lying dead there. whoops i forgot to buy the heat mat :L im just looking online now. do i just place it underneath on one side? do i need any special wattage or can i just get the smallest one? it looks so interesting when they moult, thanks for the pictures, she looks great


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## powerblade272 (Nov 12, 2011)

nailsinhiseyes said:


> mines still the same  he hasnt moved from the same spot for a few days now and i dont think he's been eating, the cricket it just lying dead there. whoops i forgot to buy the heat mat :L im just looking online now. do i just place it underneath on one side? do i need any special wattage or can i just get the smallest one? it looks so interesting when they moult, thanks for the pictures, she looks great


Have you still got it in the ferrero rocher box? If you have I would be inclined to get a larger critter cage that will be suitable for it when its adult and put the ferrero rocher box inside that with a heat mat under the critter cage or stuck to the back outside with a little sellotape, that way you can attach a thermometer to the inside of the citter cage, this will help keep an eye on the ambient temperature. Get the size heat mat that is closest to the size of the enclosure. In my enclosure I have the viv sitting on top of a 7W heat mat with 4" of substrate inside the viv with a large piece of bark for her to climb on if she wants to get off the floor. This keeps the temperature perfect for me and she seems to be happy.

I would remove the dead and any other food from the viv for a week and see if it sheds, if not try to feed it again. I only give Tiggles 15 minutes to catch its food and if she backs away every time the food goes near her I remove it and try again in a day or two.


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## nailsinhiseyes (Nov 28, 2011)

hes in a tupperwear box about the same size as a forerer rocher box, maybe a little bigger. ah thats a good idea! i have a big plastic tank that i used to have stick insects in would that be suitable? 

i have been taking the food out, but ill leave him and see what happens

thank you


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## powerblade272 (Nov 12, 2011)

Thats fine if the tupperware box fits inside


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## nailsinhiseyes (Nov 28, 2011)

ok thats great, thank you so much for your help!


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## powerblade272 (Nov 12, 2011)

Your welcome

Just managed to get a photo of Tiggles before she walked into her hide.


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## nailsinhiseyes (Nov 28, 2011)

haha you get some really good images  im so excited for mine to grow!just ordered the heat mat and thermometer  just out of interest, can the skins just be left to dry without any sort of treatment to be preserved? it would be so awesome to have a complete collection of all the skins of him


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## powerblade272 (Nov 12, 2011)

I just leave them to dry out in the position I want it. If it dries out before you get a chance to arrange it then put it carefully in a plastic zip bag with a piece of moist paper towel for a couple of hours. Then gently take the moult out and arrange the legs were you want them on a piece of paper and leave to dry. I put a little piece of super glue on a white piece of cardboard to hold the moult in place and that’s it  there are other methods but this is how I do it.


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## nailsinhiseyes (Nov 28, 2011)

ooh i see, i thought you had to get some special stuff that makes it hard  thats pretty simple though. thanks again


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