Being such small spiders, there are times when things go wrong and it’s not something your local vet can help with. If a dog hurts it’s leg there is emergency surgeries that can be done to help them recover, unfortunately with a jumping spider that isn’t as easy. This series of blogs will be focused on spider health and safety. Alongside some spider first aid I’ll explain what we can do to ensure your spiders safety and hopefully avoid them getting hurt altogether.
Moulting Issues This can be scary for any keeper as moulting is the most dangerous time for your spider. Most of the time, natural instincts guides your spider through this process and safely out the other side. Occasionally, things go wrong and sometimes they go horribly wrong. Missing parts: As the spider extracts itself from the old exoskeleton legs, and pedipalps can become trapped and the spider will lose the appendage, sometimes more than one. They can also become damaged, and a spider may drop the damaged leg later.
When losing a limb happens, don’t panic.
If the spider is still a juvenile, they will start to grow the appendage back during the next few moults. It may never look the same, but it will do perfectly well. If they lose the leg when they are moulting to maturity, or the leg doesn’t fully recover by the time the spider matures it is not a big problem.
Your spider will still live a happy active life with the legs they still have. If it was a pedipalp your spider lost, it may not grow back or be functionable enough to breed from if they are a male. You may have to disable their prey a little for them to help them keep hold of it as the pedipalps act a little like hands when eating.
In rare cases a spider may lose too many of their legs during a moult and be unable to successfully go through their next moult which unfortunately is fatal.
Even worse, I have seen circumstances where a jumping spider had lost all its legs; it will be impossible to pull themselves free of their next moult when this happens, and even if you feed and offer them water, they will eventually pass.
Stuck Moult:
During the extraction the spider may get stuck in part of its moult. You may not know that has happened until they strut out from the post-moult time dragging part or all of the moult with them. To help remove it you can dampen a cotton bud tip, or fine paint brush and gently moisten the moult. Then lightly brush the moult in the direction that would free the spider, but work gently and slowly as you don’t want to damage anything or stress out the spider. If it isn’t hindering the spider too much you can try again the next day to avoid stress. If the moult is attached to the head or abdomen you will need take extra care as trying to help could cause more issues. If you have tried the dampening trick, and the spider doesn’t seem hindered by the attached moult you can leave it and if all goes well it will come off with the next moult.
There are more serious cases of stuck moults which are ones that happen inside their moult hammock, and the ones where they fall from the hammock during the extraction. While they are extracting, their new exoskeleton is extremely soft, making the spider incredibly fragile. Think soaked tissue paper. Trying to intervene could cause even more problems. If they are in their hammock and you believe they are stuck the best thing you could do it leave them and hope, they are able to free themselves and finish the moult successfully. Touching the hammock to try to help could cause them to fall and rupture their soft exoskeleton. If they have fallen from their hammock still attached to their moult, please resist the temptation to move them. Again, there is a chance they will free themselves, but the fall could have caused issues you cannot see. You can try the paintbrush/cotton bud advice, but you’d need to be incredibly delicate so as not to tear their soft exoskeleton.
Falling from moult hammock:
This is the scariest thing that can happen. After the spider has extracted themselves from their old exoskeleton their muscles contract into a post-moult death curl. It’s called this because it is common for dead or dying spiders to contract into this curl. As alarming as it sounds it’s a very natural part of the moulting process and once the fluid is moving around the spider again the muscles relax, and the spider returns to their usual shape to start hardening up. Sometimes during this curl, the spider loses it’s grip and can fall from this hammock. Of course, with their new exoskeleton being so fragile it is likely that the fall will fatally harm the spider, however there is still hope. I have seen cases where a fallen spider unfurls on the floor, hardens up and makes a full recovery.
To give your spider this opportunity please resist the temptation to touch or move them. Instead check on them as discreetly as possible for the next 5 hours. If after this time they haven’t uncurled, then the prognosis isn’t good. You can see if a wet cotton bud or paintbrush offered near the chelicera prompts any movement. If you see movement, you can use a spoon (if they are on substrate) or tissue to gently move them to a spider ICU to monitor them and give them the best chance at survival.
What you can do to prevent this happening where possible Although a bad moult can happen even in the best conditions there are steps you can make to reduce the odds of it happening to your spiders. When it comes to safe moulting husbandry plays a huge part. - Misting the enclosure is vital. The spider uses fluid to separate their old exoskeleton from their new and will often drink more than normal before the physical moult happens. It is a good idea to mist twice a day near their hammock if the weather, or room is particularly warm. Try to mist in the mornings. Jumping spiders are diurnal, meaning they are active during the day, and even with artificial lighting you may find the spider is already tucked itself up for bed when the real sun drops and not had a chance to drink. - Naturalistic or Bio-Active enclosures are best. These help the humidity of your enclosure stay more constant, especially with the use of substrate and moss. Humidity is very important to moulting to stop your spider drying out. The softer base option is also more forgiving if a moulting spider should fall from their hammock. Live plants, soft moss, moist spider soil and cork bark will always be the best option for husbandry. A heat mat is also a great addition to a setup that will help with humidity without drying it out, something that you can’t achieve easily using your rooms normal heating, especially when winter comes and the radiators come on which dries the air considerably. Try a hygrometer to measure how well your humidity is in the enclosure, it should ideally sit around 60% but it will naturally fluctuate around this which is fine. Check out my blog on heating for more heat mat info.
- No unnecessary disturbances. It is understandable to want to check on them especially when they lock themselves away from what can be over a month-long moult. Shining a light on the hammock is the best way but try not bend to temptation to interfere with the hammock unless you are completely convinced that something has gone wrong. Also remove any feeders still buzzing or crawling around as they may be the type to eat a moulting spider, or startle the spider mid-moult. Disturbing a moulting spider can cause them to freeze during extraction meaning their new exoskeleton starts to harden before they are free of the old. They could also move in a way that causes them to fall when still fragile or in the post-moult death curl.
Please remember, even when your husbandry is perfect, bad moults can happen, don’t blame yourself as it is an unfortunate part of nature for these little spiders. Hopefully this has given you some vital information on what to do should the worst happen, but I hope you never need it. If you need any advice or reassurance, pop me a message or an email.
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