How long is too long between molts?

[Auntie Lori]

My Chilean Rose, Mabel, 3.5 years old, has not molted since I got her 18 months ago. Is this bad? How often should she be molting? She is eating at least a cricket a week, and I keep water available at all times. She moves around normally. She doesn't hover over her water or seem to have any abnormal behaviors, from what I've read.
Should I worry?

 

[Tomoran]

Nope, you shouldn't worry. It sounds as if she is eating well and behaving normally. There are numerous factors that can dictate the time between molts, like diet, temperature, and age, and there is never set standard. In my experience, Grammostola species are slow growers, and the time between molts increases with age. Your T will molt when she is ready.

My adult G. porteri hasn't molted in over four years, so it can get much worse!

 

[tcrave]

i have a rose hair that molts every year and half. to almost two years. its pretty normal with them able to live more than 20 years.

 

[Scoolman]

Molting is for.growth and regeneration.

 

[spidey noob]

sounds like good advice above to me

 

[Wayne Layton]

rosea/porteri are extremely long lived and slow growing. They can go without moulting for three years or more is not uncommon !!

 

[Abbie]

My sling is around 2 years old but only about 3cm. It hasn't moulted in 7 months now and Im getting worried because aren't sling supposed to moult as often as every month? Please help!!!

 

[Chubbs]

My sling is around 2 years old but only about 3cm. It hasn't moulted in 7 months now and Im getting worried because aren't sling supposed to moult as often as every month? Please help!!!

Nope, not slow growing species like Brachypelma and Grammastola.

 

[Auntie Lori]

Okay, now it looks like she is finally molting, but I am worried. She hasn't eaten in over a year, and now she is on her back in a web nest, preparing to molt. Should I worry? How can I tell if the molt is proceeding normally?

 

[RedCapTrio]

Hi @Auntie Lori

How is your rose doing? I just read this post. Would just like to know how it is for older Ts.

 

[Auntie Lori]

Mabel molted on August 5 and is back in the pink. She is now 4.5 years old, which isn't that old for a Grammastola.
Before the molt she did not eat, except for one cricket, in 1.5 years, and I was really worried about her. She would sip water every now and then, but she would ignore all crickets, except for that one.
Then she did molt, and it was amazing, and now she is fine.
She will now eat a cricket every other day to every day, and once my son fed her an extra cricket so she had two in one day. Didn't seem to hurt her any.
She is back to being her ominous self. I am much relieved.
Thank you for your concern!
In addition, I now have an Araneus diadematus, or common European Cross orb weaving spider, and I'm keeping her right next to Mabel. In a separate enclosure, of course, because spiders will happily eat each other without a second thought.
The new arrival has been named Martha. She is one year old and will over-winter in that enclosure. Next spring I will probably release her so a male can find her, and then I plan on keeping track of the egg sack, if any. A. diadematus are short lived in that usually, if the female can grow large enough, she will mate, lay a sack full of eggs and then die within one year. If she does not mate that first year she will hide under leaf litter or some secluded place for the winter. She will then emerge in the spring, continue growing, and will likely mate, lay that sack full of eggs and die that second year. They usually do not survive a second winter.
G. rosea females like Mabel are capable of mating, laying a sack of eggs, watching over them until they hatch and then doing it all again the next year. No one has observed them long enough to find out how many times they can lay a sack full of eggs, which has never been known to happen more than once in a year.
They are not winter hardy like A. diadematus.
Have a nifty day!

 

[RedCapTrio]

That's good to hear! I only feed once a week, so there are Ts that eat daily! She must be a balloon!

 

[Auntie Lori]

Actually, no, she isn't, which is kinda surprising on the surface of it. But really, when you consider that she didn't eat anything for 18 months or more ... she actually looked pretty skinny when she had finished the molt. She is only now, after more than a month of eating 5 to 6 crickets a week, looking more like she did before she stopped eating. Her abdomen is looking normal now. Just after the molt it looked ... sorta shrunken. Now it looks like it should.
I'm going to cut back to every other day feedings for a while, then down to 3 a week after a month. I'm just so happy she is feeding again, I'll feed her as often as she'll take it.
Roses are from the Atacama Desert of Chile where feast or famine is the norm. They can go for over a year without eating because sometimes, they have to. Then there are times when there are tons of insects right after a rain, which doesn't happen that often, so they will 'fatten up' in preparation for the lean times.

 

[RedCapTrio]

Now that made sense, it explains a lot. Thanks @Auntie Lori

 

[leaveittoweaver]

My G.Porteri hasn't molted in about 6 six years I believe. Only molted once in the seven years I've had it and I have no idea how old she actually is as she was a rescue situation.

Glad to hear your Rosie is doing well!

 

[Dana86]

Hi, i have a rose hair, and she or he.... Hasn't molted in a year and a half. I've had him for three and a half and he's molted once. His humidity is always between 60 and 80 everything is how it should be. I work at a petstore so conveniently he gets a couple fresh crickets as needed...... Any info would be a great help. Thank you

 

[Matt<3Ts]

Hi, i have a rose hair, and she or he.... Hasn't molted in a year and a half. I've had him for three and a half and he's molted once. His humidity is always between 60 and 80 everything is how it should be. I work at a petstore so conveniently he gets a couple fresh crickets as needed...... Any info would be a great help. Thank you

How big is your Rose hair? Molting becomes less frequent as Ts get bigger and older. I won't worry about that as long as it's eating and doing fine, s/he knows best when it's gonna happen [emoji16]

 

[Dana86]

S/he is the size of my 3 year olds hand.

 

[Matt<3Ts]

View attachment 14175 View attachment 14176 View attachment 14177 View attachment 14178 S/he is the size of my 3 year olds hand.

Looks plump and healthy [emoji4] and obviously eating well [emoji1] is there a bald patch on the abdomen or it's just the colouration?

 

[Meludox]

Looks plump and healthy [emoji4] and obviously eating well [emoji1] is there a bald patch on the abdomen or it's just the colouration?

That would be the mirror patch.
Like Matt said, your T looks healthy and you shouldn't worry as long as she's eating. Molts become less frequent as a spider gets older, but it'll happen when it happens.