Got home last night to discover my Tarantula part way through her 3rd Molt. She is a Giant White Knee (Acanthoscurria geniculata )about 18 months old. She was the size of a 50 pence piece when I got her, about the size of a coaster now.
If you have not seen a spider do this before it can be quite freaky. They make a web, then flip over and lay down on their back in it. Then they basically push off their old exoskeleton. The back part of their body opens and by increasing their blood pressure and flexing to expand their new body, they squeeze out of their old body. Takes about 6 hours start to finish.
Imagine lying on your back and trying to get out of a boiler suit via a zip on the back.
Technically not the best photos but considering the circumstances I was quite pleased with them, taken with my 60D, on tripod, using 55-250 lens from about 1.2m away, camera on macro. Indoors lighting and through glass! Really must invest in a Macro lens.
I'll put the full set on my web site soon but thought I'd show a selection here too. Hope its not too many.
She will sleep in a ball to recover for a while, but I'll post a couple of photos of her when shes up and about in her new clothes.
The legs sticking up the air will now be empty, new ones underneath.
Spider Molt_0 by Swoosh 2, on Flickr
Spider Molt_1 by Swoosh 2, on Flickr
Spider Molt_2 by Swoosh 2, on Flickr
Almost done!
Spider Molt_5 by Swoosh 2, on Flickr
This is why they are such good climbers, cropped shot of the tips of her feet, the white things are her fangs! about 10mm.
Spider Molt_7 by Swoosh 2, on Flickr
If you have not seen a spider do this before it can be quite freaky. They make a web, then flip over and lay down on their back in it. Then they basically push off their old exoskeleton. The back part of their body opens and by increasing their blood pressure and flexing to expand their new body, they squeeze out of their old body. Takes about 6 hours start to finish.
Imagine lying on your back and trying to get out of a boiler suit via a zip on the back.
Technically not the best photos but considering the circumstances I was quite pleased with them, taken with my 60D, on tripod, using 55-250 lens from about 1.2m away, camera on macro. Indoors lighting and through glass! Really must invest in a Macro lens.
I'll put the full set on my web site soon but thought I'd show a selection here too. Hope its not too many.
She will sleep in a ball to recover for a while, but I'll post a couple of photos of her when shes up and about in her new clothes.
The legs sticking up the air will now be empty, new ones underneath.
Spider Molt_0 by Swoosh 2, on Flickr
Spider Molt_1 by Swoosh 2, on Flickr
Spider Molt_2 by Swoosh 2, on Flickr
Almost done!
Spider Molt_5 by Swoosh 2, on Flickr
This is why they are such good climbers, cropped shot of the tips of her feet, the white things are her fangs! about 10mm.
Spider Molt_7 by Swoosh 2, on Flickr
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