Scarab wrote: Interesting, so I can't help myself...

So what happened?

I am of the opinion that the new exuvium had various consistency issues. It is possible that the exuvium of the new limbs "hardened" at a different rate. Example: If you stick glue or sellotape to one side of a balloon and then inflate, the resulting inflated balloon would appear skew.

Bacause the spider "pumps" hemolymph into the new limbs shortly after the moult, it is my theory that the limbs were deformed due to varying thickness or consistency of the new skin, thus "pulling" them into this abnormal shape.

I doubt it would survive on it's own, so I think you did the right thing. It would probably starve to death had you not intervened.

Thanks Scarab

This makes sense, suppose there is nothing you can do to prevent something like this happening again…

This is NOT directed at you as a keeper Foxxy, it is a general observation.

These symptoms are typical of malnutrition. It is possible that the spider had a history of "bad" food, or it did not benefit properly from the nutrients it ingested.

A good rule of thumb is to feed your feeder insects to the best of your ability. If you have a spider from second or third instar, you can control this. If you buy an adult or sub adult from someone else, you have no idea what might happen in future.

This condition is extreme, and rare. Some "old hands" at T keeping might have record of this happening to them at some stage, but it is not seen as often as a spider getting stuck in a moult.

Scarab wrote: These symptoms are typical of malnutrition. It is possible that the spider had a history of "bad" food, or it did not benefit properly from the nutrients it ingested.

A good rule of thumb is to feed your feeder insects to the best of your ability. If you have a spider from second or third instar, you can control this. If you buy an adult or sub adult from someone else, you have no idea what might happen in future.

Hi Scarab
I can understand this scenario as well, but this guy was fed twice a week and enjoys dragging his meals on the glass just for me to clean it afterword not mentioning that he was very aggressive!! So in short he was a good eater and I owned him maybe for 2-3 months
Regards Jacques

EDIT: On looking at your pictures AGAIN, I find the abnormally large abdomen and abnormally small carapace very peculiar. It is completely the opposite of what would be expected from a post moult spider. For some reason, I believe it could not fill the newly formed exuvium with hemolymph. It must indicate deformity of the new skin, even if it moulted out properly.

Secondly, it appears that most of the erratic positioning of the segments is in the joints. The tendons connecting each segment can therefor be underdeveloped or not at all. The Femur and Patella on L1 do not seem normal at all, and one would presume the same issue influences all the legs and carapace.

One can only speculate as to the cause of this condition. I have given what I think to be some sort of theory on what might be the cause, but in no way shape or form would call my theory "scientific", merely thinking for a change. Challenges in this hobby are plenty, rewards even more.

In conclusion, thank you for a thread that offered some form of challenge, albeit an unsolved mystery. It is rare and highly stimulating to debate sensible topics , hence my response.

Best wishes with the rest of your collection, I would have done the same had I been in your shoes.

Firstly i would like to say sorry for your loss, secondly thank you for sharing this with us!
As I am still learning this is very valuable for me and for the advice and comments from the other members

This is invaluable for a person like myself. I wish you happy and positive molts in future

Sorry for your sad loss, and I'm very impressed by the keen observation and analysis of Scarab and also Dragon.

I was first thinking something along that the T' got stuck not in his moult but in his web after finalising his moult. I had also noticed the rather large abdomen but was thinking that he might have been overly fat befor the moult, thus unable to maneuver out of his web to do his stretching excercises properly. That would have also explained the uneven look on some of his legs, which may have hardenend up all wrong.