Mama’s Got a New Fuzzy Suit!

First off, if you haven’t read my earlier post about my L. parahybana female entering premolt, then you may want to check this out.

I’ve been watching this young lady like a hawk since she went dark, and I was hoping that I could get a good photo of her freshly molted. Well, as luck would have it, I actually caught her laying down a molting mat before flipping over on her back. A few hours later, she was standing next to her discarded molt sporting a new skin suit with darker colors.

Besides her new colors (you can now see the salmon hairs that give this little beauty her common name) my little lady picked up about .5/.75″ of length. I will now spend the next few weeks fattening her back up.

My 3″ LP female before a molt.

I was lucky enough to catch my female LP as it flipped on its back for a molt.

My female LP an hour or so after she completed her molt. Notice the bluish color of her new and not-quite-hardened exoskeleton.

My female LP stretching out in her new exoskeleton.

My female LP having her first meal after a recent molt. Notice that she now sports the salmon-colored hairs that give the LPs the common name “Salmon Birdeaters”

This is easily one of my favorite species of tarantula, and every molt is just a thrill. I’ll be looking very forward to watching her grow into the 8″ to 9″ beast she’ll eventually become.