Pre-molt behavior in Hissers?

[Nanchantress]

I have a male Hisser (2+ inches) that has remained in the same position for 2 days. Sometimes I would see a slight twitch of a leg, but that's it. I placed his mouth on some water droplets, thinking maybe that would help, but nothing... So this morning I put him in the freezer.

Now I am second guessing myself. Do you think he could have been in pre-molt? Do Hissers even have a pre-molt stage like tarantulas do? I am new to Hissers but have 11 tarantulas so I can recognize pre-molt behavior in Ts. What if I killed a perfectly good Hisser? After work today I might do a "necropsy" and see if I can tell one way or the other.

Does anyone know if Hissers stay motionless for a few days prior to molting?

Thanks,

Nancy

 

[macbrush]

Mine do stay motionless for maybe a couple of hours, but I have never observed the whole process, so I can't say exactly how long. One clue though, they change their colour and become softer to touch while in that stage.

But then I am also a newbie, so you better get more opinions.

Cheers

Kenneth

 

[makoygaara]

I had an adult male hisser that died two weeks ago.

I've noticed that he was sitting on top of the egg tray for a few days.

All the while I thought this was normal.

But he never moved again.

Strange because what I read about them is that they have a lifespan of 1-2 years.

Now mine was just 5 months old.

My other adult hissers are fine.

 

[Nanchantress]

Follow-up: I gently sliced him down the sides of the abdomen and he was definitely not ready to molt - no new exoskeleton inside. I scooped out his innards (gross, gag...) and now I'm going to attempt to preserve him in casting resin and make a paperweight type of thing. It will be my first attempt at this after learning about it at the ATS conference last month.