Xena's got bigger!

Moulting is always a fraught time for any spider keeper - the most common cause of death in pet tarantulas are bad moults. Spiders, like most arthropods have an exoskeleton so need to moult at least once a year to get bigger. It's a bit of a traumatic experience, tarantulas generally won't eat for a month or so when they're in pre-moult, they then flip on their back (they're not dead!) and then break out of their skin. For the next few days or even weeks they won't eat still, while their new exoskeleton hardens up.

For a Theraphosa blondi, the infamous Goliath bird-eating tarantula, moults are a particularly bad time for the spider keeper. There's always the chance that if something goes wrong you'll have to leap to the rescue of your beloved (and expensive) pet. Messing around with a very stressed and very large spider is not really something anyone would choose to do but it can sometimes be the only way to get a spider through a moult. Luckily for me, this time Xena was absolutely fine. This didn't stop her shedding a ridiculous amount of itchy hairs all across the house for the last 2 weeks - Mrs. Jim and I have been itching like crazy.

Still it was all worth it, because as you can see, Xena is getting to be a BIG girl.

She'll be starring at the last (boo!) Deadly Day Out in Avenham Park, Preston, this weekend!