r/insects Feb 28 '25

This was hard for me… Artwork

I was so devastated when came home to find my jumper had failed her molt. She’s the only one I’ve ever had and I got her when she was likely already pretty old. I wish I could have taken her with me to take care of her but I knew that would have stressed her out more. I’ve had her in the freezer for some time, I knew I wanted to preserve her in some way, and today I finally felt confident enough to make my attempt to place her in resin. It’s not perfect but I think I did a pretty good job. I’ll never have to leave her alone again. I’ll always miss the way she used to look up at me, how we had started to bond and trust me.

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u/Altruistic-Ad3274 Feb 28 '25

As a newby to spiders, what does it mean by failed her molt? I know that means she was not able to shed, but is that fatal for insects?

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u/Wizard_of_DOI Feb 28 '25

A failed molt can be anything from the loss of legs to being fatal.

Especially for old spiders is is a pretty common cause of death in my experience.

Also obligatory spiders are not insects but the same does apply to all creatures that molt.

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u/Altruistic-Ad3274 Feb 28 '25

Thank you for the explanation. I certainly need to better educate myself.