Emergency triage
Is my tarantula okay?
Pick what you are seeing right now. We will tell you whether it is normal - and exactly what to do.
Question 1 of 3
What is your tarantula doing right now?
On its back or side
Has the old skin (exuvium) separated yet?
Legs curled under the body
Is the abdomen shrivelled or the body flat against the ground?
Refusing food
Look at the abdomen - is it dark and glossy?
Refusing food, normal colour
Roughly how long has it refused food?
Hidden / sealed in
Is it still emerging occasionally, or fully sealed in?
It is moulting - this is normal. Leave it alone.
A tarantula on its back is moulting, not dying. Do NOT touch it, turn it over, or spray it. Remove any live feeder insects immediately (they can injure a helpless spider), then leave the room. Slings finish in under an hour; large adults can take most of a day. intervening is the only way to make it go wrong.
The moult succeeded. Now give it time to harden.
Great news. The new exuvium is out and your tarantula is soft and vulnerable. Keep conditions stable and do NOT feed or handle until the fangs are black and hard - roughly 1-2 days for slings, 5-14 days for large adults. Offer water but no prey. The exuvium is worth keeping: it can be used to confirm the sex.
A moult taking over 24 hours may be stuck.
A moult should show visible progress within hours. A truly stuck moult (often caused by dehydration) is an emergency, but do NOT attempt to pull the exuvium off yourself - that causes fatal injuries. Gently raise humidity around the enclosure (damp substrate corner, never spray the spider), and seek help from experienced keepers immediately - the forum here or your local society. Sometimes spiders complete a long moult unaided; keep disturbances away either way.
That sounds like a death curl - act now.
Upright posture with legs tightly curled UNDER the body (often flat/splayed) is the classic death curl. The most common reversible cause is dehydration: if the abdomen is shrivelled, immediately rehydrate by placing the tarantula in a small container with a very shallow damp substrate layer or over (not in) a water dish - many spiders recover if the cause is drought. If it does not respond within hours, the outlook is poor. Ensure the enclosure has a water dish and a damp corner going forward.
Posture can be ambiguous - check these tells.
Look again carefully: MOULTING spiders lie on their BACK or side, legs upward, often slowly flexing. DEATH CURLS happen upright with legs folded tightly UNDER the body. A freshly dead spider also curls under. If it is upright, curled, but responsive when gently breathed on or the enclosure is nudged, try the dehydration response in our death-curl entry. If it is on its back - it is moulting: hands off.
That is classic premoult. Nothing to do but wait.
A darkening, glossy abdomen (especially a shiny bald patch on New Worlds) means a moult is coming - often within days to a few weeks. Fasting is expected and correct: prey can attack a moulting spider. Keep the water dish full and one substrate corner slightly damp. Do not handle. The moult itself will likely happen at night; you will probably wake to a fresh exuvium.
A short fast is completely normal.
Tarantulas refuse food for many harmless reasons: recent moult recovery, winter cooling, a shy personality, or simply not being hungry. If the abdomen is plump and the spider moves normally, keep offering food weekly and removing it after a few hours. No intervention needed.
Long fasts are famous in this hobby - and usually fine.
Some species fast for months to over a year while remaining perfectly healthy (Grammostola rosea are the champions; most adult terrestrial species go months). As long as the abdomen stays plump and rounded, water is available, and behaviour is otherwise normal, there is nothing to treat. Offer food every week or two, remove uneaten prey. Weight loss with a SHRIVELLING abdomen is the only warning sign.
Quick reference
Normal vs emergency at a glance
| What you see | Meaning | Action |
|---|---|---|
| On its back, legs up, slowly flexing | Moulting (normal) | Hands off. Remove live prey. Wait. |
| Upright, legs curled tight UNDER body | Death curl (emergency) | Rehydrate gently, seek keeper help now |
| Dark glossy abdomen, refusing food | Premoult (normal) | Full water dish, damp corner, wait |
| Sealed into burrow with silk | Normal / premoult | Never dig it out |
| Shrivelled abdomen, sluggish | Dehydration | Water dish, damp corner, cooler spot |
| Limp, unresponsive, legs loose | Likely died | Confirm after a few hours before disposing |
| Missing leg | Normal - they regrow it | Next 1-2 moults fully restore legs |
| Bald patch turning dark (New World) | Premoult imminent | Prepare: water full, prey out |
| Fangs still red/soft after moult | Not hardened yet | No food until fangs are black (5-14d adults) |
| Posture at water dish constantly | Too dry / normal drinking | Keep dish full; add damp corner |
Never: a short list of do-nots
- x Never touch, turn over or spray a moulting tarantula
- x Never leave live prey with a moulting or freshly moulted spider
- x Never dig a sealed-in spider out of its burrow
- x Never pull a stuck exuvium off yourself
- x Never feed until the fangs are black and hard after a moult
Tracking your spiders makes emergencies rarer - TarantulaHub predicts moult windows free.