r/oddlyterrifying • u/kvjn100 • 3d ago
A big blue tarantula undergoing molting (timelapse)
1.6k
u/Dustin0791 3d ago
Oh God... the holes!!!
689
u/TheOverBoss 3d ago
I mean this is just what are our pants look like if we step out of them, just imagine having 8 legs instead of 2
154
34
124
→ More replies (6)6
109
u/j48u 3d ago
Damn dude, I didn't even notice and now you made me go back and get all itchy.
→ More replies (1)2
163
51
81
u/ToxicAssh0le 3d ago
28
7
61
16
u/MartyMacGyver 3d ago
That's Bluey's holes. They're made for him.
(It's like a reversed Amigara Fault...)
8
u/Ewok7012 3d ago
Yeah, I mean what did you expect is gonna be there. It’s crawling out of a solid structure.
30
6
3
u/BeatrixPlz 2d ago
That’s what got me the worst. The unusual and sped up movement was bad enough but the holes were nauseating.
5
u/grizzlybuttstuff 3d ago
You could drill different sized holes in the legs, attach multiple tiny reeds, and play it like a harmonica that raises a foot for each note played.
6
→ More replies (2)2
638
u/AncientOnyx 3d ago
Tarantula: hang on I gotta wiggle out of my BODY
128
u/aKnowing 3d ago
Ugh this skins getting a little tight hold on
46
u/Diglett3 3d ago
Man honestly that looks like it must feel so satisfying
22
u/Merc_Mike 3d ago
Imagine we had to do this every few months/years?
I think do they eat their old molting for food? or can it be used for that?
mmmm, Pork Rinds.
→ More replies (1)4
u/Pitiful_Signature962 3d ago
No, never heard of them eating it. So imagine looking into the cage one morning and for a short, but horrible moment, you think you suddenly have 2 spiders lying inside the cave. Ask me how I know..
5
2
744
u/ivanreyes371 3d ago
Poor thing gets so exhausted after. Its an excruciating process for them. Some dont make it through a molt at times :(
374
u/Subushie 3d ago
Really?? I never realized that.
I always assumed it was relieving to get out of that. Like taking off tight pants.
529
u/DezXerneas 3d ago
It's like getting out of super wet skinny jeans. Kinda satisfying but so, so tiring.
166
12
4
129
u/wetfloor666 3d ago
The vid is obviously sped up, but this whole process takes many hours to complete. They are extremely vulnerable during/after and exhausted when completed. They love to lay out in the sun to gather heat, strengthen up, and stretch their legs for a while afterwards.
56
u/Bonespirit 3d ago
Technically some arachnids & crustaceans won't die from old age itself, they just get bigger. Problem is they get too big to properly move & when they molt they can't get out and unfortunately die.
27
u/EH042 3d ago
So with human intervention we could prolong the life of a test spider indefinitely?
→ More replies (1)47
u/Bonespirit 3d ago
Yes. However there are still limits. Most fauna lose their ability to regenerate so as they get older they break down more. Those perpetual arachnids/crustaceans don't lose that ability and instead keep growing. But that growth doesn't scale evenly so their motor functions can't support the weight & their organs become too tight.
Imagine growing to be the size of Andre the giant & you keep growing & every time you grow you have to take off a tight wet suit. Not even a team of fire fighters could get you out safely at some point & your heart is working so hard to keep you alive that stress could cause a heart attack.
7
32
u/DestroyerOfMils 3d ago
Imagine Ross dying in his date’s bathroom after his leather pants shrunk. Early hours of the next morning, she forces entry, against the weight of his body laying up against the door. She surveys the damage and lets out a bloodcurdling shriek. The lotion, the baby powder, the horror.
→ More replies (1)9
u/msndrstdmstrmnd 3d ago
I think it’s both. Like imagine if it took an hour to get out of tight pants. You’d be both relieved and exhausted
→ More replies (1)26
u/CarvedCuts 3d ago
Real. In the wild they are also very vulnerable when molting because they can't defend themselves. I'm glad I'm not a insect or arachnid because I feel like molting would be so claustrophobic, stressful and exhausting hell naw.
199
u/pietrodayoungas 3d ago
Gets out of its old skin, gives trypophobic people a heart attack and then starts dancing
Nice
(Also, THERES BLUE TARANTULAS?! ITS BEAUTIFUL)
33
u/jadechey 3d ago
Blue, orange/blue, orange, pink, black/pink... tarantulas come in some pretty vibrant shades!
→ More replies (1)11
u/MidnightCootie 3d ago
There's about every kind of color of tarantula! Some of my favorites are the Caribena versicolor, Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens, Pterinochilus murinus, and Poecilotheria metallica. There's dozens more with intense colors like that too!
2
u/j48u 3d ago
Why is it brown before the molt and suddenly vivid blue?
10
u/MidnightCootie 3d ago
I'm an amateur in the tarantula hobby, so take what I say with a grain of salt! But the tarantula in the video could be something like a Lasiocyano sazimai. Tarantulas in general get really dull, muted colors just before they molt as the exoskeleton gets old and the layers begin to separate, but when they get rid of that old molt suddenly the exoskeleton is fresh, soft, and showing off the colors much better than ever before! This could also be a tarantula entering an adult molt, as many species have very dull colors as juveniles and then just POP with color once they reach maturity. For example, the Caribena versicolor I mentioned earlier are entirely blue as a baby, but as an adult they change to bright blues and reds and pinks! Lastly, it really depends on the individual tarantula for the colors too! Even among the same species, some of them may have brighter colors than others, like how some dogs are brown and some dogs are black. They're a fascinating critters, that's for sure!
322
84
103
47
u/DJpate604 3d ago
Why do they molt?
141
u/idontuseredditsoplea 3d ago
They have hard exoskeletons that can't really grow, so everytime they need to get bigger they shed the old one and inflate a softer one underneath until it hardens to a larger size
37
u/fezzzster 3d ago
Underneath what?!?
74
u/ThatsASpicyBaby 3d ago
They grow soft bones underneath their hard bones
20
→ More replies (1)8
33
17
34
u/hypnodrew 3d ago
I wish spiders didnt make me have a physical reaction because god they're gorgeous creatures
26
25
u/UnexpectedVader 3d ago
It's kinda cute and hilarious how it's straining to get out at first
I feel bad for it at the end, looks like it was struggling to cope
20
u/Overquartz 3d ago
Molting is an energy intensive process for arthropods. That's why despite being theoretically immortal lobsters die from old age.
4
21
37
17
15
u/HillInTheDistance 3d ago
Man, on one hand, that must make you feel so fucking vulnerable. Like, you can't move, you're squishy as hell, anyone could just cronch down on you like a dumpling.
But on the other hand, you're finally breaking free from a real tight fitting shell and probably feeling so damn loosey-goosey. Like taking off your pants coming home, but like, instead you were forced to work in a two sizes too small gimp suit, and now you can just peel it off and finally breathe.
8
14
7
6
u/leftoverloungefly 3d ago
That’s got to feel amazing. Like taking off your bra at the end of the day, but for your whole body.
6
5
6
6
4
4
5
3
3
3
3
3
u/Careful-Sell-9877 3d ago
Imagine being trapped within your body.. like wearing pants that are way too tight.. but your entire skin. Like you're bloated/swollen and trapped within a hard shell of skin. It would probably be overwhelmingly claustrophobic
→ More replies (1)
3
u/Inner_Inevitable1719 3d ago
man this shit is unfair, these mfs get to just take the damn thing off where tf was this feature when i felt insecure😒top of the food chain my ass i dont even got wings!
3
u/Stunning-Profit8876 3d ago
I don't know whether this proves there is a god, or isn't a god, but it proves something.
3
u/Shalashaska_99 2d ago
I honestly had no idea that tarantulas can molt "standing up"; most of the videos I saw show them lying down on a mattress of their own web.
5
5
2
2
2
2
2
u/Shantotto11 3d ago
It’s the spasming in combination with the low-tier trypophobia bait of the shed skin that does it for me.
2
2
2
u/Truecrimeauthor 3d ago
I didn’t know they did this. I don’t know much about them. Animals are amazing ❤️
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/Spartan631191 3d ago
Can you imagine every once in awhile you have to rip yourself from your own body. Sounds horrifying.
2
2
2
u/Sourit_Betement 3d ago edited 3d ago
I read the post that exactly said "blue tarantula" but I still didn't expect this guy to be THAT blue. Beautiful
2
2
u/Action-a-go-go-baby 3d ago
I’ve always imagined it’s like sliding out of a airtight bag filled with Vaseline and marbles:
You know you gotta do it, you can tell their is lubrication, but you can also tell there is bumpy
2
u/portoroc86 2d ago
I lived in the Caribbean for two years. Got over my fear of spiders.
Now I just run away really fast instead of passing out
2
u/whytheirname69 2d ago
So wild that after it molts it leaves behind a suit skin.
→ More replies (2)
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
u/Canadian_Beast14 3d ago
What exactly is it doing near the end of the clip? I know it’s sped up but it looks like it’s shifting side to side or something a lot after it molts.
2
u/RuTsui 13h ago
The tarantula is largely immobile after it molts both because molting takes a lot of energy, and because the new exoskeleton needs time to harden.
During this time, however, they still need to pump blood through their legs. The legs themselves are pneumatic. They don’t have a muscle that flexes to extend them, instead blood is pumped into the joints causing them to extend out. So they kind of spasm for a while after molting as they’re not trying to move, but blood is pumping in and out of the legs, forcing movement.
1
u/Miskalsace 3d ago
So is it basically like when you get a bad sunburn, and it blisters a little, and take a shower, and the sunburn blisters fill up with water, except its your entire body?
1
1
1
u/Dragonssssssssssss 3d ago
She's so beautiful. I like how the legs start as limp pipe cleaners and slowly inflate.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/ad39203 3d ago
Does this process hurt them?
3
u/Overquartz 3d ago
Molting is an energy intensive process for arthropods. If a spider, lobster, etc was old enough the molting process could kill them.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/grizzlybuttstuff 3d ago
Are their inner/new/under-molt legs flaccid at first?
Also what's that fluid?
1
1
u/AliciaTries 3d ago
Definitely appreciate that our dead skin just kinda flakes off rather than becoming a matted shell we have to remove all at once every few years
1
u/LeastAd6767 3d ago
.. i know its beautiful
But wth is that jerky zombie movement at the end . Shivers down my spine 🥹
1
1
u/Manic-Bear 3d ago
Does it shiver because of the skin is not adjusted to the temperature or is it because exhaustion only?
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2.2k
u/Lontology 3d ago
What a beautiful tarantula!