Over the course of the last two to three weeks, Kelsey and I noticed that our female Goliath (affectionately named "Nocturnia") has been uncharacteristically inactive. She has not been feeding as evidenced by the small gang of Dubia roaches hanging out near her water dish. She has remained quite still in the far corner of her burrow.
On Monday, April 13th I noticed that her position inside her burrow had clearly changed and there appeared to be an extra set of legs unnaturally splayed out in several directions. It appeared as though our large friend was in the midst of a molt. Gasp.
Tuesday morning, I alerted Kelsey who immediately confirmed that Nocturnia had completed her first molt since she has been in our care. Needless to say, we are thrilled and looking forward to seeing her new size and coloration once the new exoskeleton has hardened and darkened in color.
This page was last updated: March 4, 2016
These two pictures of Nocturnia's discarded exoskeleton provides us with an intimate view of her physical appearance and the unique manner in which molting takes place. Click to enlarge.
Nocturnia has been staying inside her burrow making it very difficult to catch a glimpse of her after her molt. We were able to take this picture of her which reveals a darker, chocolate coloration, an abundance of setae on all legs and an abdomen no longer missing urtricating hairs.
February 2016- Second Molt
In this picture, Nocturnia, aka "The Princess" has just molted and is probably still in the process of allowing her exoskeleton to harden. Her coloration will also change as she recovers from her molt transitioning into a deeper chocolate brown.
March 2016- Is Princess attempting to escape?
This afternoon Kelsey notified me that Princess was acting rather strangely- she was hanging upside down from the top of her enclosure. Was she contemplating a carefully planned escape? Was this a botched suicide attempt or was she growing increasingly agitated with the close proximity of her neighbor in the next room? We will continue to monitor the situation carefully.
