LEAF LADIES MOLT
Here are two of the Ladies. One has just molted again, and the other is days away from her next molt. When young they tend to molt every 20 to 30 days and almost double in size.
Akasha, within the first couple hours of her molt, could hardly lift her head. Normaly they shouldn't be handled so soon after molting, but Akasha molted while hanging from the habitat's screen lid (her favorite place to hang out) and fell to the tank floor when she slipped out of her skin. By the time I found her she was laying on the floor with one of her not-yet-hard leg bent underneath her body. Unable to move, her leg started to set that way as her exoskeleton began to dry. She now has a limp, which I'm hoping will correct itself when she molts the next time.
UPDATE: Her leg is fine now that she has molted again. At first she was hesitant to use it, but now you wouldn't know she ever had a problem with it.
To the left is a comparison shot of two of the ladies, the smaller has only molted once and the larger is on her next to last molt. Notice the lack of leaf lady features on the baby: No flat tail, thin legs, and no spikes.
To the right is another comparison shot. This time the smaller has molted twice and the larger has molted for the last time. Notice the wings on the larger one and the beginings of Leaf Lady features finally appearing on the baby.
Here's two pictures of Akasha in the later stages of her actual molt. The skin on their back splits at about the neck and they wriggle out of the old skin. Each molt is almost like them giving birth to themselves (as the friend who gave them to me is fond of saying). During this process many things can go wrong ranging from pulling off an arm to getting stuck in their skin. So far we have been pretty lucky with only a bent leg on one of them.
THE FINAL STRETCH
My favorite part of the molting process is when their legs finally come free from the old skin and they straighten out their bodies and test their new limbs while hanging from their tail which is still in their old skin.
Here's another pic of the stretch at the end of molting. They almost look like a portrait of the six armed goddes Sheva or something.
We aso have a Indian Walking Stick in the habitat with them. Can you find her in this pic? Here's a clue, she's the only stick that is completly vertical.
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