Moulting:

Spider have to moult as they have an exoskeleton, this is hard skin formed on the outside of the body.  As the spiders age they have to shed the old skin allowing the spider to grow, after a few hours the new skeleton will harden into the new exoskeleton.  The exoskeleton acts as an armoured plate protecting the spiders vital parts, its during the shedding of the old skeleton and the forming of the new one the spiders are at most risk as the new skin is very soft.  The new exoskeletons and the old ones grow together, a layer of air between the two stop the skins from joining and once the old one breaks open the new one stretches as the spider matures including the sexual organs and hardens.  One new exoskeleton and one bigger spider.

How they do it: The moulting is started with the spider attaching its self to a horizontal surface with silk and then the spider hangs on a draggling.  The carapace splits open and then goes along one side from the cephalothoraxes to the abdomen and then opens almost hinged like.

The spider starts to exit legs first and then pushes the rest of his body, after this the spider will rest for a period of time, this could be a few minutes or it could be over a day or two.

During the time of moulting the spider should be left alone as it might result in the spider being hurt or the exoskeleton being damaged.  If the spider is undernourished then this could kill the spider or stop the spider from moulting probably and the old exoskeleton might not shed or the new one won't harden properly.

A spider moults all its life but during the early years of its life its moults a lot as its growing, when the male reaches its final moult the fangs and sex organs become larger and that's the final moult and the male is sexually mature.

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