Wierd P.Ornata

NightCrawler · Aug 25, 2003

I bought a 5" P.Ornata a month ago and sure I checked caresheets on it, and I read that hight is more important than floorspace since its arborial so I put a piece of bark in the terrarium as hide. But today I noticed that it has made a borrow behind the bark

Has anyone else had simular experiences or do I just have a wierd poec??
Please excuse the misspellings :8o

Telson · Aug 25, 2003

Do you have any cover around the higher areas of the enclosure? Perhaps it's chosen lower ground rather than stay high at the cost of being exposed? My 1" stays pretty low in it's little enclosre because the cork bark I had that fit in there doesn't reach very high. Then again, being a sling, I've read they have a tendancy to stay lower... Perhaps yours is regressing to childhood?

Pyrdacor · Aug 25, 2003

That poecs use to stay lower when they are young, is what I read too. And my formosa behaves like that. She didn't make a burrow though but all the webbing is made to a max height of about 4". The enclosure has a height of about 15" or 16". But she didn't mature yet, so I'm still hoping

NightCrawler · Aug 25, 2003

Originally posted by Telson
Do you have any cover around the higher areas of the enclosure? Perhaps it's chosen lower ground rather than stay high at the cost of being exposed? My 1" stays pretty low in it's little enclosre because the cork bark I had that fit in there doesn't reach very high. Then again, being a sling, I've read they have a tendancy to stay lower... Perhaps yours is regressing to childhood?

Hmm maybe it is regressing

No I don't have much cover in the higher areas so maybe I just have to do some rearranging in its enclosure...Anyhow its worth a shot

Originally posted by Pyrdacor
That poecs use to stay lower when they are young, is what I read too. And my formosa behaves like that. She didn't make a burrow though but all the webbing is made to a max height of about 4". The enclosure has a height of about 15" or 16". But she didn't mature yet, so I'm still hoping

Do your Formosa otherwice behave "normal"? Cus usually my Ornata climbes the sides of the enclosure as if it does not like to walk on the ground though the ground is okey for borrow

Lopez · Aug 25, 2003

Many keepers have Poecilotheria that "burrow", especially as spiderlings.

Aboreal Rayne · Aug 25, 2003

Terrestrial Pokie...

In my experience the younger Pokies will stay close to the ground. However your's is 5", well past the mark to where they begin to look to the trees. My only guess is the person you bought it from didn't give it a place/thing to climb on. Therefore it's accustomed to staying low. This behavior should "wear-off" after the Pokie realizes it has space to climb.

~Rayne~

NightCrawler · Aug 25, 2003

Originally posted by Lopez
Many keepers have Poecilotheria that "burrow", especially as spiderlings.

That means that my poec's not as wierd as I first assumed??

Pyrdacor · Aug 25, 2003

She behaves as what I would say is normal. She climbes up to the top of the enclosure, and she also climbes up the sides. She sometimes touches the ground. But most of the time she stays between 1" above the substrate and 4". I can take a foto and post it later, if you are interested...

NightCrawler · Aug 25, 2003

Re: Terrestrial Pokie...

Originally posted by Aboreal Rayne
My only guess is the person you bought it from didn't give it a place/thing to climb on.
~Rayne~

Actually your right. The guy I bought it from didnt have any arboreal hidingplace al all. It had made a little borrow all covered with web instead so you might be right in that it only have to get used to the new stuff. But in a couple of days I will do some rearranging in its enclosure so it will be exciting to see what kind of "lifestyle" it will adabt to

NightCrawler · Aug 25, 2003

Originally posted by Pyrdacor
I can take a foto and post it later, if you are interested...

Im always interessted in pictures. Especially enclosure pictures

LaRiz · Aug 25, 2003

arboreals

I think our perception of what is arboreal, may be different to a tarantula that is "supposed" to be arboreal. We can't possibly give them a duplication of their natural habitat, so we give them the next best thing. An eclosure, whether it be a gallon sized pretzel container, a petpal on it's side, or ten gallon aquarium on it's side. We throw in some substrate at the bottom and chuck in a slab of cork. We put the cages on shelving, or on countertops. Then we expect our arboreals to go up. Some do, some don't. If you take your newly designed arboreal caging, complete with a "burrowing" arboreal tarantula and nail it to your ceiling, or a tree, would it now be arboreal?

Perhaps they already think they're where they think they should be. Dead trees are full of moist "sustrate" (dead leaves, rotten wood, wood pulp, all kinds of good stuff).
john

NightCrawler · Aug 25, 2003

@LaRiz
Quite an interessting way looking at it I must admit

And thinking about it for a couple of minutes makes me realise that your quite right

We do what we think is right for the T and in most cases thats just fine but since we don't really understand T's and their way of "thinking" who knows what is the optimal living condision a T would prefer.

Aboreal Rayne · Aug 25, 2003

Pokie mistreatment...

Actually your right. The guy I bought it from didnt have any arboreal hidingplace al all. It had made a little borrow all covered with web instead so you might be right in that it only have to get used to the new stuff. But in a couple of days I will do some rearranging in its enclosure so it will be exciting to see what kind of "lifestyle" it will adabt to.

This is very similar behavior that my P. Regalis is displaying. She was bought under the same conditions, no place to climb, and one hell of a webbing to hide under. Now after two months her bahavior is changing more she ages. I'm sure you will see very similar results as well.

~Rayne~

NightCrawler · Aug 25, 2003

@AR

Good to know that there is a chance that my T can begin to act "normal" yet

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