Tarantula seems unhappy with burrow

[katgrogan]

My tarantula has been burrowing non-stop lately. And not just fixing up one burrow, he'll dig his way to the bottom, start wrapping around the edges, digging in a huge tunnel around the outer bottom edge of the enclosure, then...bury it all back, build a pile in the middle of the enclosure and start again. He makes a new burrow pretty much daily at this point. At first I just was letting him do his thing, but now I'm concerned that he is stressed and unable to feel safe in any burrows he makes.

He's about two inches long total(Maybe 3 now, he's been growing rapidly) and is still in a relatively small kritter keeper with the substrate piled up nearly to the top.

I mean, it's cute to watch him carry around all the clumps of dirt, but I figure their burrow is their safe home, and I'd like him to feel comfortable in it and not just make a new one only to destroy it all the time. Unless this is normal A. hentzi behavior.

If this isn't normal behavior, what can I do to remedy the situation? He's in a fairly undisturbed corner of the house, I only go in there to sleep or do homework.

[Jterry]

What are the dimensions of the enclosure? One possibility is that he doesn't have enough surface space, i.e. his enclosure is too small. Deep sub is very important, but for terrestrials, so is leg room.
Another possibility; temp and humidity. This sp is from the southern US, so they are used to the desert. Keeping the temp between 75-80 might be a good idea if you have a picky T, and keep the humidity fairly low. You pretty much don't ever mist their enclosures.
ONE LAST THING- does he have a hide? They like to hide under logs, etc. Maybe if you offered him an alternative hide that he couldn't destroy, he would settle in and feel safer in there. Just a thought
He could also just be a busy little guy with a lot of energy to expel
Good luck!!

[katgrogan]

it could be too small, he's been in it since we got him. Didn't want to risk him getting hurt in anything larger. It's a half gallon kritter keeper originally for a 'hermit crab' environment. I'm not home right now, but I believe it's between .5 gallons and 1 gallon. Mostly floor space--and more floorspace than dirt-space. He certainly seems to have room to roam around.

I do keep giving him things to hide under, but he just buries them, the dork!

The humidity is pretty low, only humidity he gets is when he's given water. Temp could be raised a few degrees to be honest, it's about 73 right now. I'm reorganizing my room soon so he will be closer to the reptiles--I can set it up so he's closer to their ambient temps and bump it up to 75 or so.

I did accidentally over feed him a bit, I didn't quite realize how large the cricket I got for him was, and he sure was stuffed after he finished the whole dang thing. Maybe he's just working on his figure? LOL!

[apophysis]

You shouldnt care too much what he does in there as long its not too wet or too hot. Some T`s are just more active then others. I got a few t`s that is digging and moving things around all the time in the enclouser.. I got a B.Vagans who is climbing around more then my pokies. I think its just fun to have some ADHD spiders and just not lazy ones lol

[katgrogan]

Oh no, I enjoy it. I just wanted to be sure his behavior wasn't due to something stressing him. I'd hate to have his lifespan shortened over something I could easily fix. I personally love his renovating. It's so funny to see them hard at work!

[Jterry]

I did accidentally over feed him a bit, I didn't quite realize how large the cricket I got for him was, and he sure was stuffed after he finished the whole dang thing. Maybe he's just working on his figure? LOL!

Haha! This made me giggle. But yeah, probably just a really active T. sounds like you have things set up pretty good for him, so he's probably just keeping himself entertained! Lucky you!