Tatantula acting out of the ordinary. (Picture inside)

SoulSpiegel12 · Jul 8, 2015

My b.smithi juvenile has been acting out of the ordinary. For the past week it has not come out of its hide which doesn't really alarm me, but when I look inside it's constantly standing on 1 leg and hanging onto the enclosure. Is this normal behavior? I fed it a week ago but decided to skip a week of feeding to feed it this weekend. Just concerned since usually it comes out to roam around but has recently only been standing in the back of its hide.

cold blood · Jul 8, 2015

Likely just pre-molt....make sure to keep the dish full, they like to take drinks prior.

Also I'd cover much of that top, kk type enclosures are quite over ventilated for t's. I use them occasionally, but I seal large parts with saran wrap, leaving openings at either end to promote airflow.

I wouldn't worry.....I wouldn't be in a hurry to feed it either unless I'm dead wrong with my prior assumption and it molted recently or is thin.

SoulSpiegel12 · Jul 8, 2015

No its abdomen is quite big since its a very good eater. Yea I never learned all the premolt signs which is bad on my part. I'll saran wrap a few areas for it. Also I have been keeping the water dish full, for humidty purposes.

cold blood · Jul 8, 2015

SoulSpiegel12 said:
No its abdomen is quite big since its a very good eater. Yea I never learned all the premolt signs which is bad on my part. I'll saran wrap a few areas for it. Also I have been keeping the water dish full, for humidty purposes.

This species doesn't really have humidity requirements....in this case, the dish is for drinking water.:wink:

Pokie Master · Jul 8, 2015

I wouldn't wrap anything. These guys live in very dry climates. Just use a water dish. I'm sure it's probably just pre molting.

cold blood · Jul 8, 2015

Actually they are not a desert species, and live basically in pretty green areas. But yeah, some species don't really require the lids to be wrapped as much as others, and I agree this species would qualify.

Pokie Master · Jul 8, 2015

cold blood said:
Actually they are not a desert species, and live basically in pretty green areas. But yeah, some species don't really require the lids to be wrapped as much as others, and I agree this species would qualify.

I never said "desert". There's a big difference between being dry and not humid and being a "desert" there are plenty of green places that don't get humid or see much rainfall.

Ultum4Spiderz · Jul 8, 2015

This is normal T's like climbing, even terrestrials. Mine always climb~

cold blood · Jul 8, 2015

Pokie Master said:
These guys live in very dry climates.

Semantics my friend. It seemed implied, and my response was for others reading your post who may get the wrong impression.

Its just not overly dry where they live...the pics I've seen of their natural range is actually quite lush and green, certainly not a dry climate.

Pokie Master · Jul 8, 2015

cold blood said:
Semantics my friend. It seemed implied, and my response was for others reading your post who may get the wrong impression.

Its just not overly dry where they live...the pics I've seen of their natural range is actually quite lush and green, certainly not a dry climate.

No worries. And I don't mean any offense either by anything I say. There's certainly enough of that on here already. And certainly it depends on which brachypelma as to where they come from.

SoulSpiegel12 · Jul 11, 2015

So I should skip another week of feeding? Or should I still try to feed it? I have it on a once a week schedule for feeding but due to a larger abdomen I had skipped a week.

cold blood · Jul 11, 2015

SoulSpiegel12 said:
So I should skip another week of feeding? Or should I still try to feed it? I have it on a once a week schedule for feeding but due to a larger abdomen I had skipped a week.

Schedules are not really important to maintain for the spider, if its fat and you don't expect it to eat, there's no issue with skipping the meal....however, if you are so inclined, pre-killed prey would be the way to go....remove it in a few hours if its not taken.

SoulSpiegel12 · Jul 13, 2015

My T has officially went from hanging onto the glass to actually climbing it, though I noticed it only did that when my room was a bit on the warm side after the power was out for an hour and my AC was turned off. Could it be premolt behavior and a heating issue? I remember reading that sometimes they cling to the side for a heat source. I mean I'm not going and buying some excess heating source since I know thats very dangerous. Just wondering if maybe that was a part of the issue. I appreciate the help, learning new stuff every day

Blueandbluer · Jul 13, 2015

SoulSpiegel12 said:
My T has officially went from hanging onto the glass to actually climbing it, though I noticed it only did that when my room was a bit on the warm side after the power was out for an hour and my AC was turned off. Could it be premolt behavior and a heating issue? I remember reading that sometimes they cling to the side for a heat source. I mean I'm not going and buying some excess heating source since I know thats very dangerous. Just wondering if maybe that was a part of the issue. I appreciate the help, learning new stuff every day

A little bit of glass-climbing is normal. Just make sure that a) there's enough substrate in the enclosure so if they fall off the glass they won't fall far b) there's nothing too sharp or hard that they could fall on, c) they're not spending ALL their time on the glass for weeks -- this could indicate something up with the substrate (fungus, too wet, too dry, mites, etc).

Tatantula acting out of the ordinary. (Picture inside)

SoulSpiegel12

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SoulSpiegel12

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Pokie Master

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Ultum4Spiderz

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