Question about my P.regalis

I just got my P.regalis 3 days ago and it is roughly 2.5in.

I decided it would be best if I fed it a few days after it gets use to its home so I was going to feed her today. The first 2 days she explored the tank and drank some water from the dish now however she has now dug a hole beside her water dish near the glass corner and it appears to be sealed (the top of the hole is her webbing connected to the dish and glass with dirt flung on it. The bottom is dirt and the sides are the glass.). I can see inside it and she has moved from the way she was positioned this morning in it but no molting has occured yet or anything like that.

Would it be safe to assume she will be molting very soon?

Should I try and put a cricket in the tank and see what happens or is that just a bad idea because of signs that she might be coming to a molt?

Also the water dish is close to her. Should I be worried that she might dig under it and cause it to fall on her (its a Small Exo-terra water dish).

I find it very odd its digging instead of making a webbing around the bark/ fake plants. Altho I did read some would do that. Is this another sign of a molt coming up really soon?

Should I be worried that if I don't feed her soon she could starve(her abodomen is a tad bigger then her carapace. I know T's can go a long time without food but I read that younger ones can't go as long.)?

I'm pretty sure its a CB as I bought it from a pet store. Other then the digging thats happening right now it looks very healthy.

Any help is appreciated.

Heres a pic of her enclosure:


I realilize it might be a tad big but I didn't want to be moving her from cage to cage especially when next molt would probably make her big enough for it(Not to mention having to move a Pokie to another cage would be interesting in itself.).

EDIT: I checked again and she seems to be making it deeper.(I have about 2-3in of coco fibre in there.

No it is not really a sign of an up coming molt, very common for a pokie of this size to dig and make a retreat, it wouldn't hurt to throw a couple crickets in there as for the water dish I guess in reality it could cave in on her but I highly doubt it as pokies don't go crazy digging there little burrows... Give her a couple more molts and she is likely to start making her retreat higher up... Greg

Edit to add: Just because this is not a sign of an upcoming molt does not mean that it is not possible so just keep an eye on her and don't leave the crickets in there but a day or two...

alot of regalis will dig and drag up dirt and mix it in with the webbing, try feeding her, if the cricket is in there in the morning just remove it..

Regards, Mike

Mike H. said:

alot of regalis will dig and drag up dirt and mix it in with the webbing, try feeding her, if the cricket is in there in the morning just remove it..

Regards, Mike

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Alright but if she goes into molt over night I shouldn't be worried about the cricket hurting her right?(since the opening to this hole is blocked anyways.)

Thanks everyone for the help

Now I know what everyone else is talking about when they say they worry about every little thing when getting use to the ways of a new T.

At 2-1/2" I would not worry to much about the cricket attacking her not to say that it can't happen but is more likely with smaller slings and also the fact that she is webbed in and closed her self off the chances of the cricket getting through that is not very high... Greg

Bearskin10 said:

At 2-1/2" I would not worry to much about the cricket attacking her not to say that it can't happen but is more likely with smaller slings and also the fact that she is webbed in and closed her self off the chances of the cricket getting through that is not very high... Greg

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Alright sounds good. I'll put 2 crickets in there and if they are still there in the
morning I'll pull'em out.

watch your fingers!

Lol.

Well it appears during the night and morning she has opened up her burrow and also the 2 crickets have disappeared (and she is holding what looks like dirt in her fangs which is most likely whats left of the webed up crickets.)

So everything is doing fine. Also now that she has a burrow made she isn't jumpy anymore(which makes cage cleaning easier since she will just go back to her burrow when disturbed.).

I've learnt something today to. When a T is making a burrow for the first time in a enclosure they will close off the entrance until they are done making it. I've come to this conclusion because my mexican fantasy(hybrid of vagan/pallium (or something like that. I forget the spelling of the names)won't be breeding it of corse but its fun to have and watch grow) sling that I got a week back did the same thing and i thought it was going to molt to(altho it will be molting soon because its skin is getting much darker/reder).

So all is well so far and I'm a very happy P.Regalis owner

I'm no expert, but from the 3 I have, this all sounds normal everyday for them (the digging etc.).

I first placed my 4" Regalis into a vertical 10gal. with some fake green and a long slab of cork leaning against the back wall. But after 2-3 weeks, it still remained hidden on the ground with no webbing. So I opted to transfer her to a smaller enclosure where she would feel less exposed (like the ones I have my 3" P. fasciata in). Sure enough, that night she started to web up the cork and seems much more confident in her space.

I find it very odd its digging instead of making a webbing around the bark/ fake plants.

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My P. fasciata both have dug extensively at the base of the cork. But they also web, and drag the dirt onto the web (not unlike my Suntiger).