using water dish as toilet, and not drinking

Fierce Deity

Arachnobaron
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Mar 5, 2006
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My G. rosea uses the water dish as a toilet, and then doesn't drink the water. I am constantly finding a bunch of waste in the water dish, but then she doesn't want to drink it. Is this normal? And what should I do about this. I am worried that she will either get sick from drinking her own faeces, or it will get dehydrated.
 

MindUtopia

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I wouldn't worry about it. Think of all the nasty stuff that's in water in the wild and they do just fine. She probably does drink, but tarantulas drink so little in volume that you probably don't notice the change in the water level. They also get a good part of their fluid intake from prey. Shouldn't be a problem. Just wash it out and replace the water every few days and she should be okay.
 

moricollins

Arachno search engine
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With my T's, when they poop in the water dish, I clean it out every week and refill with clean water.
 

Snipes

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If find that with tarantulas, feces and water bowls are often topics of fun and interest. Feces: in water, shooting it in defense, and pooping in one place. It seems that some just like to designate an area to poop in. It can be a corner, or a waterbowl, for just some reason. T's often have strange relationships with their water bowls, emptying them, carrying them around, pooping in them, territorial about them.
 

Pennywise

Arachnolord
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My T blondi does it

sometimes and also some of my others like N. Chromatus. I replace the
water every day or two and rinse the dish if it needs it. It's no big deal.
 

bonesmama

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I'd rather just clean out the water dish than scrape dried poopy off the walls! If it really bothers you, and you have enough room in the tank, try using 2 dishes and see what happens ( If she poops in both of them, then you're just screwed!) LOL!
 

AfterTheAsylum

Arachnodemon
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Aug 13, 2005
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How big is the T? I drink just gatorade and Powerade, and the like and I use the caps as waterdishes - they are great. I have about 300 reserve caps, so when one gets dirty I throw it out and replace it... I should start selling these caps.

T.S.
 

Fierce Deity

Arachnobaron
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She is nearing adulthood. The body is around 3-4 inches. The water dish is about half an inch deep, and a few inches in diamter. She would have no problem standing over it without touching the dish.
 

xgrafcorex

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my a seemani has gone in the dish..but she only did it once so far. yea, i would also rather dump it out of the dish, than have to wipe/scrape it off the sides.

the p ornata i have loves putting the remains of its food in the dish though...looks tasty. i just dump it out, clean it, and refill it. i don't feed it everyday..not even every other day, so cleaning it isn't that bad.
 

psycho_maggot

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I shouldn't think it's anything to worry about, my B.Smithi sometimes just stands in her water dish lol
 

TarantulaTom

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Mar 4, 2006
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you just have the water dish in the spot where she likes to use as her toilet, tarantulas will use the same spot as their toilet their clean like that. Try moving the dish to another spot in the tank.

Regarding the G.Rosea drinking, its like Mindutopia says they drink in small volumes. My G. Rosea rarely drinks but i always make sure she has fresh water at all times

Regards: Tom.

http://www.freewebs.com/tarantulatom/
 
Last edited:

Keith Richard

Arachnobaron
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Jan 27, 2004
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As has been mentioned, tarantulas are very "hygenic". Perhaps they are hard wired to believe that water will wash away any waste from their "homes". I frequently find food remains and occasionally the odd poop. I have seen all my tarantulas drink....sometime for over 30 minutes at a time, which tends to suggest that their actual water intake is minimal. There is no way that your tarantula will allow itself to dehydrate whilst there is a bowl of water near by.
 
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