New to this forum, but I need help please

xtravertmom · Apr 20, 2011

My rose tarantula (Opie) short for Ocho Pantas, spanish for 8 legs-is doing something I've never seen.
I've had him since last October and he molted last December, in the typical way...spun a web hammock and found hin layihg on his back and (TaaDaa) found his molt the next morning.
Haven't really noticed his abdoimen getting patchy like he did last December, and I recently cleaned out his aquarium last week and got him some new crickets to munch on.
A few days ago he started pulling mounds of dirt around thr opening of his coconut to the point where he is almost all enclosed inside the coconut.
Do I have reason to be concerned?
I can't really find anything about building dirt mounds in the books I have and what it may mean.
Can anyone give me a clue? I appreciate all responses.
MOM

afs rock · Apr 20, 2011

correct me if i'm wrong but don't ts sometimes close off the entrance of the burrow when molting

Nanchantress · Apr 20, 2011

Three weeks ago my rose retreated into her hide and blocked the entrance with dirt and dried moss. I could barely see her through a tiny opening. She stayed there for 12 full days and I thought for sure she was molting. However she emerged unchanged and now just goes about her regular business like nothing happened - eating, drinking, walking around. Guess she was just taking a break from the world... I think it's normal.

Fran · Apr 20, 2011

8 legs= OCHO PATAS In Spanish

synyster · Apr 21, 2011

Had a C.Fasciatum that blocked itself for a year in its hide. Had to dig it out cause i was transferring her to a new tank and she was unchanged. Molted one month after being in the new setup though

Matthew Criss · Apr 21, 2011

synyster said:
Had a C.Fasciatum that blocked itself for a year in its hide. Had to dig it out cause i was transferring her to a new tank and she was unchanged. Molted one month after being in the new setup though

Wow... That, I think is a Super Long Fasting. I mean if my Genic can do that, I wonder what she will look like.

xtravertmom · Apr 21, 2011

Thanka for all the comments. I thought Opie is molting, but I'm glad to know he's not sick or anything. Imagine closing yourself up in your own little world to get away, only to return when you feel like socializaing again? How splendid it is to be a spider!

---------- Post added at 08:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:07 PM ----------

Update. He (or she) is now completely enclosed. The coconut's opening is completely sealed off. I hate that Opie chose this weekend to be anti-social because I';ve got the family comig over for Easter and they want to see him. Oh well, there's always the next family function. The posting about a 12 month seclusion worries me. Not eating or drinking for that long perios of time, wont that harm Opie?

curiousme · Apr 22, 2011

Nope, it won't. I would keep a full water dish in there anyway, because it could be coming out in the night to drink. With the skills they have at webbing substrate together, it is possible that you will never know. Our G. rosea has been holed up since the beginning of winter and I hope to see her soon too.

xtravertmom · Apr 22, 2011

curiousme said:
Nope, it won't. I would keep a full water dish in there anyway, because it could be coming out in the night to drink. With the skills they have at webbing substrate together, it is possible that you will never know. Our G. rosea has been holed up since the beginning of winter and I hope to see her soon too.

Thanks-I'll be sure to keep her dish full.
Have a good weekend!

xtravertmom · Apr 24, 2011

Now I'm worried. I disturbed the dirt in front of the coconut opening, (made a small air opening) to see if he comes out at night as stated in an earlier post and there has been NO CHANGE! Now I'm starting to think something might be wrong with OPie like maybe he is dead. I know some animals go off for seculsion to die, like elephants but not sure if Aracnoids do the same.
I want to lift up the coconut to see if he is alright, but on the other hand I don';t want to disturb him if all he is doing is "chillin".
I'm a worrysome sort of person and am not very patrient when it comes to something or someone I care for.

tarantulagirl10 · Apr 24, 2011

I've had 2 inch slings close them selves up for a month or even more, adults even longer. If you are really worried you could lift it and check on him, but I would just leave him alone. Keep his water dish full and toss a cricket in once a week. If he doesn't eat it in 24 hours, remove it. A lot of patience is involved in tarantula keeping

Let us know how it all turns out.

Musicwolf · Apr 24, 2011

xtravertmom said:
Now I'm worried. I disturbed the dirt in front of the coconut opening, (made a small air opening) to see if he comes out at night as stated in an earlier post and there has been NO CHANGE! Now I'm starting to think something might be wrong with OPie like maybe he is dead. I know some animals go off for seculsion to die, like elephants but not sure if Aracnoids do the same.
I want to lift up the coconut to see if he is alright, but on the other hand I don';t want to disturb him if all he is doing is "chillin".
I'm a worrysome sort of person and am not very patrient when it comes to something or someone I care for.

It really is common behavior for all types of Ts. Several of mine sometimes close themselves up for a month or two - - every one of them has been fine, and yes, they can go for a year or more without eating with no problems. Don't even start to worry unless you smell something nasty - - then you may have a dead T, but that would be very rare.

Nanchantress · Apr 24, 2011

I agree that it is hard to wait for them to come out, but I feel it's better for them to go about their spider life without too much interference. My recommendation is to get several more tarantulas to take your focus off the one. Then at any given time, it is more likely that one of your T's may be doing something interesting for you to observe.

Apollo Justice · Apr 24, 2011

I wouldn't worrie about it too much my B. Albiceps does that all the time she covers the front of her entrance up with dirt and webbing and the she'll take it all down. She does this on a regular basis multiple times a week and sometimes she'll stay inactive for a long period at a time. Ts just do what try want to do all the time.

Abby · Apr 24, 2011

Oh I love the name OPie

My tarantulas often choose to burrow for weeks and weeks.
I also just keep a dish with fresh water, and leave them alone even though I am dying to know what they are doing.

Sometimes they choose to burrow when they feel I am moving things around and therefore need to find peace and quiet, or sometimes for no reason at all they just want to burrow and meditate.

I am able to see some of them since there might be a small window on the bottom of the container or one side.
Others don't leave any room for me to spy on them. I actually bought an endoscope online so I could poke a tiny hole in the burrow and spy on my OBT. I was able to see him grooming himself for about a minute before he noticed a disturbance in the force, and moved to the side out of my endoscope's line of vision. I was glad to see he was doing okay since I hadn't seen him in over a month.

After that I decided that unless I smell somethign bad I just let them be. They usually come out molted, or hungry, and that point I gladly throw in a cricket and watch them pounce on it with vicious force

kristinnandbenn · Apr 24, 2011

My Brachypelma boehmei completely closed up the entrance to his coconut and it's been like that for about a month now. I just throw crickets through the hole in the top and he eats fine. You shouldn't worry about your spida.

xtravertmom · Apr 24, 2011

Abby said:
Oh I love the name OPie

My tarantulas often choose to burrow for weeks and weeks.
I also just keep a dish with fresh water, and leave them alone even though I am dying to know what they are doing.

Sometimes they choose to burrow when they feel I am moving things around and therefore need to find peace and quiet, or sometimes for no reason at all they just want to burrow and meditate.

I am able to see some of them since there might be a small window on the bottom of the container or one side.
Others don't leave any room for me to spy on them. I actually bought an endoscope online so I could poke a tiny hole in the burrow and spy on my OBT. I was able to see him grooming himself for about a minute before he noticed a disturbance in the force, and moved to the side out of my endoscope's line of vision. I was glad to see he was doing okay since I hadn't seen him in over a month.

After that I decided that unless I smell somethign bad I just let them be. They usually come out molted, or hungry, and that point I gladly throw in a cricket and watch them pounce on it with vicious force

Funny you mentioned qboiut "moving things around" and that yours needed peace and quiet. I noticed him enclosing himself the day I was cleaning the carpet in the living room, where he resides ontop of my fireplace.

Could the loud noise thst was going on for almost 4 hours have been the start of all of this activity, or lack there of?

It's been a week since he enclosed himself, and the noise has been at normal levels, so I am wondering how much longer he will hide from me.

Formerphobe · Apr 25, 2011

Some spiders just don't like being on display, for whatever the reason: pre-molt, active molt, too much activity in the room, or disturbance to/in their enclosure, seasonal, etc. I got my then 2 inch Grammostola pulchra in early August. On day 3 it went underground and blocked the burrow entrance, doing a very impressive H. lividum/pet hole impression for three months. Then I saw it only sporadically for the next four months. It molted twice while burrowed. It has now opened up its 'cave' and is far more visible, sometimes even coming topside to sit on its corkbark.

I currently have two Brachypelma vagans slings that I have not seen in about two months. They molt and eventually push the exuvium out of one of their holes. I periodically drop prey items into the most used appearing holes. Sometimes I can appreciate the 'hit', even though I can't see it. The prey never resurfaces... Eventually the Ts themselves will come out.

I'm curious as to how big they are now, but I can tell they are growing by the increasing size of each molt.

xtravertmom · Apr 26, 2011

It's been 8 days since Opie has closed himself off from the world. I was tempted to push the dirt away and lift up the coconut to see if he is ok. What do yt'all think?

xtravertmom · Apr 27, 2011

Well, I did it! I pushed the idrt away, only to find a web plug of dirt sealing the coconut. I lifted the coconut up, only to find Opie has spun himself a floor.:? (too cool), needless to say, I shined a light inside the nut and saw Opie moving about. He's okay!!!!!

Yeah!!!!!!!! Now, I will leave him in peace so he can do whatever he feels he needs to do.
Thanks for all y'all's inout. I really appreciate it.

New to this forum, but I need help please

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