Same darn thing, only different - Cocoa wants to be out, but the nano-second she senses my presence - BAM, she goes subterranean - I have to sneak up on her just to catch a glimpse.Whats going on with her?
It used to be worse - not long after getting her, she went underground for so long that I thought she had dug her own grave - I even started a thread about it, and everybody said "don't worry, it's a phase," and of course everybody was right. It was still a couple of months before I actually spied her out in the open, but one day I did notice evidence of activity on the substrate surface, and a teensy-weensy pencil-eraser-size opening in the substrate tucked away in the corner of the container ... it was one of those "AH-HAH" moments. That opening has since widened to the size of a dime.
And when I feed her, it reminds me of the sci-fi movie from the '50's, Invaders From Mars, where the Martians suck their human prey into their sub-terranian tunnels without ever coming out - it's kind of funny actually - I offer a mealworm with forceps hoping to lure her out - instead she reaches through the substrate, grabs the goodie, and they're gonzo - all this in the blink of an eye. And it's impossible to track her molts accurately like I can with my others, because she molts underground, then she either chews up the molt or deposits it on the surface God-only-knows how many days later.
The irony is that I chose this variety of T because all the write-ups claim that the g. aureostriata (or whatever we're calling it these days) is the best, mellowest, most docile, most user-friendly, best for beginners like myself, etc etc, and instead I got a 17-year locust! Granted, she's just a sling, but she's growing ve-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-ery slowly.
I've had her in a deli-container, with a black plastic bottom, terrible for viewing and probably bigger than recommended for a sling her size, so I do plan to move her into a smaller clear container with better options for visible burrowing. I'm hoping that will be a solution that works for everybody.
Gee Fran, thanks for being my therapist! Do I pay you now or will you bill my insurance?
