Bored T?

[Sonicookie]

A while ago my tarantula, Aranea, tried to dig herself a burrow (twice), but ran into the wall both times. She buried her old water dish with the first one, but those were the only problems. She really liked to sit in them (and "sun" bathe in one). But recently, she's been trying to climb to wall over there, and she's made it all the way off the substrate. She doesn't seem to be doing it in a stressed way.

I'm worried that she might fall and hurt herself, because she's not a climbing tarantula. So, any suggestions?

 

[Enn49]

What species do you have and is there any chance you could post a photo of its set up?

 

[Whitelightning777]

Issues with wrong substrate, uneaten feeders annoying the T, excessively moist substrate, and cold temps can all literally drive an otherwise reasonable tarantula up the wall.

They go for height and light when cold.

Others are just 8 legged bulldozers that like to dig and throw dirt around depending on the exact species.

 

[Kymura]

Hard to really say without knowing more about it. What type of T is this, what type of enclosure is it in,
Post some images and let us take a peek,

 

[Sonicookie]

There she is up the wall. She's a rose hair, aka grammostola rosea. I'll try to take some more pictures later.

Moist substrate could be a problem, the water bowl always gets the ground a little damp. It's not enough to make it mold, but it could bother her. I'll try to remember to move it tonight (to let the old spot dry).

She has been bothered by stray crickets before, but I make sure they all get eaten now.

I've thought about the temperature before, the room temperature is usually colder than ideal for a rose hair. But what's off to me is that she's only doing this note that summer is starting, when it's 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit most of the day. I'd say maybe she's doing it now just because she notices in difference in day temp vs night temp, but earlier she was on the wall despite it being around 82 degrees.

The enclosure is plastic, I believe it's Critter Keeper brand (or at least very similar). It's kind of big for her (forgot the measurements), but so far it's been fine. She can get prey and she can find her way to everything.

 

[PanzoN88]

There she is up the wall. She's a rose hair, aka grammostola rosea. I'll try to take some more pictures later.

Moist substrate could be a problem, the water bowl always gets the ground a little damp. It's not enough to make it mold, but it could bother her. I'll try to remember to move it tonight (to let the old spot dry).

She has been bothered by stray crickets before, but I make sure they all get eaten now.

I've thought about the temperature before, the room temperature is usually colder than ideal for a rose hair. But what's off to me is that she's only doing this note that summer is starting, when it's 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit most of the day. I'd say maybe she's doing it now just because she notices in difference in day temp vs night temp, but earlier she was on the wall despite it being around 82 degrees.

The enclosure is plastic, I believe it's Critter Keeper brand (or at least very similar). It's kind of big for her (forgot the measurements), but so far it's been fine. She can get prey and she can find her way to everything.

Definitely leaning towards moist substrate G. porteri HATE moist substrate, as they prefer it to be bone dry. If your room temperature is in the 70s they will be fine. I use kritter keepers with some of my tarantulas and they do just fine as well.

 

[Kymura]

got to agree, get it dried out some, then...its a rosie..so...whatever she feels at the moment is who she is going to be, I ADORE these spiders, but..they are a trial to be sure, shes not bored, just testing your patience and probably laughing inside about it ^.~ I doubt shes going to hurt herself in there, if your honestly worried about it, put another inch of substrate in there.
As long as shes able to find her food size is zero issue, shes just being a rosehair Mine used to systematically bury her glass beads one by one, they just do more odd things then most for some reason, offer her a pingpong ball, some of them actually like them or seem to.

 

[Sonicookie]

got to agree, get it dried out some, then...its a rosie..so...whatever she feels at the moment is who she is going to be, I ADORE these spiders, but..they are a trial to be sure, shes not bored, just testing your patience and probably laughing inside about it ^.~ I doubt shes going to hurt herself in there, if your honestly worried about it, put another inch of substrate in there.
As long as shes able to find her food size is zero issue, shes just being a rosehair Mine used to systematically bury her glass beads one by one, they just do more odd things then most for some reason, offer her a pingpong ball, some of them actually like them or seem to.

I have noticed that she's a little quirky. She waves her legs around in this adorable way when she walks.

On a side note, I know tarantulas don't really get bored, but do you think giving them odd things would improve their quality of life?

 

[Sonicookie]

Photo of the damp spot where the water dish was:

It's less dramatic than it seems in the photo, although the substrate has been somewhat pressed down by the water dish. Do you think she'd like the texture better if I added a little more of fluffed up what's here?

 

[Kymura]

I'd personally just leave it dry out, but. if you think she might enjoy some already dry stuff then by all means, worst case scenario is she gets some extra sub to push around

 

[Dave Jay]

I have read on this and other forums etc that tarantulas often don't like to walk on substrate that is not compacted enough, it's possible that that may be an issue too.
This is second hand information on my part, I haven't experimented myself.
I always add my substrate gradually, firming a layer down as much as possible before adding more so as to facilitate burrowing so I haven't had the opportunity to compare loosely packed to tightly packed as yet.
Just food for thought, but firming it and letting it dry might do the trick.

 

[Sonicookie]

Update: moved the water dish and let the substrate dry out some, and she's mostly not climbing now.

 

[Arachnoclown]

What's all this nonsense about tarantulas climbing....thats what they do.

Dry compacted substrate is what they like. Sounds like you figured it out with the water dish. Just keep moving it to a new spot every couple weeks.

 

[Whitelightning777]

My L klugi hates even the slightest trace of vermiculite mixed into the substrate. I tried that and had to pull her out to put an inch of straight Coco fiber on top of it.

I've also tried organic peat and they seem to really like that as much as Eco Earth. I use vermiculite only on the very bottom layer for drainage.

They also like the substrate tamped down. It's just like riding an ATV, much easier on solid ground then in mud or sand.