Something odd, she is very nervous recently

[Cuddles2014]

I have a Chaco Golden Knee

About a week now I have noticed that it is very anxious. Meaning that almost every vibration or noise seems to bother her way more than before. The slightest noise and she gets in her defense position and sends her legs up in the air as though she is going to attack. It is really bad to the point where she is jumping/flipping on her end. I have never seen her react like this. Nothing has changed in the house except I am buying her crickets from a different pet store now because the other one went out of business. I used to buy bulk crickets but now I buy "Bug Box". Any ideas of what may be bothering her?

Thanks

 

[jujubees]

I have a Chaco Golden Knee

About a week now I have noticed that it is very anxious. Meaning that almost every vibration or noise seems to bother her way more than before. The slightest noise and she gets in her defense position and sends her legs up in the air as though she is going to attack. It is really bad to the point where she is jumping/flipping on her end. I have never seen her react like this. Nothing has changed in the house except I am buying her crickets from a different pet store now because the other one went out of business. I used to buy bulk crickets but now I buy "Bug Box". Any ideas of what may be bothering her?

Thanks

You say nothing in the house has changed, but have you recently changed the substrate or moved anything out of place in the enclosure? Also, is she due for another molt soon? Back when I first kept Ts I had a fire leg that got real ansty and skiddish before a molt.

 

[Denny Dee]

Did you upgrade the size of the crickets? I have seen T's react like this to a new food type especially if they feel threatened. Mine was with Dubias though....

 

[Cuddles2014]

Most sorry for the delay in my reply. I just got done moving to a different house. If timing was not bad to begin with to have to move her in the mood she was in already. Oh well, I tried to make the move as painless as possible for her.

Some thoughts I have had and triggered by the replies here as to why she may have been antsy and still a bit (understood from the move). The only thing different in her tank was the introduction of the "Bug Box" where as before as I mentioned I used to buy bulk crickets and dump them in all at the same time. I have mixed up the sizes in the past when using the bulk crickets and that never seemed to bother her and she would stalk them out and pounce on them when they came by. But since I bought the "Bug Box" she started to act strange. Yes, I put the box in her tank and let them come out slowly so she would not over eat. I guess I should have just put them in her tank minus the box which is a bright red color and the other thing is too that it seemed as though when the crickets would go near her she would almost run away from them as though she was saying "leave me a lone !!" So maybe the bright red box and the timing of her maybe ready to molt pissed her off a bit. But now with the move she is really anxious. I put her in my walk in closet in my bedroom in a dark corner in her little carrying plastic box so she will settle down. It has been about a week now. I live alone so no one is poking around in the closet all the time.

Hopefully she will be ok.

Normally when she is in her tank I have plain peat moss in there. I have a fake tree trunk made of hard plastic and a little plastic container that I put up on the end and filled mostly with peat moss so she can go inside and hide or hide under the tree trunk. I made sure I bought the plain peat moss not the type with all the fertilizers and stuff. Should I use something else? She seemed to be fine with that and the last time she molted (about 8 months ago) she was in the peat moss and seemed content. I made it a point to feed her about 10 days before I moved so that I would not have to bother her after I moved by putting crickets in her tank.


Any ideas or suggestions would be great.

Thanks and sorry again about the delay in my reply.

"Cuddles" Daddy

 

[Denny Dee]

Well, you do have a lot of things going on here. I think you made the right choice by eliminating the bug box. That was a major change to her enclosure and that combined with getting bounced around a little in the move could have created some stress. Regarding the substrate, many people use peat. I prefer cocoa fiber (Eco Earth). I mix in about 30% vermiculite to hold humidity and improve draining of the soil. This generally helps to prevent mold. I would recommend doing some more research on the forum to make up your own mind on what is the ideal substrate for the Chaco.

I am suspecting you may be overfeeding? T's really only need 1-2 crickets per week. If she is overfed and does not want to eat, the crickets can cause stress and possibly worse. Crickets are nasty little buggers and have been known to attack molting T's and cause damage or death.

 

[Cuddles2014]

Update on my T now. I have been in this home now for about 3 weeks and I still have her in her little carrier that I moved her in. She is still tucked away in the walk-in closet in my bedroom which gets very little activity in the way of me walking in there. If I do I try not to make noise to disturb her. But I have noticed that some time recently that I can hear her scurry around in her little carrier as though she hears me and is upset by my movement. She has not molted yet. I don't even know if she is ready to molt at this point, I am just assuming that she is ready because of her behavior which is very unusual because she is normally very tame; by what I mean, you can put your finger near her or hand and she won't even more and if you just tuck you hand gently under her she will climb up on my hand nicely and sit there. But these past 4-6 weeks she has been absolutely different. I am thinking maybe she needs to go back to her large tank which she has basically been in all her life. Maybe she needs a familiar surrounding in order to molt where she has twice before. I hate to move her and upset her but I think this is best for her. I still have not fed her since we moved because I don't want crickets in there to disturb her. Any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks all....

 

[2G33K4U]

I use Peat and eco earth I grab a handful and shred it up then mix it in with fresh batch of Eco Earth. This makes great support for spiders that like to burrow and dig around. I have yet to find anyplace selling Vermiculite in bags that are not the size of a trash bag. I do not need such a large amount and would inevitably get knocked over and be like cleaning up Styrofoam packing shrapnel.

 

[Cuddles2014]

2G33K4U
Sounds interesting and I may try that mix next time. About 4 days ago I put her back in her large tank that she has been in for years and she seems so much more content and relaxed than that little carrier she was in for a few weeks during the move. I put just peat moss in it again like I have been doing. I tried to keep things basically the same including how her little tree trunk, water dish and little cave were set up in the past. I placed a towel covering half the end of the tank so it is dark. She seems so much more content and relaxed now. When I walk up to the tank to see how she is she does not move like she used to get in her attack/protect stance. Going to wait about another week and get her some crickets and put one or two in only to feed her each time so as not to excite her with too much activity.
Thanks for your input

 

[2G33K4U]

Your welcome.