Thoughts on what my G pulchripes is doing?

[goonius]

I have never seen her open her mouth this wide -- she keeps climbing to the top and extending her fangs/opening her mouth wider than I've ever seen. Thoughts?

 

[Phil]

I have never seen her open her mouth this wide -- she keeps climbing to the top and extending her fangs/opening her mouth wider than I've ever seen. Thoughts?

Just trying to escape I reckon. New enclosure/rehouse? What is the substrate you are using? may be something inside the enclosure that the spider does not like and wants to get away from it. No superworms or prey items that have burrowed under substrate?

All these could be reasons why your T is not 'feeling at home' atm.

 

[goonius]

We have owned her for about two months, added substrate (it's cocofiber) to the enclosure about 2 weeks ago because it seemed we didn't have quite enough before. She's usually a little bulldozer, does a lot of digging and rearranging of things, and she did do some of that tonight, but still seemed to be climbing the walls a bit. Perhaps the addition of new substrate was disruption enough to upset her?

The photo I originally posted, I've just never seen her do that, nor any of our other tarantulas -- like she split her head in half or something. She kept returning to that one corner of the enclosure like it was something over there that offended her (?), but whatever it is, only she knows. To me it looks the same as the other 3 corners.

Definitely no prey in the substrate. We always make sure prey is killed before we direct attention elsewhere. She makes this easy, as she is a speedy huntress and has not turned down a meal since being in our care.

I'll post pics of her enclosure in case you can spot any other obvious issues. We are relatively new to tarantulas, and although we have read a lot, it seems there is always more to learn too.

 

[Rs50matt]

Welcome to the wonderful world of keeping Grammostola. It’s just something they do. The 3 Pulchripes we have all do it. We often hear a clicking noise in the night where it’ll stick it’s fangs through a vent hole and try pulling. It’s kinda like they’re getting bored and after trashing their enclosures they have nothing left to do to annoy you so they sit on the lid and make noise. I wouldn’t worry about it

 

[Arachnoclown]

She wants a kiss...

 

[goonius]

Welcome to the wonderful world of keeping Grammostola. It’s just something they do. The 3 Pulchripes we have all do it. We often hear a clicking noise in the night where it’ll stick it’s fangs through a vent hole and try pulling. It’s kinda like they’re getting bored and after trashing their enclosures they have nothing left to do to annoy you so they sit on the lid and make noise. I wouldn’t worry about it

This made me laugh out loud, this COMPLETELY describes Isi. We love her antics, watching her trash the enclosure, even if we have to clean and refill the water dish daily. No other tarantula we own is so entertaining, but as you said, she will also poke her fangs through the ventilation holes sometimes and we are always a little freaked because it looks like she could lose a fang the way she does that strange tugging thing! I'm a relieved to know this is normal. I guess we'll just sit back and enjoy antics.

 

[Casey K.]

What is that piece of decor in her cage that has a bunch of tiny holes in it?

 

[goonius]

What is that piece of decor in her cage that has a bunch of tiny holes in it?

It's an old worm-eaten clamshell we found at the beach years ago. Isi is my technically my daughter's tarantula so she decorated the cage with things from her collection.

 

[goonius]

Yikes, you don't suppose anything could be living in that shell after years and years do you? We cleaned it well first, but didn't bake it or anything.

 

[Casey K.]

Yikes, you don't suppose anything could be living in that shell after years and years do you? We cleaned it well first, but didn't bake it or anything.

Maybe some tiny pieces/shards could be coming off (similar to glass) and cutting her on the abdomen. Does she have any marks under her abdomen that you can see? Similar to tiny scratches?

 

[goonius]

I can see her abdomen since she is on the wall at the moment and it looks smooth and like black velvet. I can't find any flaws on her anywhere. If she has any health issues they are not visible. Also, the shell is very weather worn and smooth, but not crumbling in any way and doesn't have any loose sand or shell fragments on the inside. I think I'll take it out anyway. I wouldn't want to be wrong and hurt her in some way, but I would say aside from the antics in the corner last night with the strange fang extending business, her behavior has been very typical of what we have come to know as her personality.