Burrowing question

[SilverTycho]

Sorry, I'm posting like I know nothing about tarantulas. I do know quite a bit, but I'm used to terrestrial species that stay where I can see them. My M. balfouri is quite the borrower. However, I'm curious how I know if he's still alive and if he ate. I didn't see him for awhile, but then I caught a glimpse of him darting to his tunnels. Now I haven't seen him again.

Thanks for any advice! He's on eco earth in a 4x4" cube with pre-drilled holes designed for T's. He has a bottle cap for water.

I tend to stick to easy to care for T's.

 

[EulersK]

How long is "awhile"? At one point, I didn't see my C. darlingi for months. They don't call them pet holes for nothing.

 

[SilverTycho]

I haven't seen him in 2 weeks.

 

[viper69]

2 weeks is nothing to worry about. Species like this are challenging for some owners for the very reason you mentioned. One behavior I have noticed, at least some burrowing species is the more satiated they are, the less you see them. If you keep them a bit on the hungry side, they tend to keep the tips of their feet at the burrow entrance. I've seen this in NW and OW species.

 

[Ty Spaulding]

I have a P. muticus sling about 3cm in about 16cm of substrate and I never see her. sometimes I try to provoke her to come out when I'm switching something around in her cage but she ignores it. I am leaving on a trip for two weeks so I just kinda woke her up and she ate two crickets and now she's back to being a pet hole. I'm sure she'd be happy doing nothing for a long time.

 

[GG80]

2 weeks is nothing to worry about. My Hapalopus sp 'columbia' sling can be gone for 3 months at a time and then suddenly be seen out in the open for a few hours before it's gone again for another few months. It has also gone 2 months without eating at times so no need for you to worry about that either.

 

[peterUK]

I haven't seen him in 2 weeks.

The longest that i havent seen a particular spider was 27 MONTHS . . so 2 weeks isnt even worth worrying about.
M balfouri arent the best of feeders so I only feed my juvies once every 2 weeks and adults once a month

 

[viper69]

The longest that i havent seen a particular spider was 27 MONTHS . . so 2 weeks isnt even worth worrying about.
M balfouri arent the best of feeders so I only feed my juvies once every 2 weeks and adults once a month

Peter thanks for the input on balfouri, I haven't heard that yet about them. Do they not eat as frequently or is there more to it than that, what temps are you keeping yours at?

Also, what species was the 27 monther?

 

[Haksilence]

There is totally nothing to worry about here, especially notorious borrowers like most OW terrestrials. Even species with less of a borrowing tendency like some NW terrestrials can disappear into hides for months at a time.

My brachypelma smithi sling has currently been in his borrow for about 6 months now.

If they are hungry, they will come out, a burrowed babboon is a healthy babboon

 

[8Legs8Eyes]

I am curious about the 27 monther as well, I think that would have killed me. One of my Chaco's was out in the open but didn't eat for over a year before she molted and that killed me too, lol. I have two 1/4 inch smithi slings that have both been burrowed over 2 months but luckily on the side so I've been able to see them. My balfouri are usually lost in their elaborate web tunnels, so I've sort of just decided that's what I'm stuck with. I agree with the sparse feeding on some of the pet holes though - you do get to see at least their toes more often that way.

 

[viper69]

The longest that i havent seen a particular spider was 27 MONTHS . . so 2 weeks isnt even worth worrying about.
M balfouri arent the best of feeders so I only feed my juvies once every 2 weeks and adults once a month

I am curious about the 27 monther as well, I think that would have killed me. One of my Chaco's was out in the open but didn't eat for over a year before she molted and that killed me too, lol. I have two 1/4 inch smithi slings that have both been burrowed over 2 months but luckily on the side so I've been able to see them. My balfouri are usually lost in their elaborate web tunnels, so I've sort of just decided that's what I'm stuck with. I agree with the sparse feeding on some of the pet holes though - you do get to see at least their toes more often that way.

Do you both feel they have a slower metabolism? I may have to delve deeper into the ecology of Socotra Island; it has fascinating looking trees.

 

[8Legs8Eyes]

Do you both feel they have a slower metabolism? I may have to delve deeper into the ecology of Socotra Island; it has fascinating looking trees.

The balfouri were #1 on my wishlist and they are still super exciting for me even when they are deep in their web tunnels, definitely worth looking into! I do see them where they are hiding sometimes if I turn their containers around, but so far they haven't been great eaters for me.

 

[AMDQ]

My Idiothele Mira can bury for two weeks then show up again. As long as you put water, they will be fine.

 

[Spidermolt]

If you want to know if it's alive or not here are three things that you can do. First is placing something like a small decor plant by the tunnel entrance and check up on it every morning. My balfouri likes to wrap EVERYTHING up in webbing so if your newly placed decor is covered then its alive. Second you can crush a crickets head so it can't move and leave it by the entrance and see if its still there the next day. And third is take a flashlight with a red light in it and just look in his cage in the middle of the night and see if its wondering around. They are pretty skittish so make sure that there's no other lights on and don't bump the cage or anything. I like using the red lights because they are soft lights that wont scare animals or hurt their eyes too much when shining the beam on them.

 

[viper69]

First is placing something like a small decor plant by the tunnel entrance and check up on it every morning. My balfouri likes to wrap EVERYTHING up in webbing so if your newly placed decor is covered then its alive. Second you can crush a crickets head so it can't move and leave it by the entrance and

I do the first two time all the time for I mira, works like a charm.

 

[Ty Spaulding]

If you want to know if it's alive or not here are three things that you can do. First is placing something like a small decor plant by the tunnel entrance and check up on it every morning. My balfouri likes to wrap EVERYTHING up in webbing so if your newly placed decor is covered then its alive. Second you can crush a crickets head so it can't move and leave it by the entrance and see if its still there the next day. And third is take a flashlight with a red light in it and just look in his cage in the middle of the night and see if its wondering around. They are pretty skittish so make sure that there's no other lights on and don't bump the cage or anything. I like using the red lights because they are soft lights that wont scare animals or hurt their eyes too much when shining the beam on them.

I like this idea. My P. muticus has two entrances to her burrow and I'll open one of them a little just to check up on her. The next morning it will be all sealed back up, not when I'm leaving a cricket in there. I wouldn't open up her burrow in case she was molting. I'm totally gonna go buy a little fake plant thing or something to see if she messes with it. My only concern is that she'll want to start climbing up it, not that she could harm herself in the small space she has if she fell.