Costa Rican Zebra Sitting in her water bowl

[Erwynn]

I just rehoused everyone with fresh cocofiber.

I noticed when I went to rehouse Othello, our zebra tarantula, that she was moving her legs around, kind of like she's getting ready to molt, so I was really careful moving her.

Tonight when I checked on her she had her abdomen in her water bowl. I used my tongs to kind of move her a tiny bit since she had her legs in this weird curling position, so I just wanted to make sure she was ok. She moved around fine, and seems to be ok.

Should I be worried about her at all? Or is this just some weird pre molt thing? I've never experienced this with any of my other tarantulas before. So this is new to me.

Her enclosure is moist since I just rehoused her, I was thinking of maybe taking her out later to dry some of the it later. But don't want to mess with it while she is possibly pre-molt. She's about 3 inches, we've had her 2 years and she's never molted for us, so I don't know what to expect size wise from her.

Thanks for reading

 

[Formerphobe]

I'm not sure what kind of leg movement you're talking about that might indicate an upcoming molt. Was it dehydration type curl or grooming type curl? I have had tarantulas bathe in their water bowls before, or use them for toilets. I found my A. seemanni "soaking" her butt in her water bowl on a couple of occasions, but she was in normal posture, no leg curling, no pre-molt and she didn't leave a deposit. Tarantulas often do things that seem goofy to us. There is probably a method to her madness. Can you get a picture?
Is that 3" body length or dls?

 

[Hydrazine]

My bigger spiders (two Grammies and a Brachy) often ignore the water dish until there's little to no water.

And when it's empty, then suddenly...

Hurrr durrrr...

 

[Erwynn]

I think she was getting ready to molt, but she just died because the heater in the closet malfunctioned and cooked half our collection.

 

[Dillon]

Sorry about your loss.

I am curious as to what your temps are without the heater? My house sits at 65 and ally T's do great. I even had a furnace go out last winter for days of 50~ degrees without any fatalities so I would be real weary using a heater unless your house is just bitter cold.

Sorry again about the loss.

 

[Erwynn]

We never use heaters but we had a nasty snowstorm and it was -15 outside with a -30 windchill and even with the house at 80, it wasn't warming the house at all, it was frigid in their closet. I like the radiant heaters but the heat blower fan was all we could find considering they'd been cleared out of heaters with the weather.

 

[Formerphobe]

So sorry to hear of your devastating loss. This is not the first time I've heard of grave losses due to malfunctioning heaters. Tarantulas seem to tolerate some cold better than extreme heat.

 

[viper69]

oh that sucks. Perhaps in the future if you are able to, construct their own cabinet using flexwatt or radiant heat panels used for reptiles set up with a thermostat and timer. That would likely prevent the crappy problem you just had, that really sucks!

 

[Erwynn]

That's our plan, we're going to get a cabinet/shelf/armoire so we can have the inverts downstairs in comfortable temperature land. So they won't be stuck in the closet, we can't even enjoy them since they're hidden away all the time.

 

[kropp]

I just rehoused everyone with fresh cocofiber.

I noticed when I went to rehouse Othello, our zebra tarantula, that she was moving her legs around, kind of like she's getting ready to molt, so I was really careful moving her.

Tonight when I checked on her she had her abdomen in her water bowl. I used my tongs to kind of move her a tiny bit since she had her legs in this weird curling position, so I just wanted to make sure she was ok. She moved around fine, and seems to be ok.

Should I be worried about her at all? Or is this just some weird pre molt thing? I've never experienced this with any of my other tarantulas before. So this is new to me.

Her enclosure is moist since I just rehoused her, I was thinking of maybe taking her out later to dry some of the it later. But don't want to mess with it while she is possibly pre-molt. She's about 3 inches, we've had her 2 years and she's never molted for us, so I don't know what to expect size wise from her.

Thanks for reading

 

[kropp]

hi, my costa rican stripped knee has been sitting in the water dish off and on for 3 days now, can someone tell me why?

 

[arachnidgill]

hi, my costa rican stripped knee has been sitting in the water dish off and on for 3 days now, can someone tell me why?

Do you keep the substrate dry? A. seemanni (common names can be confusing) prefer a little moisture, keep some of the substrate slightly moist.

 

[Teal]

hi, my costa rican stripped knee has been sitting in the water dish off and on for 3 days now, can someone tell me why?

How big is the spider? Can you post photos of it and the enclosure? What is the temperature in the room?