Do T's Poop?

[P.P.'s Mom]

Yes, an embarassing question. I want to keep my eight-legged kids' enclosures as clean as possible, but I don't know what to look for as far as excriment. My biggest is my G. rosea (4") and I take out little lumps of rolled peat moss, but I'm not sure if it's poop. Do spiders poop? Is it necessary to "comb" the substrate for waste? (silly newbie Q)

 

[Orb Weaver]

Ask any Avicularia, it may aswer your question pretty quickly. ;^)

Yes, of course they do. Look for some white/yellowish stuff, as long as it's fresh it's kind of liquid but it hardens up pretty quick.

With terrestrials, you might find it somewhere on the substrate or in the water bowl, with arboreals you'll most likely find it somewhere on the sides of their enclosures.

 

[Cirith Ungol]

Yes, an embarassing question. I want to keep my eight-legged kids' enclosures as clean as possible, but I don't know what to look for as far as excriment. My biggest is my G. rosea (4") and I take out little lumps of rolled peat moss, but I'm not sure if it's poop. Do spiders poop? Is it necessary to "comb" the substrate for waste? (silly newbie Q)

Yes they do.. as has already been said. It might be hard to find on the substrate and you don't nessessarily need to look for it either. What you should remove are any remains from feeding. Poop should be removed if it is in the water dish. There it will look like sesame seeds with any shade between white and near black. White tho is the most common colour of their poop and I don't know why. For some weeks my vagans pooped black and has now switched to light grey, so as I said, any shade between black and white seems possible.

If you change the substrate about every year or so it will be good enough in regard to keeping it clean, if you also remove any crix remains on a regular basis.

The rolled peat moss is likely nothing but a cleaning attempt of the T where she has rolled up a mat of webs into a rolled carpet and left it where it was. I don't think you need to pick them out unless you want to.

You don't need to try and clean the tank after every poop. That will more likely stress the T out rather than havning any positive effect. If you find some poop on the glass (looks like a smeared blob, almost chalky in most instances) you can remove it with a little water and a little spunge. If in the water dish you just wash the dish, put it back in and refill it.

 

[Sean]

yeah they do...My Parahybana has some large nasty turds man.

 

[Greg Wolfe]

Poop poop de poop...

Cirith said it all. While tarantulas don't urinate they do poo. A off white poo often found on the sides of their enclosures. Avics, and other aboreals are well known for shooting poop. It dries and can be wiped off with warm water.
My worst offender is my blue fang. She comes out at night at sprays liquid poop on the front side of her tank. Very nice. I think she does it on purpose.
Poo deposited on the substrate will dry and is hard to remove. I just dump the substrate and clean all my tanks every six months or so.

 

[Deschain]

I feel the need to wash my hands now...

 

[jbrd]

I feel the need to wash my hands now...

i just got back from washing mine ;P

 

[Cigarman]

Ever notice how much that little blop of poo smears all over if it does it on your hand? Yack. I almost think its better to let the stuff harden to the rock-like consistency and then chip it away rather than wipe. I cant even imagine how much doodoo is going to collect when my chaco is full grown. Guess I'm lucky I dont have a blondi.

 

[Apocalypstick]

PP's Mom...you could be lucky like me and have a 'pretty pretty princess' for a T. She is ridiculous when it comes to keeping het tank clean and esp her hide. She let's her whitish poo dry then rolls it up in web and puts it in her 'garbage dump' along with the uneaten crick legs and a head or two. The dump is in one corner far from her hide.

She has even made a garbage hole in her half coconut hide, which is sideways up against the glass of her tank (my spy hole). She has actually dug substrate out of the hole on the top of the coconut half, which is a wall in her hide due to positioning of coconut that is totally buried except for the burrow entrance. Beat that somebody

 

[bonesmama]

Most of mine tend to poop on the walls...not just the avic, the terrestrials just poop on the glass near the substrate....I hate that! I wish I could train them to use the water dish, it's so much easier to clean!

 

[aranea_amicus]

Oooh they poop allright. My Avic likes to squirt poop at me whenever I move stuff around in his enclosure- I think he doesn't like my sense of interior decorating. ^_^

 

[Keith Richard]

Guinness???