Ephebopus rufescens - strange behaviour. (Some advice please)

[MissFatPanda]

Hi there. I'm hoping I could get a little advice about my Ephe, whose behaviour is concerning me a little.

I obtained her about 4-5 days ago - and as far as I'm aware her setup is perfect. 6 inches of substrate as she's an obligate burrower, temp constantly at 75F, humidity at 75-80%. Her enclosure is mildly landscaped with a little bit of moss to keep up the humidity and a couple of small log pieces for decoration. I even made her a couple of 2-3inch burrow "starter holes".

However, she's not burrowing, nor making any attempt to. Most of the time she's sitting either on a bit of log or on the substrate all hunched up in a defensive posture. She will sometimes do a complete 360 "patrol" of her enclosure, but pretty much always return to her log. Basically she's making no attempt to burrow whatsoever. She's not trying to climb the walls or anything that would set off "warning signs" something wasn't quite right in her enclosure.... she just, well, sits there...

She ate yesterday and was quite aggressive with her takedown. She's not showing any physical signs of premolt either - so I'm ruling that out (for now).

So basically I'm a little confused as to why she's not doing "what she's supposed to"... Could she still be settling in, or am I missing something?

 

[Ungoliant]

I obtained her about 4-5 days ago - and as far as I'm aware her setup is perfect. . . . However, she's not burrowing, nor making any attempt to.

Pictures of your enclosure and the tarantula will help rule out any issues.

That being said, it can take a tarantula a while to settle into its new enclosure and start burrowing. (My Ceratogyrus marshalli didn't burrow for 1-2 weeks.)

 

[Ant]

You say that the humidity is at 75-80%. Two things:

1. You don't need to be chasing humidity numbers.
2. What are you doing to obtain that humidity? Could it be that the substrate is too wet/saturated? This could be the reason as to why the T is sitting on the log and not moving.

Pictures of the enclosure would definitely help though.

 

[MetalMan2004]

You say that the humidity is at 75-80%. Two things:

1. You don't need to be chasing humidity numbers.
2. What are you doing to obtain that humidity? Could it be that the substrate is too wet/saturated? This could be the reason as to why the T is sitting on the log and not moving.

Pictures of the enclosure would definitely help though.

This.

While the enclosure is probably fine, pictures are always good! They do take some time to get settled usually.

Those cheap hygrometers from the pet shops aren’t accurate at all and sometimes in an attempt to get them to read 80% people make the enclosure stuffy and wet.

 

[Nightstalker47]

Pictures would be helpful. Fact that your measuring humidity is an immediate red flag. I get the feeling your keeping it too moist.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Could still be settling but pics of the enclosure and T would help.

Members of the Ephebopus genus can also behave arboreally as slings/juvies and then eventually burrow as they get larger. I set my E. cyanognathus up with room to burrow but also give himm height and anchor points until he displayed a preference for burrowing.

I wouldn't bother measuring humidity, waste of time, keep the substrate moist (but not swampy) and make sure there's good ventilation.

 

[MissFatPanda]

Thank you for the replies. I'll post a pic a little later on today. Just to answer a few things though...

I'm not "chasing" humidity as such, and actually use a lab-quality thermo-hygrometer rather than a cheap plastic pet shop bought dial "thing". I was just giving those numbers as an average from the readings I've taken. The issue IS probably the substrate being a little too moist as it's "new and out of the bag". I'm using ProRep Spiderlife (peat / vermiculite) as I am highly allergic to coco fibre - and will go into anaphylaxis if I even so much as touch a coconut. I've used it countless times with my other Ts and had no issues whatsoever. As a sidenote, I didn't add moisture to the substrate when I set up her enclosure - nor have I misted since.

Watching her a little last night, she has started to make use of one of the starter burrows and was moving the substrate around. She's still going back and forth to her log on occasion (where she currently is now). I have removed all traces of moss from the enclosure - so it's just substrate, bowl and log. I'm going to let things dry out a little and see how she goes...

...she also seems less hunched up today. It could be a settling in thing and I'm being overly concerned...

In the meantime I'll pop a picture over in the next couple of hours

 

[Andrea82]

Ephebopus genus seem to be taking some time to settle in. I had a murinus hunched in the corner for two weeks, a cyanognathus for almost a month. Only my new E.murinus sling took to its burrow right away.
This genus requires higher humidity, but make sure the ventilation is adequate, they can deteriorate fast in stuffy conditions.
I love the shape of their burrow-mouths, it's like a trumpet sticking out from below.