G. pulchripes has been sealed in her burrow for two months

[stanthegoomba]

In late October my G. pulchripes retreated into her burrow and completely sealed both entrances with dirt and silk. I haven't seen her since. It's been two months and I don't believe she's ever come out. (The substrate covering the entrances looks untouched.) I refill her water dish when it evaporates, but I haven't tried to feed her because I'm worried I might be dropping crickets in during a moult. The problem is I can't see her so I have no way of knowing when that moult will come or even if it's happened yet—or even if she's still alive. Should I assume she'll come out when she's ready to eat? Or should I risk trying to feed her?


Some more details: she's 2.5-3 inches and last moulted at the end of August, and before that in April. (I thought that was a bit fast!)

 

[Poec54]

How many of these 'sealed-in pulchripes' threads are we going to get this month? Use the search function.

 

[PeaceBee]

This is normal behavior for G. pulchripes. It'll unseal the burrow when it's ready - just keep water available. They will hide and fast for long periods.

 

[stanthegoomba]

How many of these 'sealed-in pulchripes' threads are we going to get this month? Use the search function.

You know, with almost any other kind of forum topic I'd agree with you. But the reason we post is because we're worried about the health of our animals. I made sure to include specific details that I didn't see in other posts but thought might affect my situation. The answer might be obvious or redundant for a long-time owner, but it isn't to newbies. In any event, getting some reassurance that experts and enthusiasts have read my story and OK-ed it is worth a lot.

This is normal behavior for G. pulchripes. It'll unseal the burrow when it's ready - just keep water available. They will hide and fast for long periods.

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[Will240393]

Mine did it for about a month because it was in premolt after which it opened up it's burrow again for a few days but has sealed it back up again since they just like they're privacy... she left a small hole which i put crickets in and i hear her grab them so i know she's ok.

 

[Raivynn]

I get to use my favorite saying.


Your spider knows what its doing!!!

Like everyone said, keep the water bowl full, and drop a couple prekilled crickets in there every week or so. She'll come out when she's ready, and right as rain.

 

[Poec54]

I get to use my favorite saying.

Your spider knows what its doing!!!

Are you sure? Humans usually know what's best for wild animals, we have a great track record. There's still some left, so we're doing something right.

 

[CitizenNumber9]

Are you sure? Humans usually know what's best for wild animals, we have a great track record. There's still some left, so we're doing something right.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Poec, master of sarcasm!

 

[Hawk]

Are you sure? Humans usually know what's best for wild animals, we have a great track record. There's still some left, so we're doing something right.

Yeah! All of these tarantulas are doing it wrong! We all need to rip our tarantulas out of their burrow and take matters into our own hands!

 

[stanthegoomba]

Ok guys--*now* should I start worrying? Mid-January and I still have not seen my Chaco since October. For all I know she is dead. I threw a cricket in there a couple days ago (I know I'm not supposed to if the spider is potentially in premoult). It is still running around in there. Should I attempt to dig my tarantula out? Do anything?

 

[lucarelli78]

I'm not an expert, but I have spent more time than I'd like to admit on these forum boards learning as much as possible. I have 9 slings, all different types, and I can tell you with confidence that we have one of two possible situations.
1. Your T is perfectly fine and will emerge on its own when it's ready.
OR
2. Your T is in fact dead, in which case it sucks and there's nothing you can do about it.
Here's the rub, if it's option one, then the worst possible thing you can do is try and dig it out. You WILL kill/injure it trying to dig it out no matter how careful you are.
Unfortunately, the only thing you can do is wait and see. Do we even know exactly how long a sling can stay in its burrow. Yes a lot of people have a lot of info here, but Tarantula husbandry only goes back like 30-40 years in small circles.

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk

 

[Formerphobe]

One of my G. pulchra burrowed and pulled the hole in after him for 5 months when he was about 2.5 inches. Four A. burica slings did the same thing @ 1 inch and didn't come out for 7 months. Spiders do what they do. There is indeed the possibility that it died. Nothing you can or could have done about it. T keeping is an exercise in patience.

 

[ChevyGuy]

Two ways to find out. Either dig it up which probably is not recommended if it is, in fact, just burrowing and in pre-molt. The other way to find out if it is dead, which hasn't been mentioned yet, is to simply open the enclosure and smell the inside. I have heard the smell of a dead tarantula is pretty foul.

 

[stanthegoomba]

One of my G. pulchra burrowed and pulled the hole in after him for 5 months when he was about 2.5 inches. Four A. burica slings did the same thing @ 1 inch and didn't come out for 7 months.

Wow! And they didn't eat at all during that time? I guess that's what I'm most worried about--maybe if I just poked an entrance hole crickets could get inside, but the general wisdom seems be against that.

Alright, for the sake of future owners in this situation I will update this thread when and if I ever see her again.

 

[Emotionlessness]

If you are really worried open the burrow slightly and see if there is a smell coming from it, try to see if you can see anything with a flash light as well.

 

[Poec54]

I had a 1/4" pulchripes disappear underound for 2 months shortly after I got it as a freebie. It came out skinny, but double the legspan. When it's molted since then (it's 3" at one year), the times sealed underground have been shorter. They seem to know what they're doing.

 

[ChevyGuy]

Mine has been doing the same thing since November. She made a burrow at the very bottom of the enclosure so I could see her. She hadn't moved an inch in about a week. I almost forgot about her until I saw this post today. Anyway, today I dropped a dubia right by a tiny hole where I knew her burrow led and I left for a half our or so. When I came back the hole was bigger and the roach was gone. I think you should be ok. As long as water is available. Out of my tarantulas this one and the Smithi are like camels. They burrow and can go a very long time in between feedings and water.

 

[stanthegoomba]

Update 1-20-2014

Well, curiosity and concern got the better of me last night. For months I had followed the advice of leaving my tarantula alone and trusting that she would come out when she was ready. But this was too much! I'd seen no sign of my G. pulchripes — my first and only tarantula— since well before Halloween. Her terrarium had become an old-age home for the occasional cricket I'd throw in. Every few days, I'd refill a water dish just to watch it evaporate.

I needed to know if I was in fact tending to a tarantula or a box of dirt — if Schroedinger's Spider was alive or dead. So I took my tweezers and carefully opened a little window in the plugged-up back entrance to the log hide — just big enough to shine my flashlight into. There was no reaction from the inside to my poking and prodding. Fearing the worst, I turned on the light and adjusted the angle, leaned forward, and peered into the hole with one eye...

...and Tina the G. pulchripes stared back at me, very clearly alive, and somehow just as fat as she had been when I last saw her in October. She shuffled around a bit in the tunnel and started grooming her legs (as if there was nothing at all unusual about sitting in a hole and not coming out to eat or drink for over three months). I felt pretty dumb. From what I could tell, she had dug at least one extra tunnel that branched out under the water dish. I think she might have been drinking overflow water that pooled underneath.

Anyway, she spent about half an hour this afternoon patching the hole back up, so I guess she isn't ready to come out just yet.I don't regret checking in on her, but now that I know she's safe I won't mess up her hide again. I trust she knows what she's doing. The good news is that the most recent cricket I threw in was dumb enough to go into the hole and get itself eaten before Tina closed it back up — so at least now I know she's had a snack.

So thanks for all the advice, folks. While I wait for my hermit of a G. pulchripes to resurface, I think I should pick up a second spider. Maybe one that's a bit more active. Or at least, if I have two, chances are they won't both be invisible at the same time. Any species suggestions?

 

[just1moreT]

If you want to see them all the time , B smithi or Gbb they like showing off there good looks

 

[ClosetCollector]

I would get an LP, mine are always out in the open. On the off chance that one had hidden itself in a burrow a little food would always coax them out.