User kaotzi's Baby

[kaotzi]

So this is baby.. a little Grammostola Pulchra I got a few weeks ago. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...k-tarantula/&usg=AOvVaw1S3oY4I-S-U1P2_x0ZMudp

He spends half of his time climbing the wall of the cage. I am not sure whats happening with its abdomen lately. I have been keeping his water bowl fill, and he eats like a champ. I am hoping that this is pre-molt darkening, but since this is my first T. and i have never actually SEEN pre-molt darkening I'm a little worried it may be something else... i just try to control the moisture in his cage in case... any thoughts in either direction would be appreciated.
Yesterday i gave him a few smaller crickets, he ate all of them... he always eats everything you put in his cage that is smaller than him. he has taken up climbing onto the side of the cage where i can better see him eating... he DOES crawl around the floor of the cage about 50% of the time.. but the rest he loves being on those walls.

 

[Ungoliant]

I am not sure whats happening with its abdomen lately. I have been keeping his water bowl fill, and he eats like a champ. I am hoping that this is pre-molt darkening, but since this is my first T. and i have never actually SEEN pre-molt darkening I'm a little worried it may be something else... i just try to control the moisture in his cage in case... any thoughts in either direction would be appreciated.

If you're referring to that dark patch on the back of the abdomen in the third picture, that is just the patch of urticating hairs.

If he's still eating, it's unlikely that he is in pre-molt. In my experience, pulchras tend to fast for quite a while before molting.

Anyway, I don't see a cause for alarm in any of the photos. If he's eating and behaving "normally" (for a tarantula), I wouldn't worry.

he has taken up climbing onto the side of the cage where i can better see him eating... he DOES crawl around the floor of the cage about 50% of the time.. but the rest he loves being on those walls.

Climbing is normal during the first few weeks while a tarantula settles into a new enclosure. Sometimes, excessive climbing after that period can indicate that the tarantula doesn't like the texture of the substrate (they don't like substrate that is not tamped down) or find it too moist. (In my experience, they prefer things dry, but with a sling, I'd keep part of the substrate damp. Rotate damp spots so that no one spot is always wet; this, along with adequate ventilation prevents molt growth.)

That being said, sometimes they just like to climb. I have two, and one of mine probably spends about 40% of her time climbing the walls or at least propping herself up against the wall.

You have plenty of substrate in there, so it doesn't look like there is any risk of injury if he falls. So if he wants to climb, let him!