Pterinochilus murinus terrestrial or arboreal?

[Nutmeg]

I bought an obt sling and since I bought him/her it has been on the roof of its enclosure. It's enclosure is set up to a terrestrial type. From everything I have read I have read that they love burrowing and hiding, it just walks around the top. What is it doing? Should I set up it as an aboreal set up??

 

[Bipolar Spider]

OBTs do pretty much what they want. They can go arboreal, they can go ground, they can go underground. Depending on what they are provided with and what they fancy. As long as you're providing enough dirt that it can borrow and water they're fine, I wouldn't set it up arboreal though, myself

 

[lostbrane]

Sometimes they take a while to settle. That being said sometimes they just do what they want. Pics of enclosure will definitely help here (in case somethin is amiss, etc.).

 

[Vinny2915]

A lot of the ones I have personally seen do not burrow, mine burrowed as a sling but into adulthood stopped. I'm sure many have ones that make real burrows. Thus, the point here is no matter what you set it up for the spider will be fine. So long as it has enough floor space to move if need be, a hide, and a water dish.

 

[KezyGLA]

They are an extremely adaptable species and they cover a vast range of habitat in the wild.

From my experience with these, most will go underground if given enough sub. Some localities of this sp. are more likely to stay above ground web up.

So in short .. both.

 

[Rittdk01]

My mm is terrestrial. He has a ton of room to dig, but never really has. These days he just paces the enclosure searching for a lady spider.

 

[FrDoc]

Just another reason they are the best all-around tarantula (ignore any perceived subjectivity). You can get three of the same species and possibly enjoy having a fossorial, a terrestrial, and an arboreal, not to mention all of the other uproarious characteristic traits of these guys. Plus, magnificent appearance. Get yours, TODAY! (shameless advert)

 

[SonsofArachne]

Is the substrate damp or humidity high in the room? obt's don't like damp subs and my slings will sometimes even climb to top when humidity goes up in my T room.

 

[SuzukiSwift]

They do whatever the hell they want, one of the reasons I love them lol

 

[cold blood]

FOSSORIAL.

 

[FrDoc]

They do whatever the hell they want, one of the reasons I love them lol

...and don’t mess with them while they’re doing it.

 

[Teal]

My OBTs all have their own preferences... I have some that are completely underground that I never see, some that have a little burrow with webbing up the side, some that have arboreal web tunnels/hammocks, some that have a little web mat and just sit in the open... There is no predicting what they'll do, and it can change as they grow.

I would have enough sub for a burrow and a plant that extends up for web anchors... the spider will decorate as they want.

It can take time for them to settle in, too... give em a few weeks.

 

[BoyFromLA]

This is what my Pterinochilus murinus enclosure look like, and yeah, I took this picture while it was still preparing to molt.

 

[draconisj4]

Here's my enclosure, it doesn't look like much sub now but the spider was only 1/2 inch when I first put it in there. As you can tell from the giant booty it's due for a molt soon and will be rehoused into an enclosure with much deeper sub.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Neither, they're fossorial.

 

[Glorious Baboon]

Mine does the same, should I change the enclosure cause I don’t like him on the lid I feel like it might go south one day during a feeding, plus unhappy wife leads to unhappy life so I would prefer to avoid escapees at all costs

 

[draconisj4]

Mine does the same, should I change the enclosure cause I don’t like him on the lid I feel like it might go south one day during a feeding, plus unhappy wife leads to unhappy life so I would prefer to avoid escapees at all costs

I would put it in a different enclosure. Yours is more suited to an arboreal tarantula. P. murinus is an obligate burrower, it needs deep substrate, a regular hide and some anchor points.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

They aren't 'terrestrials', 'arboreals', nor for that matter 'obligate burrowers/fossorials'.

Pterinochilus 'OBT' murinus fluctuates, like "silvery wine flowing in a spaceship, gravity all nonsense now"

 

[ZHESSWA]

They are capable of all the aforementioned behaviors, I personally gave my girl enough room and space to do as she pleases. Deep substrate to burrow, but still with a lot of height and cork bark for webbing points. She's chosen to create a den, almost funnel like, underneath a section of cork bark and around that there's a bit of webbing. In her sling and juvie stage she would web the entire enclosure, and although she has chosen not to do that this time, it's still a very cool set up. She ventures out often at night and it is one of the most gorgeous tarantulas in the hobby, regardless of the stereotypes against attitude (mine has never given a threat posture or shown any aggression) and their commonness.

 

[Glorious Baboon]

I would put it in a different enclosure. Yours is more suited to an arboreal tarantula. P. murinus is an obligate burrower, it needs deep substrate, a regular hide and some anchor points.

Yeah that’s what I was thinking I have about 4-5” of dirt in it’s enclosure it’s 11” tall I didn’t get the whole enclosure in the pic but yes I do use these for arboreals