Water Dish Mischief

[wingsofmight]

My slings have Monopoly hotel and house water dishes. I flip them upside down and burrow them a bit so they balance to contain the water properly. Anyways, Id say about half my slings now routinely remove the water "somehow" seeing as they cant flip it over.... the only assumption I came to was that they are getting in there and flicking out all the water until its empty.

This is causing me some concern because these water dishes give me peace of mind they wont dehydrate meanwhile I can control the climate in there a bit more so I dont over water the substrate. The thing is, when they flick out all the water and I refill it, they just do this again. My GBB did this 4 times in a day and I just stopped filling it because it was wetting the substrate too much....

Does anyone else have slings who do this? Or some advice on why they are doing this and what I can do to prevent the sling water dish mischief.

 

[Hardus nameous]

Is there any webbing wicking the water out?

 

[wingsofmight]

Is there any webbing wicking the water out?

Not at all.

 

[sdsnybny]

Not at all.

Not that you may see but even a single strand of webbing can wick out the water over time. Could also be evaporation in the summer weather they dont hold much. Try using a clean house/hotel and fill it up to check for a leak, if there is no leak then its evaporation or webbing.

 

[Hardus nameous]

I had a similar problem with one of mine; turned out to be a few strands of silk I didn't know were there until I removed the water dish.

 

[AnObeseHippo]

Try using a paintbrush or something and rubbing the rim of the water dish. If theres something there you can’t see, this will fix it

 

[wingsofmight]

I suppose it could definitely be silk strands on some of them when its overnight/long periods of time.I notice overnight emptying with my blue baboon but she does love to web at night so It could def be wicking. My GBB however will empty that dish as soon as i clean and refill it. Less than an hour when I go look back its empty. No leaks or anything. Its 32c with 94% humidity.

 

[moshpitpanda]

I have had a similar problem. Water rapidly vanishing with no leaking cup. I did read somewhere on an old post that any dirt can suck the water out and into the substrate. I guess with such a small amount of water it doesn't take much to suck it right out.

 

[Crone Returns]

My slings have Monopoly hotel and house water dishes. I flip them upside down and burrow them a bit so they balance to contain the water properly. Anyways, Id say about half my slings now routinely remove the water "somehow" seeing as they cant flip it over.... the only assumption I came to was that they are getting in there and flicking out all the water until its empty.

This is causing me some concern because these water dishes give me peace of mind they wont dehydrate meanwhile I can control the climate in there a bit more so I dont over water the substrate. The thing is, when they flick out all the water and I refill it, they just do this again. My GBB did this 4 times in a day and I just stopped filling it because it was wetting the substrate too much....

Does anyone else have slings who do this? Or some advice on why they are doing this and what I can do to prevent the sling water dish mischief.

They ALL do!! Wait until they get bigger and load the dish with substrate lol.

I have had a similar problem. Water rapidly vanishing with no leaking cup. I did read somewhere on an old post that any dirt can suck the water out and into the substrate. I guess with such a small amount of water it doesn't take much to suck it right out.

They also build cute little tripwires -- that you can hardly see. The webbing sucks the water out.
Normal T behavior.

 

[aphono]

I suppose it could definitely be silk strands on some of them when its overnight/long periods of time.I notice overnight emptying with my blue baboon but she does love to web at night so It could def be wicking. My GBB however will empty that dish as soon as i clean and refill it. Less than an hour when I go look back its empty. No leaks or anything. Its 32c with 94% humidity.

I really don't think they flick the water out. If you're saying the dish is not flipped or moved in any way.. it IS wicking(leaking?) whether you see anything or not. GBB & blue baboons(H. pulchripes) are heavy webbers and they do make super thin web strands if they want. If the air in your house is really dry, it could be drying out the water without any wicking. But if it's a large water dish and you only filled it up without handling the dish in any way, wicking is far likelier possibility. Since the AC has been on, the small water dishes(12 mm or less) have been emptying out fast due to the low humidity.

The paint brush idea above is really good tip. I usually pull up the whole water dish and rub it clean, refill. They usually stay filled longer than 'previously'... until another day/few days then it will seem to empty pretty fast... due to new webbing or dirt dumping.

BTW & just in case flat out ignore humidity readings inside the enclosures. It's unnecessary and you either keep the substrate dry with occasional overflow for those that like it on the drier side. For those that need "humidity" that really means to keep the substrate moist not the air humidity. Mentioning this as "humidity" is an issue that keeps coming up generally due to misinformation elsewhere, perhaps partly due to bleed through via the reptile hobby where that can be very important.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Lots of spiders just. Bury the water dish like gbb.

 

[aphono]

p.s be prepared for eventual far more obvious water dish mischief. Flipping, moving it elsewhere, dragging down into burrows.. burying.. webbing so much over it you just become resigned and put a new one on top of it... or.....

Oh yea, also fighting when you're trying to fill or remove the water dish.. grabbing on & refusing to let go might happen also.. Fun.

 

[AngelDeVille]

I didn’t attempt to feed any of my tarantulas for 7 days because of multiple picky eaters.

My G. pulchripes threw a fit and every time I walked by, her water dish was in a different place, flipped over or filled with dirt, but never buried.

I have lots of web wicking issues too, like the others said just paint brush or take them out and wash them once in a while.

 

[moshpitpanda]

They also build cute little tripwires -- that you can hardly see. The webbing sucks the water out.
Normal T behavior.

Yeah I didnt expect that with a little sling but I guess I underestimated them!

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I liked obt baby’s those were fiesty, sadly only ended up with mostly males . Need more sometime, after I find a job. Maybe c darlingi also or pokies. I’d just wet substrate til they were big enough for water dish.
Right now I’m lookfor cheap water dish ideas , running out off money. Despite looking so hard for a job .

 

[Crone Returns]

I liked obt baby’s those were fiesty, sadly only ended up with mostly males . Need more sometime, after I find a job. Maybe c darlingi also or pokies. I’d just wet substrate til they were big enough for water dish.
Right now I’m lookfor cheap water dish ideas , running out off money. Despite looking so hard for a job .

I use soda bottle tops.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I use them as well (I trim the overhanging bits of the roof to make them easier to remove/clean), if any empty faster than they should normally then I take them out, clean them and put them back, seems to fix the problem most of the time.

 

[Andrea82]

Spiders and their waterdish...the neverending battle. I've posted this clip a lot of times before, but I love every opportunity to post it again so here it is:
(Uploader is Greg Rice)

 

[Chris LXXIX]

(Uploader is Greg Rice)

Gregorio Riso, in Italian

 

[wingsofmight]

Lol thanks guys , some of the comments were pretty funny