Why has my Tarantula been biting the side of the lid of a kritter keeper?

Fade

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I have a female curly hair at about 4 or 4 1/2 inches. She is in the petco branded kritter keeper(11.7x8x7.7)(of course this is measuring the lid, so more like 10.5x6). She is on eco earth, waterdish is always full. I feed her mealworms from petco every week about 4-5. I know they aren't good quality, will get dubia roaches and/or mealworms at expo this month.

She hasn't been doing this for too long. I had her for 2 months so she is settled in it seems. She has molted once for me, but when I first got her, I might have mistaken the size of the cork bark I bought. Not sure if she was too big but she did web it up and never used it. She has dug 2 corners for herself, but doesn't use them anymore after molting.

She literally has her fangs coming out the side of the lid through the ventilation holes and seems to be tugging sideways and backwards. You can hear her doing this as well as a scratching noise. I may be wrong, but it looks like she made some scratch marks on the side of the kk not the lid.

Is this just the T exporing her boundaries or should I be worried? I keeper her dry and occasionally overflow the waterdish. I was thinking of getting a gbb at the expo. However after this incident I may wait again. Eeriearachnids suggested adding more substrate. I'd hate to destroy her home. Or should I rehouse her. I prefer to use display enclosures, no kritter keepers. Could you guys and gals help me out? Thanks.
 

Thekla

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To help you the best way we can, we need pictures! :) Both of the enclosure and your T.

B. albos appreciate a little bit of moisture in the sub. I dampen parts of the enclosure every now and then, circulating the damp spot to avoid mold.
 

Campi95

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Huh. That is... weird, to say the least. I’ve had T’s use their fangs to stabilize themselves when climbing but this sounds different. Pics would be awesome!
 

Fade

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To help you the best way we can, we need pictures! :) Both of the enclosure and your T.

B. albos appreciate a little bit of moisture in the sub. I dampen parts of the enclosure every now and then, circulating the damp spot to avoid mold.
Huh. That is... weird, to say the least. I’ve had T’s use their fangs to stabilize themselves when climbing but this sounds different. Pics would be awesome!
I honestly don't know how to transfer photos from an iphone to here.
 

Campi95

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I honestly don't know how to transfer photos from an iphone to here.
Just hit upload a file when typing your response, then choose file. Your phone will figure out that you want to upload a pic.
 

Thekla

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The enclosure looks fine to me, although a little more substrate wouldn't hurt. And maybe try a bit (!) of moisture with it. :)

Did it moult recently? The abdomen looks kinda thin.
 

boina

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No, you don't need any more substrate, that's fine.

That behaviour is kind of worrying since they can break their fangs doing so, but I don't know how to change it. I had a G. pulcha, well established in her enclosure, that started doing it. Whenever I saw it I tried to make things uncomfortable for her by blowing on her from the outside or using a brush from the outside to get her to get down. After several weeks she stopped with that behaviour as suddenly as she started it. It was very weird.
 

Fade

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The enclosure looks fine to me, although a little more substrate wouldn't hurt. And maybe try a bit (!) of moisture with it. :)

Did it moult recently? The abdomen looks kinda thin.
She molted april 27th. I plan to get dubia roaches so that should fatten her up. I might feed more mealworms but 5 seems to be a lot for her to handle, she takes hours to eat them all. I could feed twice a week I suppose but she is 4+ inches.

No, you don't need any more substrate, that's fine.

That behaviour is kind of worrying since they can break their fangs doing so, but I don't know how to change it. I had a G. pulcha, well established in her enclosure, that started doing it. Whenever I saw it I tried to make things uncomfortable for her by blowing on her from the outside or using a brush from the outside to get her to get down. After several weeks she stopped with that behaviour as suddenly as she started it. It was very weird.
I was thinking of doing that as well, blowing on her. Not sure if I should.
 

boina

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She molted april 27th. I plan to get dubia roaches so that should fatten her up. I might feed more mealworms but 5 seems to be a lot for her to handle, she takes hours to eat them all. I could feed twice a week I suppose but she is 4+ inches.
Don't overfeed her! At 4" you have a lot of time to fatten her up. Every spider is thin after a molt, that's normal. @Thekla was just asking if it's this kind of normal thin-ness or something else and not suggesting that you should stuff her!
 

Fade

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Don't overfeed her! At 4" you have a lot of time to fatten her up. Every spider is thin after a molt, that's normal. @Thekla was just asking if it's this kind of normal thin-ness or something else and not suggesting that you should stuff her!
I won't. What I said previous is fine right 4-5 mealworms a week?
 

Campi95

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She looks all cute and fuzzy :p

I think she may be on the very edge of being too big for her current enclosure. Ideally an enclosure should never be less than 2x their legspan, at least for adult terrestrials. It’s not urgent, but you should consider rehousing her before her next molt. She may just be antsy at having too little wiggle room.
 

Vanessa

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I have had a few individuals do that on and off. Luckily, I use the softer shoeboxes that make it more difficult to injure their fangs. They will poke their fangs through the drilled air holes. Eventually they will stop and go back to bulldozing their enclosure at some point.
Try putting something in the enclosure to distract them. Something that they can move around, like a fake plant. I don't know how successful that will be, but it is worth a try. Something foreign in their enclosure might keep them busy.
 

Sarkhan42

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It’s highly unsettling behavior but IME it’s just them testing the limits of their environment similar to them at random deciding to rearrange their enclosure, or how some will tear up foam background inserts when they’re provided. I’ve never observed any damage to the fangs due to this, my L klugi girl who especially was a repeat offender as a juvenile has grown up just fine.
 

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Malo

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Don't overfeed her! At 4" you have a lot of time to fatten her up. Every spider is thin after a molt, that's normal. @Thekla was just asking if it's this kind of normal thin-ness or something else and not suggesting that you should stuff her!
I won't. What I said previous is fine right 4-5 mealworms a week?
uh isn't 1 mealworm a week enough for an adult T? 5 worms a week is feeding it almost every day.
 

Fade

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She looks all cute and fuzzy :p

I think she may be on the very edge of being too big for her current enclosure. Ideally an enclosure should never be less than 2x their legspan, at least for adult terrestrials. It’s not urgent, but you should consider rehousing her before her next molt. She may just be antsy at having too little wiggle room.
Yup, I love her. Thanks for the suggestion. I will find something bigger. I prefer display enclosures so would a 5.5 gallon w/ plexiglass lid work(16 x 8 x 10)? Would a clear men's shoe box from containerstore.com work(14 x 10 x 5)? Would a hobby lobby display case work(15.5 x 7 x 6)(probably not)?

I have had a few individuals do that on and off. Luckily, I use the softer shoeboxes that make it more difficult to injure their fangs. They will poke their fangs through the drilled air holes. Eventually they will stop and go back to bulldozing their enclosure at some point.
Try putting something in the enclosure to distract them. Something that they can move around, like a fake plant. I don't know how successful that will be, but it is worth a try. Something foreign in their enclosure might keep them busy.
Thanks

It’s highly unsettling behavior but IME it’s just them testing the limits of their environment similar to them at random deciding to rearrange their enclosure, or how some will tear up foam background inserts when they’re provided. I’ve never observed any damage to the fangs due to this, my L klugi girl who especially was a repeat offender as a juvenile has grown up just fine.
Thanks a lot

uh isn't 1 mealworm a week enough for an adult T? 5 worms a week is feeding it almost every day.
by 4-5 mealworms I mean at 1 feeding a week, not everyday. They are small.
 

Fade

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How could I reuse that cork bark but have it big enough for her to use?
 

Campi95

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Yup, I love her. Thanks for the suggestion. I will find something bigger. I prefer display enclosures so would a 5.5 gallon w/ plexiglass lid work(16 x 8 x 10)? Would a clear men's shoe box from containerstore.com work(14 x 10 x 5)? Would a hobby lobby display case work(15.5 x 7 x 6)(probably not)?
These would all work. I get mine from Jamie, I like their style. Basically as long as it has good ventilation and an escape proof door you are golden. As far as size goes, don’t go too big. Your T should have no more than 5 or 6 DLS on the longer side, and no less than 2 to 2.5 DLS on the shorter side. Also the height should never be over twice their DLS, but that one can be easily adjusted by adding more and more substrate.
 

Fade

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So those enclosures wouldn't work for when she is full grown at 6 inches? I get mixed opinions on this. Tom Moran said the large exo terra breeding boxes for fine for 6-7 inches. They are 16 x 10 x 5.8, so about the same. Other say the length should be 3x DLS and the width at least 2x DLS.
 

Fade

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These would all work. I get mine from Jamie, I like their style. Basically as long as it has good ventilation and an escape proof door you are golden. As far as size goes, don’t go too big. Your T should have no more than 5 or 6 DLS on the longer side, and no less than 2 to 2.5 DLS on the shorter side. Also the height should never be over twice their DLS, but that one can be easily adjusted by adding more and more substrate.
So those enclosures wouldn't work for when she is full grown at 6 inches? I get mixed opinions on this. Tom Moran said the large exo terra breeding boxes for fine for 6-7 inches. They are 16 x 10 x 5.8, so about the same. Other say the length should be 3x DLS and the width at least 2x DLS.
Do you mind answering the question above?
 
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