# Tarantula Blocked opening to its hide?



## 19killer44 (Jan 21, 2015)

so ive had my tarantula for a while now but its done something ive never seen it do before. i woke up this morning to find that my tarantula has closed the opening to its burrow. so does anyone have any idea why she has done this? any in formation would be greatly appreciated! 
the picture below is what she has done to the opening of her burrow

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## miss moxie (Jan 21, 2015)

Congratulations! Your tarantula may be about to molt into a bigger tarantula!

Or it's just being 'weird'. Honestly sometimes the things tarantulas do make no sense at all to us, but lots of sense to them.

But this can be a sign that they're preparing to molt. My G. pulchripes female just blocked up her hide as well.

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## 19killer44 (Jan 21, 2015)

ahh ok haha thanks for the info, yea i had a feeling thats what it was, however she has been eating normally so thats why i was a bit confused. hopefully she is molting id love to see her get bigger .

Reactions: Like 1 | Helpful 1


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## miss moxie (Jan 21, 2015)

19killer44 said:


> ahh ok haha thanks for the info, yea i had a feeling thats what it was, however she has been eating normally so thats why i was a bit confused. hopefully she is molting id love to see her get bigger .


You never specified what type of T she is?

Some Ts will eat right up until they molt, but she may stay in there for a while until she molts. Could be a month. Some will eat, hit a certain point, and hide out until it's all said and done. My Euathlus sp. "red" covered her hide front with webbing rather than substrate, and stayed in there for three weeks until she molted. Different strokes for different spiders.


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## 19killer44 (Jan 21, 2015)

to be 100% honest i havent really got her id  shes an australian bird eating spider however there are different types shes my first and only tarantula i have i had a guy help me out a few months ago on here with looking after her like how to and stuff


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## Sana (Jan 21, 2015)

miss moxie said:


> You never specified what type of T she is?
> 
> Some Ts will eat right up until they molt, but she may stay in there for a while until she molts. Could be a month. Some will eat, hit a certain point, and hide out until it's all said and done. My Euathlus sp. "red" covered her hide front with webbing rather than substrate, and stayed in there for three weeks until she molted. Different strokes for different spiders.


A month?  Aren't you the lucky one.  I've got one that will hide out and refuse food for up to two months in premolt.  I start getting a little worried every time this happens, but inevitably all is fine.


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## MrDave (Jan 21, 2015)

Be prepared that she might be in there for a while. My G. pulchripes disappeared for a month. Resist the temptation to dig her up, as I did mine. Thankfully, (s)he'd completed her molt a day or 3 before...


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## Ellenantula (Jan 21, 2015)

MrDave said:


> Be prepared that she might be in there for a while. My G. pulchripes disappeared for a month. Resist the temptation to dig her up, as I did mine. Thankfully, (s)he'd completed her molt a day or 3 before...


My <2" G pulchripes has been substrated in his burrow about 3 weeks now, after refusing the last 2 meals offered (I retrieved the refused food already)
Thankfully, he burrowed so deep I can see him if I lift the enclosure and look underneath.  I am not sure he realizes I can see him from the bottom of enclosure.
I can't wait to see what size he will moult into to.


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## MrDave (Jan 21, 2015)

Ellenantula said:


> My <2" G pulchripes has been substrated in his burrow about 3 weeks now, after refusing the last 2 meals offered (I retrieved the refused food already)
> Thankfully, he burrowed so deep I can see him if I lift the enclosure and look underneath.  I am not sure he realizes I can see him from the bottom of enclosure.
> I can't wait to see what size he will moult into to.


Sounds like terrible invasion of privacy!

Mines now close to 3 inches and has blocked off its hide again - only it's not inside. It molted on the outside last time and hasn't gone in its hide for 2 months.

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## Ellenantula (Jan 21, 2015)

MrDave said:


> Sounds like terrible invasion of privacy!
> 
> Mines now close to 3 inches and has blocked off its hide again - only it's not inside. It molted on the outside last time and hasn't gone in its hide for 2 months.


Yes, I'm a peeping Tom (hanging head in shame).  I show such restraint not to peek daily but I hate to disturb him.

I've never known a T to close one off and not be in it!  Do you suppose he forgot it's a hide/burrow and not some hilly mound you built?  Weird!

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## MrDave (Jan 21, 2015)

Ellenantula said:


> Yes, I'm a peeping Tom (hanging head in shame).  I show such restraint not to peek daily but I hate to disturb him.
> 
> I've never known a T to close one off and not be in it!  Do you suppose he forgot it's a hide/burrow and not some hilly mound you built?  Weird!


I think its got terrible things down there. Corpses. Poor crickets that never had a chance. 

Am thinking of rehousing it and giving it a bigger hide. Maybe the hide is just too small now.


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## Ellenantula (Jan 21, 2015)

MrDave said:


> I think its got terrible things down there. Corpses. Poor crickets that never had a chance.


Ala Silence of the Lambs.  Is he occasionally poking bottles of lotion into the hide?  (shudder)


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## MrDave (Jan 21, 2015)

Maybe when your T comes back out freshly molted, post some pics. Someone might be able to ID it for you at that point.


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## jigalojey (Jan 21, 2015)

Hey mate, it's molting season over here so your T is defs in pre-molt.

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## IHeartTs (Jan 21, 2015)

Sana said:


> A month?  Aren't you the lucky one.  I've got one that will hide out and refuse food for up to two months in premolt.  I start getting a little worried every time this happens, but inevitably all is fine.


2 months??? What kind of T is it? My fimbriatus,  fasciata,  and h mac all ate right up until molt. I think the only one that refused and hid for a long oeriod was my rose hair and currently my e murinus.


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## Sana (Jan 21, 2015)

IHeartTs said:


> 2 months??? What kind of T is it? My fimbriatus,  fasciata,  and h mac all ate right up until molt. I think the only one that refused and hid for a long oeriod was my rose hair and currently my e murinus.


Avic sp. "pet store" probably A. avic.  She's a fussy, sensitive pain in my neck.  Fasts for long periods for no better reason than cause she can, hates being seen, and tries to bury herself in the sub if the temp drops below 72 F.  I love her to pieces, but premolt is always an anxiety ridden nightmare.

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## IHeartTs (Jan 22, 2015)

Sana said:


> Avic sp. "pet store" probably A. avic.  She's a fussy, sensitive pain in my neck.  Fasts for long periods for no better reason than cause she can, hates being seen, and tries to bury herself in the sub if the temp drops below 72 F.  I love her to pieces, but premolt is always an anxiety ridden nightmare.


Jeez. That's a weird avic. Mine are my best hunters. They're only juvies too. Maybe keep her heated? My teeny spec of n chromatus digs a burrow when it's below like 78. All premolt is a nightmare for me. I worry far too much about all my spiders.  So I know how you feel.


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## Sana (Jan 22, 2015)

IHeartTs said:


> Jeez. That's a weird avic. Mine are my best hunters. They're only juvies too. Maybe keep her heated? My teeny spec of n chromatus digs a burrow when it's below like 78. All premolt is a nightmare for me. I worry far too much about all my spiders.  So I know how you feel.


The part of the room that I have her in has additional heat sources in the form of heat lamps for a feeder bin that is below her enclosure.  The excess heat that rises up to her is more than enough to keep her above 74 F so she doesn't flip out and try to bury herself anymore.  I've partially wrapped her enclosure in a sheet to make in a little darker and more private for her, which was a bit of a trip to do without compromising ventilation.  The sheet seems to make her more comfortable though.  She just came off of a two month fast.  I thought for sure she was going to molt, but no such luck.  She's currently happily settled in her web in the darkest corner of her enclosure and she bothers to eat a cricket or two every week to ten days, but only if it's dropped into her web and she doesn't have to work for it.  I wish that she was my best hunter, cause then I wouldn't worry so much about her.


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## justynh (Jan 22, 2015)

My obt disappears for weeks at a time. Only molted once for me.


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## TsunamiSpike (Jan 23, 2015)

Our B. Albo did the same, then molted...and after about half hour of being out and about she just went back into her hide and closed it up again...freakin' weirdo..


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## miss moxie (Jan 23, 2015)

TsunamiSpike said:


> Our B. Albo did the same, then molted...and after about half hour of being out and about she just went back into her hide and closed it up again...freakin' weirdo..


It's possible she went looking for water and then went back in to finish hardening up in the safety of her closed up hide. They're very thirsty after molts.


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## TsunamiSpike (Jan 23, 2015)

True, which s/he did...drank a whole dang bottle cap. Even since hardening up (molted nearly 2 weeks ago now) s/he's still being a hermit. Ah well, doesn't bother me at all, would just be nice to see her being something other than a typical teenager >.>


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## cold blood (Jan 24, 2015)

TsunamiSpike said:


> True, which s/he did...drank a whole dang bottle cap.


Not too likely, if there is any sub or webbing touching the sides of the dish it will have a wicking effect and empty the bowl...sometimes rather quickly...a lot of time its such a small bit of webbing its barely visible to the naked eye.


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## samatwwe (Jan 24, 2015)

I have a female C. darlingi that closed her burrow for a molt and opened it after for about a week and now it's shut again lol


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## IHeartTs (Jan 25, 2015)

Sana said:


> The part of the room that I have her in has additional heat sources in the form of heat lamps for a feeder bin that is below her enclosure.  The excess heat that rises up to her is more than enough to keep her above 74 F so she doesn't flip out and try to bury herself anymore.  I've partially wrapped her enclosure in a sheet to make in a little darker and more private for her, which was a bit of a trip to do without compromising ventilation.  The sheet seems to make her more comfortable though.  She just came off of a two month fast.  I thought for sure she was going to molt, but no such luck.  She's currently happily settled in her web in the darkest corner of her enclosure and she bothers to eat a cricket or two every week to ten days, but only if it's dropped into her web and she doesn't have to work for it.  I wish that she was my best hunter, cause then I wouldn't worry so much about her.


Jeez. That sounds like rosie behavior almost.  At least you got her to a more comfortable point. I'm glad most my Ts are good eaters. Hopefully she molts for you soon. Maybe she'll molt out of her funk. I like watching mine hunt. I got avics flying off walls and rolling around tackling prey.


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## Sana (Jan 25, 2015)

IHeartTs said:


> Jeez. That sounds like rosie behavior almost.  At least you got her to a more comfortable point. I'm glad most my Ts are good eaters. Hopefully she molts for you soon. Maybe she'll molt out of her funk. I like watching mine hunt. I got avics flying off walls and rolling around tackling prey.


Wow!  That would be neat to see.  I actually just disrupted her whole little world.  I moved everybody out of the room so that I could spend a day moving all the furniture and cleaning under it and dusting and rearranging.  To my surprise, miss prissy avic didn't even twitch over the whole process.  I fed her after I had everyone settled back in and she ate and acted like a "normal" T.  Apparently she's just a little high maintenance compared to the others.  She proves to me all the time that T's are individual creatures and will behave as they see fit, whether that behavior fits with their species or not.


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## IHeartTs (Jan 25, 2015)

Sana said:


> Wow!  That would be neat to see.  I actually just disrupted her whole little world.  I moved everybody out of the room so that I could spend a day moving all the furniture and cleaning under it and dusting and rearranging.  To my surprise, miss prissy avic didn't even twitch over the whole process.  I fed her after I had everyone settled back in and she ate and acted like a "normal" T.  Apparently she's just a little high maintenance compared to the others.  She proves to me all the time that T's are individual creatures and will behave as they see fit, whether that behavior fits with their species or not.


It really is. They wow me every time. They're so sweet and docile too, so seeing them so vicious is great. Haha prissy avic. Idk if I have any brats. mine are all pretty low maintenance.  They totally are. Everyone always says how non confrontational their irminias are and mine is a terrorist.  It's cool to see their personalities. A friend told me how evil her g pulchripes is and mine is just the most tolerant creature ever. It's like eyore lol.


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## Sana (Jan 25, 2015)

IHeartTs said:


> It really is. They wow me every time. They're so sweet and docile too, so seeing them so vicious is great. Haha prissy avic. Idk if I have any brats. mine are all pretty low maintenance.  They totally are. Everyone always says how non confrontational their irminias are and mine is a terrorist.  It's cool to see their personalities. A friend told me how evil her g pulchripes is and mine is just the most tolerant creature ever. It's like eyore lol.


The rest of mine are super.  Even my honey's P. vittata, who is being my intro to poecs, is relaxed most of the time.  I don't have a terrorist in the bunch as yet, though I'm sure with more time and more T's I'll get to experience that.


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## Lu Wei (Sep 15, 2016)

Hi, I just got my G. pulchra last week and she's been refusing meals. I know tarantulas don't usually eat when they've just been rehoused. Just earlier she again refused a meal (cricket) and instead went into her hide and just now closed up the entrance. I assume she may be in pre-molt but her abdomen doesn't seem very dark like it's suppose to whilst in pre-molt. Should I be worried? I love all my Ts and I just want to make sure she'll be okay. I'm so tempted to open it up but I don't want to stress her out (she has a bald spot).


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## Matabuey (Sep 15, 2016)

@Toxoderidae  Another one for you. 

No you shouldn't be worried, just leave her alone and let her do tarantula things

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## Trenor (Sep 15, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> @Toxoderidae Another one for you.


Yeah, Tox, because you want to be known as the guy who rarely posts except to flip out on people when they post to an older thread.



Lu Wei said:


> Hi, I just got my G. pulchra last week and she's been refusing meals. I know tarantulas don't usually eat when they've just been rehoused. Just earlier she again refused a meal (cricket) and instead went into her hide and just now closed up the entrance. I assume she may be in pre-molt but her abdomen doesn't seem very dark like it's suppose to whilst in pre-molt. Should I be worried? I love all my Ts and I just want to make sure she'll be okay. I'm so tempted to open it up but I don't want to stress her out (she has a bald spot).


No, it's fine.  She is most likely in premolt and will come out on her own after she molts. They close off the hide/burrow when they are small for protection while they molt.

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## Lu Wei (Sep 15, 2016)

Trenor said:


> Yeah, Tox, because you want to be known as the guy who rarely posts except to flip out on people when they post to an older thread.
> 
> 
> No, it's fine.  She is most likely in premolt and will come out on her own after she molts. They close off the hide/burrow when they are small for protection while they molt.


Thank you!!


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## Lu Wei (Sep 15, 2016)

Matabuey said:


> @Toxoderidae  Another one for you.
> 
> No you shouldn't be worried, just leave her alone and let her do tarantula things


Thanks!!


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