# T rearranging the tank



## Ohana (Sep 18, 2009)

Hello everyone!

I have had a A. eutylenum for about 2 months; I caught her while hiking the hills near my house in south Orange County, CA. She is eating very well and just molted 2 weeks ago.

I was on a trip this week and when I returned, she had rearranged her tanks decor.  Is this normal for terrestrial T's to do?  Prior to her molting, she was content with hanging out in one corner of the tank, eating well, but post-molt, she is still eating well, but she is moving substrate and her new home is under the log in her tank.

Just interested if anyone has also observed this behavior.

Thanks,

Kevin


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## Ariel (Sep 18, 2009)

I've seen my 5" _B. smithi _do this occassionally, every once in awhile she just starts pushing around substrate, usually pushing it into one corner, I just let her do her thing, I acctually just realized the other day she'd pushed a huge chunck of webbed up substrate out of her hide.


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## scottyk (Sep 18, 2009)

Totally normal behavior for certain species/individuals...

If it's wild caught it may not be happy with the amount of substrate you are providing.


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## Ohana (Sep 18, 2009)

Thanks for the replies.

I do like that she is doing this as it shows me she is healthy and active.  My wife asked me if the T is building a nest and I said we will see...


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## Teal (Sep 18, 2009)

*I spent a lot of time making up a nice little enclosure for my P. chordata... only to have her completely rearrange it within 48 hours lol 

If they don't like it, and they can't leave... they'll fix it! *

Reactions: Like 1


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## scottyk (Sep 19, 2009)

Ohana said:


> I do like that she is doing this as it shows me she is healthy and active.  My wife asked me if the T is building a nest and I said we will see...


This is a common misconception. If it's constantly moving around and rearranging things, it's a sign that it's not happy with the enclosure. Tarantulas are not supposed to be overly active, so that's not really a good sign. If it doesn't settle down with it's decor in a week or two you should reconsider your enclosure. If it's a female Aphonopelma species, the healthy behavior you are looking for is to see it "stop" being so active...


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## Ohana (Sep 19, 2009)

scottyk said:


> This is a common misconception. If it's constantly moving around and rearranging things, it's a sign that it's not happy with the enclosure. Tarantulas are not supposed to be overly active, so that's not really a good sign. If it doesn't settle down with it's decor in a week or two you should reconsider your enclosure. If it's a female Aphonopelma species, the healthy behavior you are looking for is to see it "stop" being so active...


Good point.  She only recently, in the last week, did any rearranging, so I will watch to see if she does anymore.  What is interesting is that she only did this activity after her first feeding following her molt.  Prior to the molt she was moving very little, except to catch her food.  

She has moved under a log in the tank, so hopefully she was getting settled in after molting.  This evening, she did take a cricket and then crawled back under the log with the cricket.

Another thing is the weather is changing here in Southern California, with us starting the dry fall period, so this may also have something to do with her increased activity as she is native to this area.

It will be interesting to see if this continues or she is happy now.


Kevin


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## scottyk (Sep 19, 2009)

Good luck! If given a decent enclosure she should settle down for you...


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## nulir (Sep 19, 2009)

some do work around in their tank just a little and others rearrange the whole thing. best example is our G. alticeps (even though we baught her as a G. pulchra) the pics show her tank after moving in and about 1 month later 
it really is the same tank!


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## Ether Imp (Sep 19, 2009)

scottyk said:


> This is a common misconception. If it's constantly moving around and rearranging things, it's a sign that it's not happy with the enclosure. Tarantulas are not supposed to be overly active, so that's not really a good sign. If it doesn't settle down with it's decor in a week or two you should reconsider your enclosure. If it's a female Aphonopelma species, the healthy behavior you are looking for is to see it "stop" being so active...


Correct me if I'm wrong here, but couldn't a lot of "increased activity" be explained by several various factors? Usually this would have to do with light, temperature, humidity, or a sense of security? For example:

-A gravid female may decide to start burrowing, or rearranging in order to make a nest? 

-Pre-molt, the T may seek more moisture by digging deeper into the substrate to find it.. or laying in the waterdish.

-Pre-molt, the T may decide to start burrowing or possibly rearrange the decor into what they find as a suitable "hide", for a greater sense of safety during their molt?

-Post-molt, could they be seeking different temperatures, humidity, to prevent dehydration during their weak period?

-Post molt perhaps they are seeking more 'space' to accomodate their new size?

Granted, all of this says there is something they want different about their enclosure and we should try to be cognizant of their needs and accomodate them where possible... But T's aren't really capable of emotions such as happiness or depression, to my knowledge. Most of what they do is out of some instinct to survive. 

If a T does nothing but sit in the corner of their enclosure pressed up against the plastic/glass, it may not be because they are comfortable but because they are uncomfortable:

-Is the substrate too wet, or too dry?
-Are they attempting to avoid light?
-Is that side of the enclosure (or the plastic/glass itself) a temperature they prefer?
-Is their hide somehow uncomfortable for them?
-Is there not enough substrate present for them to properly burrow, so they are seeking "shelter" and "safety" the best they can?
-Is the substrate itself unsuitable for a burrow? (Too flakey/light?)
-Do they feel unsafe due to too much activity or vibration coming from the immediate vicinity?

The possible reasons for a sudden change in your T's activity level could be virtually endless. Maybe none of these things are accurate and the T simply has a quirky personality like many on these boards would attest to?

I gave an A.Paysoni to a friend of mine a few weeks ago. When I had her, she was staying temporarily in a small plastic shoebox with a snap on lid and holes drilled in the side. The soil was a native reddish brown clayey sand, and was extremely dry. During this period of time she was extremely skittish. Any touching of her "box" would send her dashing across the enclosure or quickly spinning around.

 When he decided to take her, we went out and purchased a 3.5 gallon Kritter Keeper, and a hide for her.  I mixed the native soil with some moist Eco-Earth, and filled up the enclosure about 80% of the way. I then dug down into the substrate several inches in the very corner, to start a burrow for her.

He took her home, fed her regularily, and mostly left her alone otherwise. For a while, all she did was sit in the corner crouched down into the makeshift burrow I created for her. The soil has dried out a bit but the lower layers are still relatively moist. Earlier this week he texted me, excited, informing me that he woke up and she had dug a burrow down along the bottom and side of the KK. Since then she has created quite a little "liar" under several inches of substrate. 

To me, the period of time where she was crouched into the corner seemed like she was stressed, more so than now, where she's dedicating hours of her day to moving dirt around and creating a suitable shelter for herself. 

Do you agree?


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## xhexdx (Sep 19, 2009)

Kevin,

Are you Hawaiian?


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## Ohana (Sep 19, 2009)

xhexdx said:


> Kevin,
> 
> Are you Hawaiian?


Not a native Hawaiian, but I was born there and spent my junior high and high school years on Oahu.  It was a great place to live.

Kevin


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## scottyk (Sep 19, 2009)

Etrher Imp- No offense, but if you spent as much time actually reading my two responses as you did typing the reply you'd have answered all of own questions.

In my first reply I noted that some initial rearranging is normal.

In the one you quoted, did you miss this part  



scottyk said:


> If it doesn't settle down with it's decor *in a week or two* you should reconsider your enclosure.


I've owned over 100 tarantulas over the years and have never seen one do any major rearranging due to being in pre, or post molt. Certainly not anything that lasted for weeks.

You then go on to give a lengthy explanation of some possible reasons why tarantulas may sit still. While I agree with some of them, this particular specimin is not doing that and I'm not sure why you are including these off topic points in a response directed at me.

If you disagree with my assertion that a tarantula that hasn't settled down after weeks in a new enclosure is probably unhappy, could you try and boil your response down to a more cogent point? I honestly am not even sure what you are disagreeing with....


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## xhexdx (Sep 19, 2009)

I spent my elementary and junior high years on the Big Island.  I agree, it was a great place to live.

I was curious because of your username. I figured you must either be Hawaiian or have lived there. 

--Joe

Reactions: Like 1


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## Ohana (Sep 19, 2009)

xhexdx said:


> I spent my elementary and junior high years on the Big Island.  I agree, it was a great place to live.
> 
> I was curious because of your username. I figured you must either be Hawaiian or have lived there.
> 
> --Joe


My wife likes what Ohana means; she named our boat Ohana.

The Big Island is my favorite island.  While Oahu had the surf and nightlife, I love to fish and Kona was were we went.  The diving was good also


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## Dash (Sep 19, 2009)

My G. Rosea spent a lot of time digging. However, this was right after I changed her substrate. She stopped shortly after and now seems to be content.


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## Ether Imp (Sep 20, 2009)

scottyk said:


> Etrher Imp- No offense, but if you spent as much time actually reading my two responses as you did typing the reply you'd have answered all of own questions.
> 
> In my first reply I noted that some initial rearranging is normal.
> 
> ...


I guess the first time reading your post I missed the word "constantly". I don't necessarily disagree with you. I was mostly listing different reasons for why a T _may_ decide to start rearranging to give your initial response some context. My initial interpretation of your post was that you believed most activity was a sign that the enclosure was somehow making a T unhappy. My mistake. Carry on.


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## scottyk (Sep 20, 2009)

Ether Imp said:


> My initial interpretation of your post was that you believed most activity was a sign that the enclosure was somehow making a T unhappy.


That's pretty much what I figured, but the response was targeted to that particular situation and species. 

The extra context and experiences you provided are always welcome. It was the way you formatted it that gave me the impression that you were disagreeing with something I said. I just couldn't figure out what that specifically was


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## Placeboani2 (Sep 20, 2009)

Dash said:


> My G. Rosea spent a lot of time digging. However, this was right after I changed her substrate. She stopped shortly after and now seems to be content.


Mine decided to start digging in the middle of the night, It got to the bottom of the tank and wanted to keep digging, It couldnt because of the plastic in the way obviously, the sound of its feet digging against plastic was making an extremely annoying squeeking noise. Like a "Squeaky clean" noise if you get what i mean.

After that it didnt even use the burrow! Just wanted to wake me up i think.

It was almost as annoying as when crickets decide to start chirping and carry on doing it all day.


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## Ictinike (Sep 20, 2009)

Placeboani2 said:


> It was almost as annoying as when crickets decide to start chirping and carry on doing it all day.


LOL.. I call those `early lunch` for my A. avic


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