# I went out and bought tarantula toys



## Formerphobe (Mar 3, 2012)

Yep, I did.  A six-pack of ping pong balls.  They smelled a little funny when I first opened the package, so I let them air out for a few days.  This morning I gave six of my larger Ts their new toys.
MF G. rosea moved hers onto her web mat and has started webbing it down.
Sub-adult males G. pulchra and B. vagans are ignoring theirs.
Sub-adult male LP is checking his out as I type this, feeling it over with his pedipalps.
Sub-adult females B. boehmei and LP have moved theirs but, now ignoring them.

I wonder what they would do with styrofoam peanuts?

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## mmfh (Mar 3, 2012)

With styrofoam ........ They build monuments

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## grayzone (Mar 3, 2012)

funny... i cut a piece of pvc pipe into the size of a toilet paper roll and used to put it in my G. roseas cage.. she would roll it around like she was playing with it... NOW she doesnt do ANYTHING anymore


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## Jared781 (Mar 3, 2012)

Never heard of Ts building monuments HAH but when I had Waldo (B. vagans) in an

Exo-terra.. he ran out of substrate and room, as he was in the corner, then started chipping away at the styrofoam rockwall!!


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## HoboAustin (Mar 4, 2012)

grayzone said:


> funny... i cut a piece of pvc pipe into the size of a toilet paper roll and used to put it in my G. roseas cage.. she would roll it around like she was playing with it... NOW she doesnt do ANYTHING anymore


My G. rosea used to move all the time. Now it hardly ever moves


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## toxic667 (Mar 4, 2012)

HoboAustin said:


> My G. rosea used to move all the time. Now it hardly ever moves


My Charlotte is the same way until about 10 mins ago she decided to spray my left hand with hairs. Its pretty painful XD

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## TsmallV (Mar 4, 2012)

I didnt even know Tarantulas play with toys o.o
i might as well give it a try xD


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## Formerphobe (Mar 4, 2012)

> I didnt even know Tarantulas play with toys


Stan Schultz mentioned something about it, figured I would give it a try.
G. rosea has webbed hers some more.  Most of the others seem to have either no interest or have given up interest.


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## skar (Mar 5, 2012)

I'm gonna try hot glue a fake butterfly on a string in the avics cage now

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## Formerphobe (Mar 6, 2012)

Young male LP has decided he wants to be a soccer player when he grows up.  He's had that ping pong ball all over his enclosure, including through the water bowl.  What a goof!
G. pulchra has pushed his to the furthest corner of the tank away from his hide.

My mom just came to me and announced that my G. rosea "_has laid the biggest egg I've ever seen for a spider_!"   
LOL

Reactions: Like 5 | Funny 2


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## Wiggles92 (Mar 6, 2012)

Formerphobe said:


> *Young male LP has decided he wants to be a soccer player when he grows up.  He's had that ping pong ball all over his enclosure, including through the water bowl.  What a goof!*
> G. pulchra has pushed his to the furthest corner of the tank away from his hide.
> 
> My mom just came to me and announced that my G. rosea "_has laid the biggest egg I've ever seen for a spider_!"
> LOL


Well it is the national sport of his country after all. :biggrin:


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## grayzone (Mar 6, 2012)

my old male L.p would "play soccer" too (prior to ultimate molt) with the glass rocks from his water dish... wonder if its a sp./genus thing, a male thing, or just a weird t thing


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## seacowst (Mar 6, 2012)

grayzone said:


> wonder if its a sp./genus thing, a male thing, or just a weird t thing


ts are odd beings. but you do bring up a qustion


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## captmarga (Mar 6, 2012)

Funny you should mention building monuments.  Last Friday when I was feeding/watering part of the "rounds" (I have to feed in stages, too many for one day), I found this in my G. pulchar's habitat.  

Marga

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## Vilurum (Mar 6, 2012)

toxic667 said:


> My Charlotte is the same way until about 10 mins ago she decided to spray my left hand with hairs. Its pretty painful XD


If you think that is painful don't get hit by T. blondi hair  Let me tell you...lol


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## Storm76 (Mar 6, 2012)

I wouldn't try that BS (sorry, in my view it is that...T's don't need "toys", but whatever...) with a Poeci or Psalm or any OW species...could happen they assume it's an eggsack or whatnot and you might run into some pretty bad problems when trying to remove that thing out of the enclosure. Not to mention that would stress out the T in question quite some...unnessarily should be added.

Note: Don't want to offend anyone - I just don't see why a T would need something to "play" with really. I suppose, it's mostly the keepers who want to see some "action" (in terms of "my T is moving - no pet rock / pet hole") I guess...just my view of things *shrugs*

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## iky nikki (Mar 6, 2012)

lol my T would probably practice it's beer pong skills.

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## grayzone (Mar 6, 2012)

did somebody say beer pong???  I LOVE LOSING


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## Formerphobe (Mar 6, 2012)

> I wouldn't try that BS (sorry, in my view it is that...T's don't need "toys", but whatever...) with a Poeci or Psalm or any OW species...could happen they assume it's an eggsack or whatnot and you might run into some pretty bad problems when trying to remove that thing out of the enclosure. Not to mention that would stress out the T in question quite some...unnessarily should be added.
> 
> Note: Don't want to offend anyone - I just don't see why a T would need something to "play" with really. I suppose, it's mostly the keepers who want to see some "action" (in terms of "my T is moving - no pet rock / pet hole") I guess...just my view of things *shrugs*


You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but calling someone else's opinion 'BS' is, well, BS.

Since it was suggested by the man who co-authored the Tarantula Keeper's 'Bible(s)', I didn't suspect Stan of suggesting something that would be detrimental to the Ts.  I was curious to see what they would do with them.

*I* view the ping pong balls as 'toys'.  The Ts just see them as something else in their enclosures along with plants, hides, bowls, etc.  And probably much safer for them than some of the wood, ceramic, plastic and other decorations people put in enclosures for the keeper's benefit. And no different than some of the trash left behind by people that they might encounter in the wild.  

Several of my Ts have been known to stack bottle caps (water bowls) much as Captmarga's pictures show.  I even had one juvenile Brachypelma move her water bowl/cap to the top of a plant in her enclosure.  A few of my Ts 'defend' their water bowls when I add water.
Would you suggest I no longer offer a water source as it might unnecessarily stress the T, or cause a problem if I try to add water or remove it for cleaning?

I did not give any of my 'pet rocks' the ping pong balls.  Only the more active Ts that already do 'landscaping' got them.  None of my OW or heavy webbers got ping pong balls.  Seemed a waste.  

I will be pulling the ping pong balls from a couple of the Ts since they show little to no interest.  (Uh, I'll be leaving their water bowls...) My sub-adult male LP is currently 'co-habbing' with his ball in his hide, where he moved it while I was at work today.  He doesn't seem too awfully stressed, and I really don't think he has any aspirations to hatch it, so he gets to keep his.

Thanks for your opinion, though.

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## Formerphobe (Mar 10, 2012)

Immature female B. boehmei has wedged her ball into the corner of her hide, as has the mature female G. rosea.  These are two of my most laid back Ts, though not pet rocks by any means.  Both had meals yesterday, got their water bowls cleaned and some minor tank maintenance.  Neither was defensive over their balls, but neither has ever displayed defensiveness over anything.











The immature male LP continues to shuffle his around the enclosure and no longer tries to do the same to his water bowl, which is much heavier than the ping pong ball.  Nor is he defensive of the ball, though he continues to be of his water bowl.  (He's had water bowl 'issues' since he was about 3".)


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## Jared781 (Mar 11, 2012)

skar said:


> I'm gonna try hot glue a fake butterfly on a string in the avics cage now


\
im sorry but this made me lol

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## Silberrücken (Mar 11, 2012)

*Spiders know the difference between an eggsac and another "object"-in this case, a ping pong ball. Watch the spider in this video. Not a Tarantula, sure-but I am sure this applies to all spiders. 

[youtube]nZiJAqGnVLo[/youtube]

While still under the effects of aenesthesia, she finds her own sac.

I applaud the OP for posting their observances, and do not think it is BS. *

Reactions: Like 8


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## grayzone (Mar 11, 2012)

this is a* HOBBY*... these are* SPIDERS*... we can do what we want with them... *NOBODY* can say what *ANYBODY* else does is BS (unless its unsafe or a health risk for the animal)

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## suzypike (Mar 11, 2012)

Sometimes, out of the blue, my adult female G. formosa gets.. restless.  She paces, she hangs from the top, does things that are unusual for her.  At these times I give her 'toys.'  They get her attention.  She moves them all over her enclosure.  I can go in on almost any night, and she is manipulating them.  After a few weeks, she loses interest- webbing over them, settles down, and I take them out.
Here she is with a ball, and a small vial.  I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures.  They were taken hurriedly with my phone.

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## Silberrücken (Mar 12, 2012)

Storm76 said:


> that would stress out the T in question quite some...


*I see no stress in any of the pics posted. *shrugs**


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## HoboAustin (Mar 12, 2012)

I don't know if this is sort of  the same thing here, but I'll post it anyways.

I put some fake 3 inch plants in my G. rosea's home. After a couple weeks, she completely uprooted them. Then about another 2 weeks of pushing them everywhere she could, she finally pushed all three plants into a pile and webbed them down. 

I thought this is sort of related to the whole "toy" thing.


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## sarahanita (Mar 13, 2012)

Silberrücken said:


> *Spiders know the difference between an eggsac and another "object"-in this case, a ping pong ball. Watch the spider in this video. Not a Tarantula, sure-but I am sure this applies to all spiders.
> 
> [youtube]nZiJAqGnVLo[/youtube]
> 
> ...


This experiment is really cool, but part of me is like "aww she just wants her babies back!" haha


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## Nikki1984 (May 13, 2012)

I give my large Ts fake flowers and plants. They were intended for decoration but became play things immediately. Cheitan my G. pulchra pulled his up and placed it in his water bowl and now will take it for a walk around his cage about once a week (that I notice) and then places it back in the water bowl. 

My other G. pulchra proceeded to spend a month ripping the petals off and placing/webbing them all over around his hide. 

I'm definitely going to try ping pongs with them.


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## Ivymike1973 (May 13, 2012)

So this would be ill advised with old world species? 
I assume their idea of playing with it would be to tear it to shreds:fury:


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## Furret (May 13, 2012)

Dandruff, my rosie, moves her pingpong balls all the time. Every few days they're in a different place..I wonder what she's up to, hmm..


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## Masurai (May 13, 2012)

Furret said:


> Dandruff, my rosie, moves her pingpong balls all the time. Every few days they're in a different place..I wonder what she's up to, hmm..


maybe she is using it to try and find a weak point in the magically invisible force field  around her lol


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## persistent (May 14, 2012)

My L. difficilis used to tear down the same plastic plant and move it around her enclosure a lot. I kind of figured she didn't really like it there and just wanted to get rid of it. Took it out of her enclosure eventually after replacing it a few times. She stopped doing it and left the other ones as they were. Never saw any reason why she would be 'playing' with it. It just seemed to annoy her or something.


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## Anonymity82 (May 14, 2012)

I'd imagine most OW species would either ignore them or just use them as building apparatuses. My G. rosea loves her stick. She's almost always resting on it or near it. She's webbed over it but stays close to it. I keep forgetting to pick up a pack of balls to see what she does with it. I have a feeling that she'll show some interest in it. How much? I don't know.


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## le-thomas (May 14, 2012)

Every time I fill up my big G. pulchripes' water dish/cup thingy, it'll dump it over and roll it into a corner within minutes. So weird.


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## TweedMcQueen (May 16, 2012)

Alright, that's it, I have to try this ping pong ball business.  My G. rosea isn't  pet rock in general and she tends to be curious so I bet she would enjoy checking out the ball.  I have avoided it up to this point on the assumption that they think they are egg sacks and it might stress them.  However there seems to be enough evidence, especially with Ts moving other things in similar manners, that this isn't the case.  Margo gets a "toy" tomorrow after I finish setting up the new slings!


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## Ivymike1973 (May 19, 2012)

Well, it wasn't exactly a toy but I put little carved stone skulls in the enclosures of all of my hot scorps and Ts. I just noticed today that my little OBT had moved hers from the front of the enclosure all the way to the back behind the bark. No idea when or why she moved it. I was actually going to take it out because she really isn't aggressive enough to warrant it :cute: but now I can't reach it without disturbing her so I guess it stays. It will be interesting to see if she keeps moving it around the enclosure or not. I just wish I could have seen her playing with it.


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## maxxxieee (Jun 18, 2012)

Toys and playing!  Yes but having second thoughts because I truly love my LD... I read in the "T bible" that too much food.. too much activity shortens their lives, and stresses them out, rather than "builds them up" .. To which I erroneously once thought.. food and exercise = healthy T.  I will never compare this lovely creature to one of us... they are so fascinatingly different!  

Since we are used to diet and exercise.. me thinks spidiies don't quite have that kind of metabolism.  I do believe they love attention to a degree where they feel safe.  

My LD, which most say can not, and should not be handled, Leo, my 6"LD, walked onto my hand and it sat there so beautifully as if to say "I've conquered this human beast!!!"  "This ginormous human beast now belongs to me!"   During that time my friend and colleague came over to meet him for the first time during that ... wish I remembered the camera behind him!  hehe...  they stepped back in awe.  Let's just say hesparked up some great conversations!   

Gosh darned it.. the buggah is a cutie...   

Toys... well, he LOVES to chase the thing I use (a fondue fork to clean the webbed up stuff and I put a piece of wet paper towel to clean up and down the glass.. that's when Leo loves to "chase"! )


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## EbonyKatana1664 (Jun 18, 2012)

Toys, eh? I had no idea tarantulas were into this.


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## Formerphobe (Jun 18, 2012)

> Toys... well, he LOVES to chase the thing I use (a fondue fork to clean the webbed up stuff and I put a piece of wet paper towel to clean up and down the glass.. that's when Leo loves to "chase"! )


I don't think tarantulas are stressed by stationary, inanimate objects that they can choose, or not, to move around.  'Chasing' moving items that they perceive as a threat *is* stressful.  I doubt Leo 'loves' to 'chase'.  
Why are you cleaning up his webbing?   Ts use that for orientation.


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## Stan Schultz (Jun 19, 2012)

HoboAustin said:


> My G. rosea used to move all the time. Now it hardly ever moves


They slow down when they get obese, just like me. Put her on a diet and in a year or two when she's back to being nice and slim and svelte again, she'll be *BEATING YOU* at table tennis at least 2 games out of 3! :biggrin:

---------- Post added 06-19-2012 at 12:54 AM ----------

I have said many times before that I think we are vastly underestimating the intelligence of spiders in general, and tarantulas in particular. When you compare the prosomal ganglia (a.k.a., "brain") of a tarantula with that of a grasshopper (okay, if you don't like my grasshopper, pick your own bug!), the tarantula's is much larger and a lot more organized. It's also compact (allowing easier synaptic connections from widely separated neurons?) while the entire nervous system of a grasshopper is two strings of separate ganglia strung out like beads in a necklace (much less efficient for making complex synaptic connections).

Now, I'm  not saying that I think they're "smart." All I'm saying is that they seem to be aware of the world around them to some small extent; capable of independent action, not just pure reflex; and even able to learn on a very basic level.

And if you do a search on these forums for *ping+pong* you'll get 5 pages of hits. While the majority of the hits may only mention ping pong balls peripherally in passing (or not at all, search engines are not perfect), I did notice a few threads in which I contributed comments about tarantulas and ping pong balls. So, it's neither a new topic nor an obscure one.

Lastly, I haven't been able to make up my mind completely about whether the tarantula "playing" with a ping pong ball is actually playing, or if its merely trying to remove an unfamiliar object from its territory. But either way, it's making a much bigger, controlled effort using far higher brain functions than your common locust!

And, I'll say it again, "If we're having this much trouble trying to recognize intelligence at any level in something like a tarantula, whatever on Earth or in Space are we going to do when we finally meet our first space alien face to face? : Eat it with a little hollandaise sauce? Grind it up and plant orchids in it?"

Maybe that's why we've not seen any space aliens! They're terrified that they'll end up as the _entrée_! :}

Come on people! Didn't Star Trek teach you *ANYTHING?* 

:biggrin:

:roflmao:

:wink:


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## poisoned (Jun 19, 2012)

Pikaia said:


> And, I'll say it again, "If we're having this much trouble trying to recognize intelligence at any level in something like a tarantula, whatever on Earth or in Space are we going to do when we finally meet our first space alien face to face? : Eat it with a little hollandaise sauce? Grind it up and plant orchids in it?"


Oh, come on, we all know that inverts are just alien's drones spying on us.


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## Stan Schultz (Jun 19, 2012)

poisoned said:


> Oh, come on, we all know that inverts are just alien's drones spying on us.


Maybe Douglas Adams was on the right track after all, but just got the wrong branch on the taxonomic tree? Visit *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*. Either read the whole exposé if you have the time, or click "Find" (Ctrl-<F> on most Windows machines, Mac users should know the corresponding key strokes on there's) and type mice.

Sort of makes you want to cover the tarantula's cage with a towel or something before you start getting ready for bed, no?



:wink:

:roflmao:


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## CleanSweep (Jun 19, 2012)

I have an A. Geniculata that is a gardener.  I have a pothos in her tank in the corner.  Before I rehoused her, she would sit under the pothos all the time.  I noticed one of the leaves turned yellow and started to die.  One day, I walked in the room and she had pruned the dead leaf from the live portion and stacked it with some leftovers in a neat pile by the door of her exo terra.  I'm guessing it may have fallen off and she moved it out of the spot she liked to sit.


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## D Sherlod (Feb 11, 2017)

Nikki1984 said:


> My other G. pulchra proceeded to spend a month ripping the petals off and placing/webbing them all over around his hide.
> 
> I'm definitely going to try ping pongs with them.


ahhhhhh he just likes pretty things   LMAO

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## Abyss (Feb 12, 2017)

Meh lol


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## Blue Jaye (Feb 13, 2017)

I remember this old thread lol.


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