Any reason for tarantula to stand on tip toes when not eating? (pic)

[Sharno]

For the last day or so my female b. smithi has been standing high on all legs, if that makes sense -- you know, the position they often go into when they have a mouthful of crickets.

Not sure if it is relevant but she's been mating once a week with her boyfriend in the cage next door. I think I've seen some terrestrials do this "standing up high" for no reason, wondered if people have recognized any reason for this, or it's simply nothing.

Thanks.

 

[clive 82]

For the last day or so my female b. smithi has been standing high on all legs, if that makes sense -- you know, the position they often go into when they have a mouthful of crickets.

Not sure if it is relevant but she's been mating once a week with her boyfriend in the cage next door. I think I've seen some terrestrials do this "standing up high" for no reason, wondered if people have recognized any reason for this, or it's simply nothing.

Thanks.

I have heard that some Ts may do this if there are mites or some kind of parasite in the sub. Apparently the thinking behind it is they do it to "get away" from the source of irritation. I'm not saying this is the case, just something Ive read.

 

[dopamine]

I have heard that some Ts may do this if there are mites or some kind of parasite in the sub. Apparently the thinking behind it is they do it to "get away" from the source of irritation. I'm not saying this is the case, just something Ive read.

This is what I've heard too, but then again, I think everything is mites.

 

[Trenor]

For the last day or so my female b. smithi has been standing high on all legs, if that makes sense -- you know, the position they often go into when they have a mouthful of crickets.

Not sure if it is relevant but she's been mating once a week with her boyfriend in the cage next door. I think I've seen some terrestrials do this "standing up high" for no reason, wondered if people have recognized any reason for this, or it's simply nothing.

Thanks.

I've never seen mine do this without having food in it's mouth. Maybe it's not used to running around bare foot and is trying to tip toe.

 

[Ghost56]

For the last day or so my female b. smithi has been standing high on all legs, if that makes sense -- you know, the position they often go into when they have a mouthful of crickets.

Not sure if it is relevant but she's been mating once a week with her boyfriend in the cage next door. I think I've seen some terrestrials do this "standing up high" for no reason, wondered if people have recognized any reason for this, or it's simply nothing.

Thanks.

This is a complete shot in the dark, cause I honestly have zero experience with mating. But I wonder if her abdomen could be irritated from the insertions?

 

[viper69]

I've never seen mine do this without having food in it's mouth. Maybe it's not used to running around bare foot and is trying to tip toe.

I've seen mine do this without food actually, and not shortly after eating etc, just found them on their "toes". Can't explain it either. I often wonder if for some reason they feel threatened, so appear large in doing that, OR if it's related to their circulatory system.

 

[darkness975]

One of mine spent the entire night half on the substrate and half on the glass side in the most awkward looking of positions.
I am not saying whether or not there is a problem in your situation but I am just saying you may not want to jump to panic mode right away.

 

[ledzeppelin]

I notice this only with my B. smithi

 

[Trenor]

Huh, I've not seen this with either of my girls. I'll have to keep a closer eye on them.

 

[KezyGLA]

Over here in the UK they call this 'stilting'.

I read some theories a long time ago that it had something to do with heat. They said something such like they stilt when uncomfortable with heat. I can't confirm if this is true or not.

Theraphosidae do some weird things sometimes. This is one of those behaviours. There must be a reason behind it though.

I have only seen it with some of my Brachys and Grammostola.

 

[darkness975]

This behavior has been observed in Scorpions before. Sometimes without a known cause, and other times it has been observed around the time a female is about to give birth or if the temperature is not to their liking.
The same might be true for Tarantulas.

 

[Blue Jaye]

I've seen it in Brachys and Grammastola. From my experience the sub may be to moist and also the sub may be to acidic for them. Especially with coco subs. The fix for me was a new combo of substrate. Eco earth, peat, and desert sand fixed the seeming problem. Also have tried top soil in the mix. Some just use plain top soil without any problems. Just some thoughts

 

[REEFSPIDER]

I've seen it in Brachys and Grammastola. From my experience the sub may be to moist and also the sub may be to acidic for them. Especially with coco subs. The fix for me was a new combo of substrate. Eco earth, peat, and desert sand fixed the seeming problem. Also have tried top soil in the mix. Some just use plain top soil without any problems. Just some thoughts

Gardeners ad peat moss to their soils to not only retain water but also lower the ph of the soil, if the substrate was indeed too acidic like you said i dont believe adding peat to an already very acidic substrate like eco earth will provide any significant raise in ph. If anything you would just make it more acidic.

 

[Ratmosphere]

My Avicularia versicolor and wolf spider do this when eating.

 

[Crone Returns]

I think they're stretching their calf muscles....

 

[viper69]

Over here in the UK they call this 'stilting'.

I read some theories a long time ago that it had something to do with heat. They said something such like they stilt when uncomfortable with heat. I can't confirm if this is true or not.

Theraphosidae do some weird things sometimes. This is one of those behaviours. There must be a reason behind it though.

I have only seen it with some of my Brachys and Grammostola.

I've heard this mentioned too regarding desert species, but not just with Ts.

 

[KezyGLA]

I've heard this mentioned too regarding desert species, but not just with Ts.

Yeah there may be something to it then, as it is only the arid species I have seen do this

 

[viper69]

Yeah there may be something to it then, as it is only the arid species I have seen do this

Same here!

 

[Blue Jaye]

Gardeners ad peat moss to their soils to not only retain water but also lower the ph of the soil, if the substrate was indeed too acidic like you said i dont believe adding peat to an already very acidic substrate like eco earth will provide any significant raise in ph. If anything you would just make it more acidic.

The peat was more for moisture retention. I didn't use much more of the desert sand. They stopped stilting after I changed the sub so something in this mix worked.

 

[REEFSPIDER]

The peat was more for moisture retention. I didn't use much more of the desert sand. They stopped stilting after I changed the sub so something in this mix worked.

Thats not how science works im sorry but to each there own