Caribena Versicolor weird behaviour.

[StratosKr]

Hello guys. I’m fairly new in here but I’m writing this thread because lately I am having some issues with my caribena versicolor. I have her for around 3 years now and the past 2-3 months she is acting really weird. At first her web got destroyed (I don’t know if she did it on purpose or if it was an accident) and she never rebuilt it since then. Then she started circling the cage all day like crazy, plus she seemed pretty dazed when climbing and walking and a lot of times during the day she falls down from the glass as she tries to climb. In general she seems “weak”. I know I ve been calling her “she” the whole time but actually it’s “he”.I ve checked multiple molts and they all seem like a male. Also before one month or so I made another thread here to ask about this weird behaviour and most of the people were telling me ,that’s a mature male and it’s actually searching for a female to mate and that’s why she is circling all day long. In the last 2 months she probably ate 1 or 2 times. Literally before 5 minutes I tried to feed her and she denied it. And that’s when I noticed something weird on her butt. Her butt is bald but the weird thing is, it looks “wet”. I am gonna post a few pictures of her on this thread to see what I mean. I don’t know if it looks wet because she fell in her water dish (she has done it a lot of times..)or if it’s something concerning. Last but not least, I find it weird he is mature male in this size. I thought they get bigger. What do you think ?

 

[NMTs]

Hello guys. I’m fairly new in here but I’m writing this thread because lately I am having some issues with my caribena versicolor. I have her for around 3 years now and the past 2-3 months she is acting really weird. At first her web got destroyed (I don’t know if she did it on purpose or if it was an accident) and she never rebuilt it since then. Then she started circling the cage all day like crazy, plus she seemed pretty dazed when climbing and walking and a lot of times during the day she falls down from the glass as she tries to climb. In general she seems “weak”. I know I ve been calling her “she” the whole time but actually it’s “he”.I ve checked multiple molts and they all seem like a male. Also before one month or so I made another thread here to ask about this weird behaviour and most of the people were telling me ,that’s a mature male and it’s actually searching for a female to mate and that’s why she is circling all day long. In the last 2 months she probably ate 1 or 2 times. Literally before 5 minutes I tried to feed her and she denied it. And that’s when I noticed something weird on her butt. Her butt is bald but the weird thing is, it looks “wet”. I am gonna post a few pictures of her on this thread to see what I mean. I don’t know if it looks wet because she fell in her water dish (she has done it a lot of times..)or if it’s something concerning. Last but not least, I find it weird he is mature male in this size. I thought they get bigger. What do you think ?

Sounds like typical mature male behavior to me. An adult female of this species would be around 5" DLS give or take, males can and do mature out much smaller than that. If you can get a good look at the pedipalps, you will be able to tell easily if it's a mature male - the last segment will be much shorter than normal and look kind of like boxing gloves, and they will have a reddish bulb on the underside with a spine that sticks out of it - these are the male reproductive organs called emboli.

The abdomen may have gotten dunked into the water dish, or it may have gotten some feces on it, which is why it looks wet.

All that you are describing, and the pics you posted, sound like perfectly normal behavior for a mature male that is nearing the end of it's life.

 

[viper69]

Mature male

 

[cold blood]

nothing you are experiencing is anything but normal for a MM....poor appetite, check...wandering...check....bald little abdomen, check, losing grip, check...you are literally checking all the MM boxes

 

[CrazyOrnithoctonineGuy]

Your versicolor is a mature male-at tis stage they're dying of old age and the only thing they are interested in is in breeding.

 

[dman13760]

Can you get a pic of the pedipalps?

 

[Smotzer]

It certainly seems spot on for normal mature male behavior and you said its not a female so even more reason to believe so. If you want us to confirm you can post pictures of the pedipalps and we can confirm. If confirmed just know that your time is limited to a degree with it, or you can send it out to breed. Males of this species can always be used.

 

[ChaniLB520]

Males often mature out fairly small. I think it's also fair to say we often underestimate how big tarantulas are the longer we keep them (as in "5 inches" sounds a lot bigger than it looks). Before I started keeping I imagined them to be so massive, and when I had my first T, she seemed huge, now she looks much smaller to me.

 

[Substantial]

Would love to see photos of the pedipalps from this particular specimen!?!