crazy b. smithi

*hannah*

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 28, 2007
Messages
4
hi everyone

this is my first time writing but i need some other opinions on this.

my juvenile b. smithi, who was just moved to a new enclosure, has really been perplexing me. she had this habit of climbing the walls and ignoring her hide so in her new cage, i gave her more substrate and a better flowerpot hide.

now, she still ignores the hide (other than filling it in completely with substrate) and has started to burrow ( i guess?) under her glazed ceramic water dish. now i know they burrow sometimes, and i guess if she wants to i'll accomidate her. my problem is i'm worried about her digging out the water dish completely and it falling on her.

since she ignored the hide as a place to start a burrow, would it be pointless to try and direct her energies there? how would i do that? how do i get her to stop excavating under the water dish? and do other b. smithis do this kind of stuff or is she stressed out or something?

please help
 

Transylvania

Gondorian
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 26, 2006
Messages
593
hi everyone

this is my first time writing but i need some other opinions on this.

my juvenile b. smithi, who was just moved to a new enclosure, has really been perplexing me. she had this habit of climbing the walls and ignoring her hide so in her new cage, i gave her more substrate and a better flowerpot hide.

now, she still ignores the hide (other than filling it in completely with substrate) and has started to burrow ( i guess?) under her glazed ceramic water dish. now i know they burrow sometimes, and i guess if she wants to i'll accomidate her. my problem is i'm worried about her digging out the water dish completely and it falling on her.

since she ignored the hide as a place to start a burrow, would it be pointless to try and direct her energies there? how would i do that? how do i get her to stop excavating under the water dish? and do other b. smithis do this kind of stuff or is she stressed out or something?

please help
My juvie smithi did the same thing a few weeks ago. But because her water dish is much too heavy, I had to fill in the burrow she made with rocks. Of course I felt bad basically destroying her hide, but it was for her own safety. I redirected her into the log shelter and she now uses the log like she should. If I were you, I would only fill in the burrow underneath the dish if it were absolutely necessary; if you're worried that it could fall on her then put a brick or some rocks underneath the dish; if you ever move her around or handle her, always direct her into the correct shelter. It should put the point across that that is the safe place to be. Worked for mine, should work for yours. :)

Looks cute, but not worth the risk of a cave-in, IMHO. ;)
 

Taceas

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
May 12, 2006
Messages
658
If the substrate is even the slightest bit moist, chances are that it'll cause it to be unsettled and try to get out. I think that's a pretty common occurrence from reading on here and my own experiences. They also seem to do it to a degree even when rehoused with completely dry substrate.

Usually when the substrate thoroughly dries out and given some time, they'll settle down and stop the wall climbing.

As for the digging, what if you swapped the hide for the water bowl? Put the water bowl where the hide was, and put the hide over the dig-out under the water bowl?

OR, you could place an upside down bowl under the water bowl, so that you can't see it due to the substrate, but it holds up the water bowl and prevents the spider from digging directly under it. Does that make sense?

I think the activities are pretty much on par for terrestrials that come from arid climates. They abhor wet feet, it would seem. ;)
 

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
8,656
My adult B smithi dont burrow or use their hides at all now. Not one of them. I love it cause they are always out in the open.
 

phil jones

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 17, 2006
Messages
1,051
one of my red knees is all ways climbs and used a hide ? the other is in the open a lot and just sits and looks for its dinner to drop in lol what can you do :? :rolleyes: ; -- phil :)
 

mikeymo

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 14, 2007
Messages
176
my redknee did the exact same thing a while back (the wall climbing) when i added new substrate to her tank.

As cool as the Spiderman impersonation was, i was worried about her falling and hurting herself.

I agree with Taceas. if the soil is moist, the smithi will avoid it. I know that they are one of the species that likes their soil very dry. It's been about two weeks now, the soil is dry, and she's out and about and OFF the glass :)

Also, juding from the picture, your smithi seems to be about the same size as mine (about 2.5-3 inches). For a water dish i just use a water bottle cap turned upside down. While i do think your waterdish is pretty and while i do think that the bottle cap water dish is sort of blah looking, switching to it will avoid the problem of the water dish squishing her until she gets a bit bigger or finds a new place to dig. Just a thought

Hope this helps :)
 

BurrowDweller

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 21, 2005
Messages
191
I have a few smithis and they all seem to avoid their hides, the smaller ones burrow some, the big ones just sit out in the open and look impressive. They all climb the walls at times for no apparent reason. I am sure they are doing it do to something but whatever that may be is only known to the spiders!
 

cheetah13mo

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 10, 2006
Messages
2,151
They'll be more likely to use a hide if the hide a partially buried. All opertunistic burrowers are like this but as they get bigger, all that seems to matter to them is something to get under or in. The younger opertunistic T's are more likely to want to go underground.
 

Scott C.

Arachnofloater
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 17, 2004
Messages
936
I would let her do whatever she wants. It's her house...... That's just me though....
If you are really worried about a water dish problem, set a couple rocks under it so it can't fall on her.
 

*hannah*

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 28, 2007
Messages
4
thanks everyone!

only one thing i'm wondering about. I keep her substrate very dry as i know they don't like it moist and she still climbs. so i guess this is just normal b. smithi?

i was just worried she was stressed out or something.
 

cheetah13mo

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 10, 2006
Messages
2,151
Sorry if it's already been posted but how long have you had your T? Any change to their enclosure will make a T unsettled for a few weeks max. Longer if something is wrong. If you've change anything or she's new. Give her some time to get settled and find her hide you provided her.
 

*hannah*

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 28, 2007
Messages
4
i just moved her to a larger enclosure, but she was climbing the walls in her old one. i had her in that since last august
 

Mina

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 4, 2005
Messages
2,136
Part of it was the move to a different enclosure. My T's always go arboreal for at least a few days to two weeks when moved into different houses. I agree with everyone else, change the water dish to a soda top and move where the dish and the hide are. The other thing you can do is partially bury the hide. Then your smithi can dig it out or rearrange it as she chooses.
 

*hannah*

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 28, 2007
Messages
4
except the problem is, the hide WAS partially buried and she completely buried it. and i can't get a rock under the water dish because its not that large. she's completely made a tunnel under one most of it now, and i just had to pull it out because it looked like it was defying the laws of physics and i was really worried about it falling on her. Why should i change it to a soda cap? i'm confused...
 
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