(Curious) Active G. porteri?

[AwkwardLettuce]

This is just out of curiosity, as I've only ever had this one tarantula.
I've always heard Rose Hairs are pet rocks. I know they'll differ but Miss Muffet is VERY active. She's always outside her "house" hanging out or wandering around her enclosure.
Does she want something? Is she just searching for food?
I asked her but she wasn't helpful.
Perhaps she needs a tiny gym?
Has she become confused by being housed in the same room as my guinea pigs and now thinks she's a slightly active rodent?
She does need a slightly larger enclosure which I'll be getting soon.
Miss Muffet and I thank you for your input.

 

[Rigor Mortis]

Can we see her current enclosure? Typically a very active tarantula isn't happy with some aspect of their surroundings. My porteri is only active when she's webbing, otherwise she's perfectly still, is yours webbing or is she just pacing?

 

[Vanisher]

Can we see her current enclosure? Typically a very active tarantula isn't happy with some aspect of their surroundings. My porteri is only active when she's webbing, otherwise she's perfectly still, is yours webbing or is she just pacing?

Can be. I have noticed that my G porteri is more active once in awhile, like once or twice per year. I am not meaning thst she is pacing, more that she take a step or two! I have had her for 20 years. But otherwise, she is a petrock. But if the tarantula is very active extebded periods there may be something in the setup that she is not happy with

 

[Rigor Mortis]

Can be. I have noticed that my G porteri is more active once in awhile, like once or twice per year. I have had her for 20 years. But otherwise, she is a petrock. But if the tarantula is very active extebded periods there may be something in the setup that she is not happy with

Mine was a pet rock for the first 6-8 months that I had her and then she finally decided to be somewhat active and make a web carpet. She works on it about once a day for maybe 15-20 minutes and then she's done.

OP, how long have you had your spider? Is it also possible that Miss Muffet is Mister Muffet?

 

[vancwa]

Mine moves around. She is either in her hide, on top of the hide or in the middle of her enclosure. Always moves to the front of enclosure at feeding time. One cricket per month and always eats. When I brought her home (2011) she did not eat for over a year and was a rock. Has molted only once.

 

[AwkwardLettuce]

Mine was a pet rock for the first 6-8 months that I had her and then she finally decided to be somewhat active and make a web carpet. She works on it about once a day for maybe 15-20 minutes and then she's done.

OP, how long have you had your spider? Is it also possible that Miss Muffet is Mister Muffet?

I've had her about a year and a half. She should be about 4 years old. This is the enclosure she came in. I adopted her from an animal rescue so I don't know too many details. I did not sex her. She does not have any external hooks.
Please don't hate me for the enclosure. I'm not happy with it. It's 5 gallon. She is 3" in length and 5" legspan. I want to upgrade to a 10 gallon, get way more coconut fiber in there (4-5"), make her a little burrow, and get some "decorations" for her. I need that cover converter if you know what I'm talking about so there's proper airflow.
I know I sound like a horrible owner

 

[vancwa]

I've had her about a year and a half. She should be about 4 years old. This is the enclosure she came in. I adopted her from an animal rescue so I don't know too many details. I did not sex her. She does not have any external hooks.
Please don't hate me for the enclosure. I'm not happy with it. It's 5 gallon. She is 3" in length and 5" legspan. I want to upgrade to a 10 gallon, get way more coconut fiber in there (4-5"), make her a little burrow, and get some "decorations" for her. I need that cover converter if you know what I'm talking about so there's proper airflow.
I know I sound like a horrible owner

I love the 'Jail' effect.

 

[AwkwardLettuce]

I love the 'Jail' effect.

I never even noticed that. Maybe she's planning a breakout.
It's a sort of "baby" gate for my guinea pigs.

 

[Vanessa]

My adult female is fairly active and moves stuff around in her enclosure sometimes. She is more active than a lot of other individuals in my collection.

 

[AwkwardLettuce]

I've had her about a year and a half. She should be about 4 years old. This is the enclosure she came in. I adopted her from an animal rescue so I don't know too many details. I did not sex her. She does not have any external hooks.
Please don't hate me for the enclosure. I'm not happy with it. It's 5 gallon. She is 3" in length and 5" legspan. I want to upgrade to a 10 gallon, get way more coconut fiber in there (4-5"), make her a little burrow, and get some "decorations" for her. I need that cover converter if you know what I'm talking about so there's proper airflow.
I know I sound like a horrible owner

Also she does do webbing. Not super enthusiastically. She'll pivot in a circle and that's it. I've only ever seen her lay lots of webbing before she molted.
Her body posture also varies. A majority of the time she's in a "sploot" where she's all spread out.

 

[cold blood]

I've had her about a year and a half. She should be about 4 years old. This is the enclosure she came in. I adopted her from an animal rescue so I don't know too many details. I did not sex her. She does not have any external hooks.
Please don't hate me for the enclosure. I'm not happy with it. It's 5 gallon. She is 3" in length and 5" legspan. I want to upgrade to a 10 gallon, get way more coconut fiber in there (4-5"), make her a little burrow, and get some "decorations" for her. I need that cover converter if you know what I'm talking about so there's proper airflow.
I know I sound like a horrible owner

The simple type set up is actually just fine, dont feel guilt for it. The only thing you need is more substrate simply to reduce the distance to the top.

Adult rose hairs, at 5" yours would be an adult, rarely use hides in captivity. The only time ive seen it is when first adjusting to a new home. Adult also means its a much older t than you were led to believe...it would take a decade at least to reach adult sizes....they grow very slowly, and as a result, live exceptionally long lives.

Generally they are the definition of pet rock....but there are random times where they just roam around a lot...sometimes even webbing a bunch (which is also unusual for them)....one of the times I observe roaming is, oddly, during pre molt....but not always.

 

[FrDoc]

@AwkwardLettuce I digress, I wish you would post more often. I like your humorous style.

 

[MikeofBorg]

Get an A. geniculata sling. Mine stop making burrows at 2 inches DLS and just sits in the open waiting on the next meal. Thing would eat every other day if I let it. It is over 3 inches DLS now at just few weeks under a year old. It is always waiting for me to drop a roach or cricket in when I open the lid to it's enclosure.

 

[AwkwardLettuce]

@AwkwardLettuce I digress, I wish you would post more often. I like your humorous style.

Awe, thank you I'm shy about posting. I don't even consider myself a hobbyist so I just hang out. I will post when her new enclosure gets done. It's going to be a Fallout theme. Maybe I'll put some little radioactive buckets and waste in there (fake I'm fresh out of uranium).

Get an A. geniculata sling. Mine stop making burrows at 2 inches DLS and just sits in the open waiting on the next meal. Thing would eat every other day if I let it. It is over 3 inches DLS now at just few weeks under a year old. It is always waiting for me to drop a roach or cricket in when I open the lid to it's enclosure.

Okay, so she's being pretty typical. I thought she might want food. But I also get the impression she likes stabbing crickets with her fangs so I thought maybe she was getting anxious at the lack of homicide.

The simple type set up is actually just fine, dont feel guilt for it. The only thing you need is more substrate simply to reduce the distance to the top.

Adult rose hairs, at 5" yours would be an adult, rarely use hides in captivity. The only time ive seen it is when first adjusting to a new home. Adult also means its a much older t than you were led to believe...it would take a decade at least to reach adult sizes....they grow very slowly, and as a result, live exceptionally long lived.

Generally they are the definition of pet rock....but there are random times where they just roam around a lot...sometimes even webbing a bunch (which is also unusual for them)....one of the times I observe roaming is, oddly, during pre molt....but not always.

Thank you! That's super helpful.
Like I said, she's adopted. I'm, at minimum, the third person to have her. No one really knew much about tarantulas. I adopted her because she's a giant spider and no one actually wanted her.
I do know they were feeding her three large crickets per week. I don't do that but I'm not sure if that would make much of a difference in her size? I know it makes them grow faster I just don't know how much.
She molted right after I got her. I assume from stress because it was within days. That was July 2018. She could be in pre-molt.
She isn't any different to me than any other animal, so I just want to make sure she's the spider equivalent of happy

 

[cold blood]

do know they were feeding her three large crickets per week. I don't do that but I'm not sure if that would make much of a difference in her size? I know it makes them grow faster I just don't know how much.
She molted right after I got her. I assume

One cannot make a t grow faster by providing more food...thays not how they grow....you can maximize growth, but you dont need a heavy feeding schedule to attain that either. Lack of food slows growth far more than over feeding could ever increase it.

That was July 2018. She could be in pre-molt.

Doubt it, generally young adults of this species will molt every 2-3years....older adults will molt on a 4 to as much as 6 year schedule.

Knowing its molt cycle is the best way to guesstimate how old the t might be.

 

[AwkwardLettuce]

One cannot make a t grow faster by providing more food...thays not how they grow....you can maximize growth, but you dont need a heavy feeding schedule to attain that either. Lack of food slows growth far more than over feeding could ever increase it.



Doubt it, generally young adults of this species will molt every 2-3years....older adults will molt on a 4 to as much as 6 year schedule.

Knowing its molt cycle is the best way to guesstimate how old the t might be.

Power feeding is what I was thinking about. I had read about it at some point and thought it accelerated growth.

That's the issue. I was told she molted a week before I got her. Obviously not true. So I have no idea what intervals are for her. I was talking about coming up on the 2 year mark. M