I named my B smithi Houdini because he somehow escaped from his enclosure, inexplicably, within days of joining my household. I got lucky, and found him on the floor behind my laundry hamper. That was a little over a year ago.
Well, Houdini is at it again ... I came to say nighty-night and found this ...
To my horror, Houdini was gonzo.
I don't mean to say that I panicked, but a crazy-quilt of hypotheticals criss-crossed my consciousness demanding to be heard, like "How long ago did this happen?" and "How the heck did he DO this?" and "How am I ever going to find him?" and so on. I grabbed my flashlight and the hunt was on.
This is not a large smithi we're talking here, but he somehow managed to dislodge what I thought was a secure cover of his enclosure and walk away. I looked everywhere - under things, behind things, inside things - and finally, I got lucky - again - I found him crawling about in a box of files and photographs, and managed to coax him into a cup and back into his enclosure.
I know it sounds crazy, but I think I know how he did it - I think that he wedged himself between the top of the hide and the lid, and pushed, causing the lid to open and tip sideways, thus leaving an escape route. Resourceful little devil, isn't he???? Looks like it's time for a bigger hide/enclosure.
Moral of the story - never underestimate the brute strength of a determined tarantula!
Well, Houdini is at it again ... I came to say nighty-night and found this ...
To my horror, Houdini was gonzo.
I don't mean to say that I panicked, but a crazy-quilt of hypotheticals criss-crossed my consciousness demanding to be heard, like "How long ago did this happen?" and "How the heck did he DO this?" and "How am I ever going to find him?" and so on. I grabbed my flashlight and the hunt was on.
This is not a large smithi we're talking here, but he somehow managed to dislodge what I thought was a secure cover of his enclosure and walk away. I looked everywhere - under things, behind things, inside things - and finally, I got lucky - again - I found him crawling about in a box of files and photographs, and managed to coax him into a cup and back into his enclosure.
I know it sounds crazy, but I think I know how he did it - I think that he wedged himself between the top of the hide and the lid, and pushed, causing the lid to open and tip sideways, thus leaving an escape route. Resourceful little devil, isn't he???? Looks like it's time for a bigger hide/enclosure.
Moral of the story - never underestimate the brute strength of a determined tarantula!