Do Tarantulas Slow Down in Daytime Hours?

PTCruiser

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 12, 2007
Messages
3
I just posted that I adopted a 3yr old Pink Toe one week ago.

I *thought* that she had been surviving but not thriving because she had been mistaken for a Rose T and was being kept in those conditions and really wasn't given very much attention outside of a few crickets every 2 weeks. Everything I had read about a PT indicated that they moved VERY fast. When I picked up the T at my friend's though, she was "petting" her and Charlotte was walking around like I figured a Rose would so I figured it was because her substrate was totally dry, no heat, no humidity etc. I've modified all that now but when she moves...it's still slower than I thought.

Anyway, she doesn't hide or anything and hasn't spun any type of web but when I open the lock on the Exo Terra she's in , it makes a popping noise. During the day when it appears that she's resting, it hasn't bothered her in the least and she doesn't even move. Two nights ago at 3am, I popped the lock and it made it's usualy noise but for this time, it must have startled her and she bolted from the substrate to the top of the thing! I NOW know how fast she can move! I don't know who was more startled...her or me! :)

Now I'm curious....do their metabolisms slow down during the day or something so that they aren't as aware of what's going on around them? I can't figure out why opening up the Exo at night was suddenly an issue?

Thanks for any insight!! :?
 

Cirith Ungol

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 22, 2004
Messages
3,886
Metabolism is very much influence by temperature. You'd think at least in the wild the metabolism slows down at night. During summer it will certainly slow down during night too when the house cools down again.

They don't move fast all the time. Only when startled, on the defense or when hunting. Other than that they just lumber about as you have observed.

A startled T will most often chose to bolt upwards, that's also the true for diggers without an established burrow.

Issue: You can be certain that every big movement arround a T is an issue, but how much and where it comes from will certainly matter, plus what "mood" the T is in at that time. I think it's safe to assume they don't like sudden gusts of air (especially not if it contains a lot of CO2), that's enough to startle a T.
 

Python

Arachnolord
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Mar 21, 2005
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631
It's possible that it's used to hearing the "pop" during the day but when it came during darkness, it was a new experience. I don't know how well T's "remember" things but I would assume that they become accustomed to certain things over time and anything out of the ordinary would be percieved as a threat. Don't know how wrong I am here but I would guess they would have some sort of memory no matter how rudimentary. Someone that knows please chime in on this.
 

Cirith Ungol

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 22, 2004
Messages
3,886
It's possible that it's used to hearing the "pop" during the day but when it came during darkness, it was a new experience. I don't know how well T's "remember" things but I would assume that they become accustomed to certain things over time and anything out of the ordinary would be percieved as a threat. Don't know how wrong I am here but I would guess they would have some sort of memory no matter how rudimentary. Someone that knows please chime in on this.
Personally I'm imagining though that the memory in that case is of something that happens pretty exact the same way every time. Like, where do the feeders normally drop? In my case, with feeding ports it's in exact the same place every time. Contradicting this a little is the fact that my parahybanas go after the water nearly every time eventhough I've given them water the exact same way for years.

All in all we can only widely speculate. One thing that seems rather sure though is, that much of a T's response has to do with exact how we did something to their environment. That seems to come appearant especially in cases of handling.
 

JMoran1097

Arachnoangel
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Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
924
T's are nocturnal creatures. I think that pretty much sums up all of the answers?
 

AubZ

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
May 19, 2007
Messages
1,125
It's possible that it's used to hearing the "pop" during the day but when it came during darkness, it was a new experience. I don't know how well T's "remember" things but I would assume that they become accustomed to certain things over time and anything out of the ordinary would be percieved as a threat. Don't know how wrong I am here but I would guess they would have some sort of memory no matter how rudimentary. Someone that knows please chime in on this.
I have had my Adult G rosea for just over 2 weeks now. She is kept in a glass tank with a wooden lid. Whenever I open the lid she gets a bit skittish and will move abit. Sometimes go straight into her hide. 8 out of 10 times I open is for feeding, so if the above is tru I wonder why she will hide away, rather than wait for her food? I know all T's are different, but just thought I would share with you.
My L parabyhana Juvi doesn't seem to get to bothered when I open her enclosure.
 

spid142

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 9, 2006
Messages
492
behavior

Ive noticed my parahybana has become accustomed to my opening the top of her enclosure to drop a cricket in, and even seems to anticipate it, by turning to an upward facing pose as I start opening.
 
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