Drinking after molt

[julesaussies]

Hi. My male B. smithi molted out mature yesterday and lookes awesome. Anyway, i saw him taking a drink on Wednesday afternoon while flicking hairs around his house, outside his log. He molted the next day. i was surprised to find him all the way at the other end of his house having another drink of water almost immediately after flipping back right side up.

He always has water available so it wasn't like he was parched from lack of water in his house. i was mostly surprised to see him drinking immediately after a molt. i have never seen any of my other big T's doing this. i didn't even know they could drink from their fangs so soon after. Is this normal? Should i be concerned that he is feeling so dehydrated? His house is set up dry as it should be for a Brachy, plus his water dish.

 

[JMoran1097]

as long as the abdomen looks non-shriveled, you are ok. don't worry about him drinking. you just happened to catch him at a good time. i rarely see my T's drink. continue what you are doing and keep that water dish full.

 

[edesign]

they don't drink through their fangs...they have a mouth and no, i would not be concerned unless the abdomen looks shriveled.

 

[Needles666]

My A. Metallica molted Wednesday night sometime and Thursday morning I saw it squatting in it's water dish as well, I just figured it was re-hydrating...

But I haven't seen to many T's molt, let alone catch them molting as I have a very small collection that only recently got larger.

 

[julesaussies]

they don't drink through their fangs...they have a mouth

Well, i guess i have to nominate myself for dork of the day for sure!!! Maybe i need to buy one of those T anatomy books for children?? Sorry! I cannot believe i asked such a lame question... :8o

 

[MizM]

I've also noticed that mature males drink a larger amount of water. I've always attributed it to the large amount of silk they must produce to spin multiple sperm webs.

 

[Stan Schultz]

... i didn't even know they could drink from their fangs so soon after. ...

As someone else pointed out, they don't drink with their fangs. However, I've seen this behavior many times with any number of species. They reach up and sort of grab the edge of the water dish with their fangs and settle down with the edge of the dish at their mouths. I'm convinced that all they're doing is penetrating the water's surface tension and allowing a bridge for it to "wick" up to their mouths. They're "sippers" not "gulpers."

... Is this normal? ...

Enthusiasts have been keeping tarantulas for something like 50 years or more and we're still trying to decide exactly what "normal" is with them. Just when we think we have it all figured out one of them does something bizarre and we have to start all over again! That's one of the reasons they're so interesting.

Don't worry. Be happy. Enjoy your tarantula!

 

[edesign]

Well, i guess i have to nominate myself for dork of the day for sure!!! Maybe i need to buy one of those T anatomy books for children?? Sorry! I cannot believe i asked such a lame question... :8o

bah...it's not lame, just a common misconception. When I first got in to T's I didn't know that either. Only way to learn is to ask questions and do your homework