G. pulchripes blocked off burrow

[captainsympathy]

I received a 2" G. pulchripes on Oct 10, 2024. It's molted once since I had it. That time, it hadn't yet burrowed. It has since burrowed and then blocked off its burrow. Some threads I've read here lead me to believe this is normal behavior. I dropped a cricket in the enclosure because it had been a long time since I'd been able to feed my Ts (like a few weeks ><), and the cricket has since disappeared, but the burrow blockade is very much intact. Any advice?

 

[Ratmosphere]

How fat is the tarantula? Sounds normal.

 

[viper69]

Normal

 

[LucN]

Do not disturb your spider by opening its burrow. It'll come out when it's ready. It's entirely possible it caught that cricket while you were away. If a few days have passed and you still see the cricket roaming about, it's probably best to remove it and toss it to another, hungrier spider.

 

[captainsympathy]

How fat is the tarantula? Sounds normal.

It's hard to say! I haven't seen it in a while. Attached is a (blurry, sorry) view of it on Dec 27. I can circle the abdomen if it's unclear.

Do not disturb your spider by opening its burrow. It'll come out when it's ready. It's entirely possible it caught that cricket while you were away. If a few days have passed and you still see the cricket roaming about, it's probably best to remove it and toss it to another, hungrier spider.

I do plan to remove the cricket if I end up finding it, but as of now, it's MIA. I will leave the burrow alone. I do hope it ate the cricket

 

[Brewser]

Needs Alone Time, unbothered and in seclusion.
Keep the Water Bowl topped off.
Could be a while before a Reappearance.

 

[Gevo]

Yes, it's normal for them to barricade themselves in for long periods of time. If you search the forums, you'll see lots of threads on this topic, but in a nutshell, they do this.

I know you say it molted in October and didn't burrow then, but it could still be readying for another molt. They don't always display the exact same molting behaviours each time. Then again, sometimes they burrow even when they're not molting, so you won't know for sure which it is until the spider either comes out as-is or comes out freshly molted!

It's safer to offer pre-killed insects during this time, just in case the spider is molting and the cricket finds a way into the burrow, so keep that in mind for next time. If the spider is burrowed, it usually means they're not hungry. When mine were burrowed like that for 5-6 months before molting (a B. hamorii and a G. pulchra, both about the same size as your G. pulchripes), I'd offer a prekilled insect once a month or so at the mouth of each barricaded burrow. Neither of them took it, but I could fortunately see them from the side and could tell that they were doing fine.

You posted a picture from December 27. Does that mean the burrow was open then when you took the picture, or is that a shot taken from the side of the enclosure or something? If it's only been burrowed a few days or weeks, you certainly have nothing to worry about. They can stay down there for many months. If you are able to see into the burrow from the side, you can easily keep an eye on it to make sure it's still moving around and maintaining a good abdomen size.

 

[Glorfindel]

Wait