G. rosea rubbing legs?

[Beatlesdork]

So lately my G. rosea has been rubbing both of their 3rd and 4th legs together slowly as well as rubbing their 4th legs slowly on the spinnerets and abdomen. I don't see a "cloud" of hairs but I've never seen them flicking hairs before so I'm not sure if they're urticating. I also noticed the "joints" or "knees" on 2 of the legs look whitish and the top half of their abdomen is slightly darker than the rest. Is this pre molt? Should I expect a molt soon?

 

[FrancesP]

It sounds like she might just be grooming? But if she's dark, then maybe pre molt. Mine always groom after eating and sometimes I suspect they get a bit itchy before a molt....but that's probably severely imagined on my part.

 

[GG80]

I find mine doing that all the time, especially after a feed where she'll rub her legs against her fangs also. I figured it's just grooming and cleaning. Once I saw her repeatedly rubbing her spinnerets with her 4th leg and then bringing the leg up to her jaws. It looked like she was picking her butt and eating her poo haha.

 

[cold blood]

Is this pre molt? Should I expect a molt soon?

Nothing you wrote indicates pre-molt, seems like your standard grooming. From "Tarantulas and other arachnids": "...a happy tarantula is sitting still or grooming itself"

 

[korg]

The spider was just grooming itself, which is behavior pretty much unrelated to molting. Take a few minutes to watch up close next time you notice it grooming like that... it's pretty fascinating to observe how coordinated and thorough they are with the whole process.

 

[BobGrill]

Yeah tarantulas actually do do things despite being rather inactive animals. Grooming is just part of their normal routine.

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[Medusa]

A tarantula kicking hairs reminds me of a dog scratching with their hind leg. As others have said, yours appears to be grooming.