GBB on Cage Floor

[Lil Paws]

My 1.5" GBB molted a couple weeks ago and readily fed (again) yesterday. Since I changed her setup to have less substrate and more height she had been spending a lot of time at the top of a long piece of corkbark. But today she is all the way on the bottom of her cage floor under her webbing. She dug out a little pit and has her body in it with her legs facing up (she is not on her back).

What is that about? Should I be worried?

 

[Paul1126]

They are terrestrial so it's not unusual for them to be on the ground.
I'm having a hard time imagining what your spiders position is, you need to post pictures for people to help you.

 

[Lil Paws]

10-4. I'll see if I can get a picture of her.

 

[Arachnoclown]

Mine thinks he's Aboreal but he has a burrow in the substrate as well. Post a pic....

 

[Lil Paws]

What a beautiful setup and web!

 

[Chris LXXIX]

What a beautiful setup and web!

Yeah, kinda an arboreal set up. After all, the enclosure is an Exo used for arboreals, if my eyes doesn't betray me.

They ('GBB') are really pretty agile, unlike chubby NW T's, so it's fine, even if I prefer a more terrestrial one

 

[Lil Paws]

Here's kind of a photo, but it's not the greatest. My phone's camera is *awful*, and I need to get a card reader for my good camera that has a macro lens.

 

[Lil Paws]

I guess she's just telling me she's not hungry—haha. Her belly is quite full after eating yesterday. She fattened up quickly after the molt. I can't wait to get the pics off my camera, because I am 80% sure she is female and would love to read what others think. She appears to have a very prominent fold right now.

 

[darkness975]

View attachment 257266 Mine thinks he's Aboreal but he has a burrow in the substrate as well. Post a pic....

There is too much height in that Enclosure.

@Lil Paws Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens is a terrestrial Spider. It is not at all abnormal for it to be on the ground.

 

[Lil Paws]

There is too much height in that Enclosure.

@Lil Paws Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens is a terrestrial Spider. It is not at all abnormal for it to be on the ground.

So I am confused now. A few people in another thread I started showed me they have a lot more vertical space in their GBB enclosures and told me I needed more in mine. Madam Twinkletoes (yes, I give our spiders silly names) seems happier since I took out a lot of her substrate. She's a 1.5" sling in a softball display case that's around 7" cube. She's webbed up a lot more, eating like an 8-legged piggie and has not tried to escape since I redecorated it. This thing with her being on the floor is a new behavior (for her), but we have only had her for a couple months so we are learning what her "normal" is.

Exactly how much substrate do these guys need? They seem to have slightly different rules when it comes to other NW terrestrials. I want our hairy leggy charges to be safe *and* happy (as happy as a carnivorous solitary invertebrate gets).

 

[JoshDM020]

Oh yay, its been a while since we've had a "Semi-arboreal GBB" thread.
Quite frankly, ive seen these guys set up so many different ways and kept successfully in those ways, that im willing to say you could probably do whatever you want so long as its dry, and has a lot of anchor points. Dry is super important.
Mine seems perfectly content with his 3ish inches of open space. His enclosure dimensions are roughly 14×4×4 inches.
I wouldnt mind getting one of those exoterras thats longer than it is tall for him or a future female. More vertical space without it being over kill.

 

[darkness975]

So I am confused now. A few people in another thread I started showed me they have a lot more vertical space in their GBB enclosures and told me I needed more in mine. Madam Twinkletoes (yes, I give our spiders silly names) seems happier since I took out a lot of her substrate. She's a 1.5" sling in a softball display case that's around 7" cube. She's webbed up a lot more, eating like an 8-legged piggie and has not tried to escape since I redecorated it. This thing with her being on the floor is a new behavior (for her), but we have only had her for a couple months so we are learning what her "normal" is.

Exactly how much substrate do these guys need? They seem to have slightly different rules when it comes to other NW terrestrials. I want our hairy leggy charges to be safe *and* happy (as happy as a carnivorous solitary invertebrate gets).

Some vertical space is fine. Give it some anchor points to attach webbing to.

But the image that @Mexican Redknee uploaded shows a terrestrial species in an Enclosure that has too much vertical space. If it climbs up there and falls down that will be the end of it.

 

[Arachnoclown]

There is too much height in that Enclosure.

@Lil Paws Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens is a terrestrial Spider. It is not at all abnormal for it

Some vertical space is fine. Give it some anchor points to attach webbing to.

But the image that @Mexican Redknee uploaded shows a terrestrial species in an Enclosure that has too much vertical space. If it climbs up there and falls down that will be the end of it.

Wrong....ive raised Gbb's for 30 years. Never has any of them fell...in fact they seam just as agile as my pokies.

 

[darkness975]

Wrong....I've raised Gbb's for 30 years. Never has any of them fell...in fact they seem just as agile as my pokies.

Do you watch them 24/7 365 days/year? Are they able to levitate and thus incapable of succumbing to the force of gravity?
I'm sorry you don't agree with my answer, but I'm not wrong.


@Lil Paws What is you set up for your GBB? Can't really tell much from your image above. Are there enough anchor points for webbing?

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Wrong....ive raised Gbb's for 30 years. Never has any of them fell...in fact they seam just as agile as my pokies.

While I do 100% agree with you about their agility, is however better to never exaggerate with height (unlike for real tree climbers, like arboreals are).

 

[Chris LXXIX]

It's always the same story of 'Pterinochilus murinus and the arboreal set up'.

They can adapt? Yes. Actually I don't think exist a better, hardy, 'ready to survive' cheap Theraphosidae, out there. 'GBB' are similar on that (venom potency, price tag, colours/patterns aside).

They are agile? Definitely. They aren't huge (lovely) 'monsters' like genus Hysterocrates and Pelinobius muticus 0.1, after all.

There's something wrong, then, into keeping an 'OBT' (or a 'GBB') into a kinda, reasonable, bit of height enclosure? No.

But all of the above means nothing: 'GBB' are terrestrials, and an 'OBT', if given the chance, will always burrow.

 

[Paul1126]

Just to chime in, I've spooked my GBB (accidentally) and I have seen him fall. Not saying all GBBs are the same.

 

[Lil Paws]

Do you watch them 24/7 365 days/year? Are they able to levitate and thus incapable of succumbing to the force of gravity?
I'm sorry you don't agree with my answer, but I'm not wrong.


@Lil Paws What is you set up for your GBB? Can't really tell much from your image above. Are there enough anchor points for webbing?

 

[Arachnoclown]

It's always the same story of 'Pterinochilus murinus and the arboreal set up'.

They can adapt? Yes. Actually I don't think exist a better, hardy, 'ready to survive' cheap Theraphosidae, out there. 'GBB' are similar on that (venom potency, price tag, colours/patterns aside).

They are agile? Definitely. They aren't huge (lovely) 'monsters' like genus Hysterocrates and Pelinobius muticus 0.1, after all.

There's something wrong, then, into keeping an 'OBT' (or a 'GBB') into a kinda, reasonable, bit of height enclosure? No.

But all of the above means nothing: 'GBB' are terrestrials, and an 'OBT', if given the chance, will always burrow.

I totally agree with you...my fat females do not web up high. They tend to fill the entire enclosure in webbing down low. All my young males tend to only web on top of the enclousre and eventually as they age web up the bottom as well. In fact if I add 2" of substrate (too the photo) it would be the same height as a terrestrial enclosure. He would still with or without anchor points start webbing at the top of any enclosure. Some of these guys just do it. I add moss and plants to make a fall less dangerous but they usually ball them up in the corner. It's been the same story for 30 years...some people want to knock what you do (mostly just following the sheep) but this has always been what has work for some of my juvenile and male Gbb's. If someone wants to keep their T's in a shoebox thats fine with me. Im not gonna attack them like they're a irresponsible owner like some others may do.

 

[Lil Paws]

So it seems that there is debate over the setup—even between you seasoned keepers? I'm going to probably side with caution for now and stick with a setup that is squarish in proportion with lots of anchor points with about 1/3 substrate to offer a bit of a cushion in case there is a fall, but if she gets antsy like she did before I'll play with height and other parts of the setup.

She has become my favorite. She is almost always out and about, and has so much personality. I love the way she lifts her feet high as she walks. I bought her because I thought the adult markings were very unique, but the baby colors are so neat. She looks like a little tiger in slippers.