Grammostola pulchra buried herself

Cemykay

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I may sound a bit overconcerned but my pulchra girl (ca. 7.5 cm dls) buried herself about a week ago. I heard that some Ts do that in premolt, but she never showed the classic signs of it. Her abdomen, behaviour and appetite was quite normal and the last molt about a month and a half ago. Is this a normal behaviour for G. pulchras? Thanks in advance!
 

PidderPeets

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She's not in premolt if she just molted a month ago. How much are you feeding her? They may burrow if they don't want to be disturbed, such as by feeders or anything really
 

Cemykay

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I bought her a month ago from a breeder who told me she molted two weeks ago in his care and gave her a sub-adult cricket every 3-5 days for about 3 weeks. Could she be fasting?
 

Vanisher

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I may sound a bit overconcerned but my pulchra girl (ca. 7.5 cm dls) buried herself about a week ago. I heard that some Ts do that in premolt, but she never showed the classic signs of it. Her abdomen, behaviour and appetite was quite normal and the last molt about a month and a half ago. Is this a normal behaviour for G. pulchras? Thanks in advance!
They burrow no matter if they are in premoult or not. Terrestrial and fossorial speicies lives in burrows. So this is no sign if they are in premoult
 

Cemykay

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They burrow no matter if they are in premoult or not. Terrestrial and fossorial speicies lives in burrows. So this is no sign if they are in premoult
I may have used the wrong word here, i meant burried itself and closed its entrance with dirt (sealed itself of?). Sorry english is not my first language.
 

PidderPeets

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She could definitely be fasting if being fed at that rate. Even though these guys have great appetites, there's still a limit to how much they can take before they have enough. Mine is about the same size (maybe slightly smaller), and I only feed her every 2 or 3 weeks. Less as her abdomen grows. When feeding on a schedule like that, it becomes very easy to overfeed a T, and overfeeding often leads to fasting
 

Vanisher

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I may have used the wrong word here, i meant burried itself and closed its entrance with dirt (sealed itself of?). Sorry english is not my first language.
Aha! Yes that could mean premoult, but not nesessary. It can just mean it does not want to be disturbed
 

Ungoliant

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Colorado Ts

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I may sound a bit overconcerned but my pulchra girl (ca. 7.5 cm dls) buried herself about a week ago. I heard that some Ts do that in premolt, but she never showed the classic signs of it. Her abdomen, behaviour and appetite was quite normal and the last molt about a month and a half ago. Is this a normal behaviour for G. pulchras? Thanks in advance!
Welcome to keeping spiders as a hobby. Get used to this behavior...it's common. :cool:
 

Jaromysfuneral

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Ours loves doing this, it’s pretty cute. She’s about 2” now, maybe more. This whole part she will dig under until it’s hugging most of her body image.jpg
While this side she has a bit more of a tunnel
image.jpg
their landscaping is really really cool, all of this substrate was completely flat the first night she was here, and she constructed this as well as closed off the enterence to the shot glass with web and a large substrate mound with a tunnel through it that was discarded after the molt.
image.jpg
and right now she’s hiding. Still gotta get that booty back to full size from her molt, she gained about 3/4 of an inch in leg span with the last one about a month ago or so.
 

Cemykay

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I had a juvenile who did that for weeks on end, even when not in pre-molt.

Ours loves doing this, it’s pretty cute. She’s about 2” now, maybe more. This whole part she will dig under until it’s hugging most of her body View attachment 333774
While this side she has a bit more of a tunnel
View attachment 333775
their landscaping is really really cool, all of this substrate was completely flat the first night she was here, and she constructed this as well as closed off the enterence to the shot glass with web and a large substrate mound with a tunnel through it that was discarded after the molt.
View attachment 333776
and right now she’s hiding. Still gotta get that booty back to full size from her molt, she gained about 3/4 of an inch in leg span with the last one about a month ago or so.
That's adorable! I guess I have to be patient with my little bulldozer. Another reason why having just one tarantula is almost inevitable 😄.
 

Thekla

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Ours loves doing this, it’s pretty cute. She’s about 2” now, maybe more. This whole part she will dig under until it’s hugging most of her body View attachment 333774
While this side she has a bit more of a tunnel
View attachment 333775
their landscaping is really really cool, all of this substrate was completely flat the first night she was here, and she constructed this as well as closed off the enterence to the shot glass with web and a large substrate mound with a tunnel through it that was discarded after the molt.
View attachment 333776
and right now she’s hiding. Still gotta get that booty back to full size from her molt, she gained about 3/4 of an inch in leg span with the last one about a month ago or so.
Your T is desperately trying to burrow, but it can't because of the glass. Do your T a favour and get a nice cork bark where she can dig out a proper burrow under.
 

Jaromysfuneral

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Your T is desperately trying to burrow, but it can't because of the glass. Do your T a favour and get a nice cork bark where she can dig out a proper burrow under.
We will soon, she actually hangs out on the side of the glass or even by the lid most of the time, even when she was just a new sling. This is the first time she’s really done anything with substrate, and she’s never dug to the bottom. Still eating and seems good too me!

As we’re talking about burrowing species, I just have to show off our curly hairs current and last enclosures!
 

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Thekla

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We will soon, she actually hangs out on the side of the glass or even by the lid most of the time, even when she was just a new sling. This is the first time she’s really done anything with substrate, and she’s never dug to the bottom. Still eating and seems good too me!
Tarantulas are very adaptable creatures. She might still be eating and looking good, but she might not be "happy". Many Ts just need a lot of time to settle in and start digging and presuming now that she has, she has no means to follow her instincts in creating a proper burrow. Just fix it. ;)

As we’re talking about burrowing species, I just have to show off our curly hairs current and last enclosures!
Again, this isn't quite an appropriate enclosure for your T. You could get away putting a fossorial sling in such a vial, but I'd never have put one of my T. albos in such a container. It hasn't got enough floor space.
This is what I had my T. albo in when at that size:

20181211_190159.jpg

I would recommend making your own thread (instead of hijacking another thread ;)) and get some advice on your husbandry. :)

Also, here's a thread you and the OP should read, it has tons of useful information for beginners: https://arachnoboards.com/threads/tarantula-information-for-beginners-and-more.318718/ ;)
 

MaddiesMom

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Aug 10, 2019
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I may sound a bit overconcerned but my pulchra girl (ca. 7.5 cm dls) buried herself about a week ago. I heard that some Ts do that in premolt, but she never showed the classic signs of it. Her abdomen, behaviour and appetite was quite normal and the last molt about a month and a half ago. Is this a normal behaviour for G. pulchras? Thanks in advance!
I am late to the party so to speak, but I came across your post and had a bit of a chuckle when I read it, simply because my pulchra just did this very same thing. I spent the better part of a month finding the perfect enclosure and plant and substrate mixture and hide then set up a beautiful enclosure for my pulchra only to have her do this the moment I transferred her to her new home. I waited to transfer her 2 weeks after a molt so I know she is not in premolt. How long did your's stay like that, if I may ask? Just a T being a T
 

Cemykay

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Oct 29, 2019
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I am late to the party so to speak, but I came across your post and had a bit of a chuckle when I read it, simply because my pulchra just did this very same thing. I spent the better part of a month finding the perfect enclosure and plant and substrate mixture and hide then set up a beautiful enclosure for my pulchra only to have her do this the moment I transferred her to her new home. I waited to transfer her 2 weeks after a molt so I know she is not in premolt. How long did your's stay like that, if I may ask? Just a T being a T
She stayed in her burrow till now, but she has molted recently so i hope she will be out soon.
 
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