Grooming

[Amanda]

I was watching my rose, Ophelia, groom herself this evening. Tonight's task was to clean and comb all legs, on the right side of the body, the pedipalps, and the chelicerae. She was very thorough with each part. This got me thinking... Does the frequency of grooming vary by species, age, substrate, proximity to next molt, or does it just depend on the personality of the individual spider?

 

[Brian S]

Probably when they feel they need one lol

Seems like they do it alot after a meal. Perhaps we should supply them with aprons LOL

 

[Nate]

Grooming is usually associated with health. Typically unkempt hair coats are a sign of illness in animals. Usually if animals have unkempt hair its means the illness has escalated. Normally (even sick) animals attempt to appear clean/health to avoid predator selection and mating selection. Predators usually prey on the weakest of the pack. Even Pigs that roll in the mud can have traits of unkemptness that are telling signs of illness.

 

[FOX]

I was watching my rose, Ophelia, groom herself this evening. Tonight's task was to clean and comb all legs, on the right side of the body, the pedipalps, and the chelicerae. She was very thorough with each part. This got me thinking... Does the frequency of grooming vary by species, age, substrate, proximity to next molt, or does it just depend on the personality of the individual spider?

Is she preparing to meet her mate...lol

 

[Amanda]

My girl is currently unattached. I've had her for less than a month, so I don't know her age, but she's a bit smaller than the stated max size for a G.rosea. I tend to think that she's CB because all roses at the store are the same size. They even have another batch not yet on display that are smaller, but the same size as one another.

She certainly is a pretty and well-primped girl!

 

[ancientscout]

Amanda it is really interesting to see tarantulas preening themselves. Generally they perform such "grooming" after consuming a meal, but they can also do it other times as well.

The coolest T that i enjoy watching that does an exceptional job is my Aphonopelma Calcodes. She really gets into grooming herself in the most interesting ways, more so than others that i have observed. Sometimes she will have three legs going all at once along with pedipalps too. She will be rubbing underneath, on top, on the side and on the leg doing the grooming. She is really neat to watch in that respect. The other thing i find interesting is how delicate and intriciate they can be while performing those health duties.

Frankly i think that all species do this in one way or another. Basically it is the same method for all but some are just more interesting in the way in which they go about it. I don't think substrate or the environment in general has much to do with it but rather to remove any leftover food particals or anything that could be a sorurce of irritation for your girl.

Preening is by instinct i feel rather than any other reason. Remember, the tarantula as we know it today has been around for some 350,000,000 years. It is essentially the same tarantula that walked the earth at the same time as the dinosour. It has changed very little in all that time. It has had plenty of time to learn how to be a lady.
Ancientscout

 

[Skypainter]

My two adult female A. metallicas groom their feet and pedipalps quite often, its neat to watch. They grab each foot with their fangs and rub them against their mouth as they pull them across. I think arboreals need to do this so that their feet stay clean and adhere better.