H. Lividum behavior

[Arborius]

My H. Lividum has had an odd change in behavior since its rehousing.

We had lots of mold and fungus growth* so I moved her to a tall (and air tight) container with
a small footprint so she would have a nice large area to burrow.
I manually purge the air daily.

Since the rehousing she is content to stay on the surface of the terrarium, and in the few weeks
since the rehousing she hasn't attempted to burrow. What she has done is webbed everything...
Her hide, water dish, nearly every surface, and from the side to the ground all the way around.


I'm thinking either she hates it, or she thinks shes underground already and she is shoring up her "burrow".

The high moisture, slightly lower than normal temperatures(central air, we try to keep T area warm though)
and the possibly peculiar air chemistry from having the container airtight could confuse a T.

Any opinions or words of warning?



* We live in (restoring) an old water damaged building, mold and stuff is a constant struggle.

 

[Hobo]

...or she thinks shes underground already and she is shoring up her "burrow"...

I'm willing to bet it's this.
I've seen similar behavior from pet store Haplos when they can't burrow: They just web everything and treat the entire enclosure like a gigantic burrow.

Mine was that way as well until I provided her with a better, deeper starter burrow, at which point she took to it overnight. Prior to that she just webbed herself into a little web "sac" every day in my half-assed barely-deep burrow indentation or my underground clear plastic burrow I made her looking very much unhappy (scrunched up) and then pacing at all hours of the night. This went on for a month until I scrapped the bottle and dug the indentation deep enough to fit her whole DLS in.

Maybe try and make a deeper starter burrow, deep enough to fit her whole body into, and maybe look into adding some ventilation so you don't have to go opening it everyday. Maybe the lack of air movement leads her to believe she is in an underground burrow already?

 

[bloodred1889]

i agree if there isnt alot of space above the tank lid then they will just think its a burrow.
she had a burrow she digged at first but since i re did her tank she has webbed the corner and looks snug, im not sure if i want to keep her that way so i can see her or let her burrow so she isnt stressed.

if i try to get her to burrow i put her nearer a bright light so she is inclined to get underground.. it did work last time, but thats just me, dont try that if other more experience people on her say thats bad.

basically my theory is if they dont burrow i will put her in a lighter place and take down her webbing in the corner down a little to desterb her and then she burrows.

gee writing that down makes me sound very cruel, but i wasnt trying to be so ppl dont linch me

id say give her more time and try to make her tank more open.