my rosie got p!$$#& at me for taking webbing!

[ian robbins]

I usually try not to mess with the floor webbing to much but this rosie I have (who is crazy anyway) got really ticked at me for trying to take her floor webbing.
I reached in just to clean the water dish and pick up any poo poo's she left foe me and she ran in her clay pot inclosure and proceeded to bundle up and drag into her little hidding place all of her floor webbing. :?
bundled it up and gaurded it as if to let me know this is mine and will stay here or your getting a fang in the finger.
I have been told no by lots of gilrs in my day trust me on that one but whats up with that i just wanted to clean her water dish??
anyone ever seen that before?
why would she be so protective over her floor webbing like that??

she just drug it in with her and sat on it as soon as I open the cage.

 

[JMoran1097]

did she give you a threat posture or just run into her hide?

threat posture=go away or i'll bite
run into hide=i'm trying to protect myself


if she just ran into her hide, that's normal.

 

[spid142]

Some Ts, regardless of species, can be very defensive of water dishes, especially if some of the Ts webbing is near it. Since you were messing with her water dish, she dragged her webbing to where she felt safe. Ive seen this with a blondi, who not only got upset with any kind of messing near her water dish, but regularly threat-displayed and even occasionally lunged at me.
Some Ts think of their water dish as 'off limits'.

 

[julesaussies]

i have an N. chromatus female who was pretty mellow when i got her but also pre-molt. Well i think she's feeling her oats now that she's in her new skin. She is very territorial about her water dish and i have had to switch out the small ceramic one for a gatorade lid that i can remove/replace with tongs. i made this decision after she lunged and literally slapped me for trying to give her a clean water bowl... LOL! That's okay - she's pretty!!

 

[Aurelia]

haha! it's like their webbing is a security blanket. that's so cute!

 

[spid142]

My blondi (who I traded after she got to 6 inch), actually dug a shallow depression right next to the water dish, lined the pit completely with silk,laid motionless there, and dared me to mess with it, LOL. Anywhere else in the enclosure, she wouldnt react much, but move the webbing or dish the least little bit and she let me know to leave it alone. Security blanket? Ha, sure seemed that way.

 

[Moltar]

I have a little ('bout 2") B albopilosum that guards its little bottle cap fiercely. It will strike repeatedly and even wrestle with the end of a chopstick when i try to encourage it offa' the cap so i can fill it. It's by far the fiercest behavior i've seen from any t I have. That includes 2 Nhandu's, an E murinus and a cobalt.

That little guy is becoming quite a spaz as he get's bigger.

 

[JMoran1097]

maybe you guys should just invest in something with an easy pour spout so you can just fill the cap without having to reach in. i do it with all my highly defensive species and never once had one of them lunge at me.

 

[Aurelia]

do you think we can teach our Ts to drink from one of those rodent water bottles?

 

[Ando55]

maybe you guys should just invest in something with an easy pour spout so you can just fill the cap without having to reach in. i do it with all my highly defensive species and never once had one of them lunge at me.

Good thinking, I had that idea in mind as well if I had a defensive T. I'll do that with my two fairly docile ones as well. Something like a clean, sterile dropper only used to fill the water and give water I think is ideal. Some T owners also use a unused turkey baster as well. I know turkey basters sell on Ebay starting at 2-3 dollars. An quick, safe, investment for water dish refills. New medicine droppers are even cheaper and do the same.

 

[patrick86]

Turkey basters and the like are fine for filling water dishes. You still have to go get them every now and then and clean 'em up.

 

[Ando55]

Turkey basters and the like are fine for filling water dishes. You still have to go get them every now and then and clean 'em up.

Very true just grab it quick with some forceps before the T thinks it's food.

 

[Rochelle]

Turkey basters and the like are fine for filling water dishes. You still have to go get them every now and then and clean 'em up.

We use a large plastic syringe we bought at the pharmacy for less than two dollars and works great!

 

[spot]

our curly hair used to turn over her water dish (it was a lightweight lid to a milk jug) and roll it around for hours. it was fun to watch but I always wondered what she was thinking.

 

[Ando55]

We use a large plastic syringe we bought at the pharmacy for less than two dollars and works great!

That works well too! :clap:

 

[Tuishimi]

Huh. I wonder if my one Aphonopelma is like that. He would not leave his water dish 2 days ago when I was trying to take it out, clean it and refresh it. I had to wrestle him backwards into the log, then keep my tool in front of the opening to get the dish out. Booger.

Unrelated, spank me if this is a hijack but, I have three T's enclosures right next to each other. When I fed one a big juicy beetle, the other two came out of their hide-aways. I mean, it could just have been coincidence...