My T tries to escape all day....check it out - but why?

[abstract]

I have a spider sold to me as a "stripe-knee" that I believe to be a PZB that doesn nothing but try and escape from his cage all day....Well maybe not all day - but quite a bit. You can check him out at:

http://tywebb.dyndns.org:8080

First - Why would he do this? I believe the cage is appropriately sized for his dimensions - the substrate isn't too wet/dry - just moist - and it's the same peat that all my other spiders are comfortable on.... Not a mature male from everything I can gather...

Second - Does anything about this spider make you think it's NOT a PZB? His attitude is inconsistent with a PZB's - this guy is extremely nervous, skittish, and fast. Eat's like a mo-fo too. I tried to put rolly-pollys in his enc. - and he gobbled them....

 

[Buspirone]

It looks like an A. seemani to me and they are commonly sold as "stripe knee" tarantulas. If its a mature male it will be interested in escape to find a mate. It also depends on how long you've had it in that enclosure. It might take days up to a couple weeks for the spider to settle in, especially if it was kept in a container too small for it for an extended period of time. From your web cam the bright light might be freaking it out. T's don't like bright light or need it.

 

[abstract]

I'm pretty sure it's not a mature mail - i can't see any tibial hooks - I'm colorblind - and the webcam doesn't really show it, but he is a light brown - underside is light brown to pink - aren't A. Seemani's darker?

Settling could probably be an issue - I've only had it about 2 weeks - but it was decently kept at the petstore - in a shoebox sized tupperware....

As far as the light - my webcam makes it look a lot brighter than it is - the enc. is in a room with all the blinds drawn - that's just ambient light through the blinds.

Thx Buspirone.

 

[arachnopunks]

We have an adult female A. seemanni that used to do that all the time. She would get all hung up on her screen enclosure lid and we would find her hanging there. We found that giving her deep substrate really helped. She was actually given to us because her previous owner got sick of her escaping all the time. Now that we have her in 4-6 inch substrate, she just digs and sits in her burrow.


-Jill

 

[Buspirone]

Originally posted by arachnopunks
We have an adult female A. seemanni that used to do that all the time. She would get all hung up on her screen enclosure lid and we would find her hanging there. We found that giving her deep substrate really helped. She was actually given to us because her previous owner got sick of her escaping all the time. Now that we have her in 4-6 inch substrate, she just digs and sits in her burrow.


-Jill

Good point. They do like to burrow and hide and adding another 2 or 3 inches of substrate is a simple thing.

 

[TheDon]

Ya my A. Seemani like to climb up and sink its fangs into the screen lid every once and awhile. I have a half log hallowed out that she hangs out in most of the time but then she will come out and climb all around. I have raised the substrate to almost the top and now there is about 7" of substrate and about 2 - 3" to the lid. She used to climb alot and she got her claw stuck at one point and I was worried so i raised it so that she could no longer get stuck. Now she doesnt climb as much. I would recommend raising it a little for her safety and maybe also she will stop climbing. Good Luck. Nice Webcam and nice T.

peace

TheDon

 

[Vys]

Hm, watching that thing is making me nervous.

 

[DiStUrBeD-OnE]

Does that spider EVER quit moving?!
Ill be happy if i see my tarantulas move from one corner to the another..

 

[abstract]

Not too much - I let him run around in my hallway sometimes - and he pretty much cruises the whole time. This guy also got away from me and ran under a cabinet once - had to tear up the cabinet to get him.

I bought it a few weeks ago - and it's abdomen was a little skinny - but no hair kicking spots. Since I've got him, I've fed him a pinkie and a liberal amount of crix, and he's fattened up, but also has become quite the hair-kicker....

 

[Buspirone]

I have one that molted and outgrew its home so I moved it to a larger plastic shoebox. Plenty of room and cup filled with substrat on its side partially dug out and when I open the lid it does laps around the enclosure at mock 5 but once I put the lid on it chills out and finds a corner to sit in or a wall to hang on. They are pretty quick...good thing they aren't biters.

 

[abstract]

Yea - it's just weird the way he moves too. Most of my spiders will get going with a light brush to the back legs. He will often just ignore light brushes, and once I stop brushing his leg he'll bolt at full speed.

He's heavy enough too - so there is a very distinct little pitter-patter of him running around on any sort of surface.

 

[danread]

wow, i've never seen any T move so much, it's wierd. Mine spend most of their time just chilling, only moving occasionally and mostly at night. You could try giving it a deeper substrate to burrow in, that pot doesn't look like it gives it much shelter.

Cheers,

Dan.

 

[Jeff_C]

Wow. I have never seen such an active spider especially during the day. Mine only seem to roam around (like one or two laps tops) when they are looking for food.

Has yours refused food yet?

Jeff

 

[abstract]

After all the speculation - I think I will move him to another tank w/more space. I've got a L. Difficilis that just molted, and would fit nicely in this one.

I've got a 10 gal I was going to seperate w/plexiglass/silicone - a duplex of sorts with a rosie and this guy.

I've never seen him refuse food before - as I said he even ate the pillbugs I put in there for hygeine's sakes.

He just finally stopped moving too - he's been running around since about 8:30 am here, and it's 2:20 now - so almost a solid 6 hours.

 

[RugbyDave]

is the underside of the T a dusty colour? yellowish, brownish, light colour?

could be a seemani. i can't see the T though, not moving on the page now, so i can't say...

 

[abstract]

Yes Dave - it is a dusty color.....yellowish / brownish / maybe a hue of red in there (forgive me - i'm partially colorblind) - does that point you toward a seemani over a PZB? Another reason I suspected it a PZB - is the pictures of the seemani's i've seen, the striping continues after the 2nd joint on the legs - on PZB's it seems to stop there.

Mine has only noticible striping until the 2nd joint, and a VERY faint stripe on subsequent joints. Is there another surefire way to tell the difference between the two?

 

[skadiwolf]

awww...the pitter patter of little T feet, how precious. now THAT would be a cool sound to record.

imagine if you could get video footage with the little pitter patter, how neat would that be?

lol. reminds me of trying to film one of my birds...without having another do an ear-piercing shreek in the background that gets recorded and deafens any listeners.

 

[nocturnalpulsem]

Originally posted by skadiwolf
awww...the pitter patter of little T feet, how precious. now THAT would be a cool sound to record.

imagine if you could get video footage with the little pitter patter, how neat would that be?

lol. reminds me of trying to film one of my birds...without having another do an ear-piercing shreek in the background that gets recorded and deafens any listeners.

Pitter patter? Hell, you should hear mine stomp around the tank. Sweet Jeebus! She's a little 8-legges elephant!

As far as getting yours to settle down, Abstract, I really don't see it moving. But The suggestion of raising the substrate is a good idea. I just did it. Mine's in a 10 gallon filled damn near to the top. I put in a half flowerpot (which wasn't eay to split, lemme tell ya...) and buried it for the most part and dug a little cave out. It looks pretty nice. She's still settling in, but I've only seen her trying to climb once, so maybe she's getting comfy now. There's little web ropes here and there, so it looks like she's getting settled.

N.

 

[xBurntBytheSunx]

mine was sold to me as as "stripe knee" or zebra knee i guess. it just hides under its plant all day and doesn't move unless i give it a moth or a june bug. i really hope it doesn't try to escape, i would totally freak out if it was running loose in my apt. it really is super fast, and pissy too. it attacked the ruler i used to try to nudge it into a different container when i changed its substrate.

do you people think two paper back books on the lid will hold it in?

also i have about 3-4 inches of peat/potting soil in the tank and the spider hasn't even made an attempt to burrow? is that normal or is my T just lazy?

 

[skadiwolf]

um, no, i don't think two paperback books would hold it in. if you have a metal screen cage, DO get the metal C clamps that go with them, that's what they're sold for...

i've heard of tons of bugs, Ts and reptiles escaping from a tank just because people didn't spend $4.