OCD T, or normal behaviour?

MrTwister

Arachnoknight
Joined
Mar 17, 2017
Messages
251
So I recently got a roughly 1 inch B.Vagans sling. It was eaten two small meals since I got it. Both times it left the burrow with the prey in its fangs, then went to the same spot in the enclosure. Similar to a dog laying down it would then spin in circles seeming to be trying to squish down a clump of moss. It would stay in this area untill done. I watched it deposit the insect remains in almost the exact same spot. Seemed it was using its pedipalps and legs to try and push the bolus into the substrate. After some grooming it returned to its burrow. Anyone else noticed their T's seeming to create a dining area? Or do I have a super OCD T.
 

WeightedAbyss75

Arachnoangel
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Feb 22, 2014
Messages
921
My T's tend to, after they eat, choose a spot (usually near the water dish) and lay their bolus down. Makes clean up easy :D Usually my T's make their dining area in their hide and drop their bolus in a corner. I love to watch them, seems so meticulous.
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
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Feb 22, 2013
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3,292
When your tarantula is spinning, it is laying down a web mat. It will put the food down and wrap it up to make eating easier. It also does this so pests like ants won't be attracted. What you saw is 100% normal - in fact, it'd be odd for a tarantula to not do this.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
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Dec 8, 2006
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In some areas of their life Ts are more tidy animals than their human animal owners.
 

MrTwister

Arachnoknight
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Mar 17, 2017
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I was kind of surprised by how meticulous it was placing it's garbage haha.
 

Moakmeister

Arachnodemon
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Oct 6, 2016
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Well my G. pulchripes doesn't seem to have an ordinary eating ritual. She grabs the mealworm/superworm and just eats the whole thing while holding absolutely still. Then, there's no bolus at all. Literally every molecule of her food is eaten. Then she'll spend awhile grooming her fangs and palps, which I filmed (don't subscribe tho, I'm not a Youtuber). And she's also never defecated once in my care. I got her on December 28 2016. I mean I'm glad that there's no bolus or excrement, but is her metabolism really THAT slow?
 

Rob1985

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Feb 14, 2005
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Like most other animals, T's don't like their space dirty. They almost always deposit food bolus away from their burrow or hide and don't usually poop there either. Most of my active terrestrials have a "poo and bolus corner".
 

The Grym Reaper

Arachnoreaper
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Jul 19, 2016
Messages
4,835
A lot of Tarantulas will dump boli and defecate in the same spot (usually near the water dish or just way from their hide/favourite spot to chill), some species will do this in a corner of their burrow until they accumulate a certain amount and then just decide dump the lot outside at once, my A. geniculata only ever used her hide/burrow as a toilet/landfill as she prefers to sit out in the open, arboreals will dump boli and crap almost exclusively in the water dish (and if they don't crap in the water dish they'll sure as Hell crap all over the walls of the enclosure).
 

CWilson1351

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jan 23, 2017
Messages
454
So far all of mine leave the boli in roughly the same spot too. This has made clean up extremely easy with all except the small A. geroldi slings. That like to leave it under fake leaves right by where they hang out. Even the molts seem to get moved as well. My GBB likes to molts in the small web hide it built, then finally gets sick of it and pushes it out.
The cleanliness of Ts has been a pleasant surprise and shown me yet another reason to like them.
 

Kendricks

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jan 18, 2017
Messages
153
When your tarantula is spinning, it is laying down a web mat. It will put the food down and wrap it up to make eating easier. It also does this so pests like ants won't be attracted. What you saw is 100% normal - in fact, it'd be odd for a tarantula to not do this.
Yeah, tell that to my pulchra... :shifty:
 

Arachnomaniac19

Arachnolord
Joined
Aug 23, 2014
Messages
652
In the wild, boluses attract predators such as ants. Ts that rid their burrows of it have a higher chance of reproduction.
 
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