Plant Attack

[LykosAnubis]

Guys, what the heck is she doing??? She's beating up on her fake succulent and now has dragged it across her enclosure!! Should I take it out? Does she just like the texture? I give her hornworms, she just had one three days ago- does she potentially think it's a hornworm!? Ugh!

 

[Poonjab]

Normal. My T.albo destroyed all fake plants in its enclosure.

 

[LykosAnubis]

Normal. My T.albo destroyed all fake plants in its enclosure.

Should I take it away from her? Or it it enrichment for them to get to destroy things? I'm fairly new to tarantula keeping.

Oh, and just in case anyone asks, the thermostat in the BG isn't to my tarantula setup- my ball python has his enclosure nearby.

 

[Poonjab]

Should I take it away from her? Or it it enrichment for them to get to destroy things? I'm fairly new to tarantula keeping.

I’ll be honest. I can’t even watch the video. But I’ve had T’s tear up plants and it’s normal. I’d just leave it.

 

[Konstantin Konstantinov]

Guys, what the heck is she doing??? She's beating up on her fake succulent and now has dragged it across her enclosure!! Should I take it out? Does she just like the texture? I give her hornworms, she just had one three days ago- does she potentially think it's a hornworm!? Ugh!

Hi there.
Thats just a tarantula doing its thing.
Next thing is start messing with its waterdish and one day before you know it it will take half the household hostages in order to get an extra meal and all that cause you were not careful and didn't secure the enclosure after cleaning the bloody dish yet again.
Let them waterdish wars commence!!!. Hahaha.
Regards Konstantin

 

[DomGom TheFather]

Imagine I put a loveseat in the middle of the only room you have.
You're going to do all sorts of stuff with it.

 

[LykosAnubis]

Imagine I put a loveseat in the middle of the only room you have.
You're going to do all sorts of stuff with it.

Lol. Makes sense. I got quite the tickle out of watching her. I just wanted to make sure she was ok doing it.

Hi there.
Thats just a tarantula doing its thing.
Next thing is start messing with its waterdish and one day before you know it it will take half the household hostages in order to get an extra meal and all that cause you were not careful and didn't secure the enclosure after cleaning the bloody dish yet again.
Let them waterdish wars commence!!!. Hahaha.
Regards Konstantin

I never expected tarantulas to be on the same level of destruction as rabbits. X) Destroyer of worlds- might as well call her Lord Beerus.

 

[Royalty]

My p.vitatta once grabbed the end of a viney plant and dragged it all the way into her den

 

[Liquifin]

Yea, I don't really use fake plants for terrestrials anymore because of this, besides heavy webbing species for anchor points. But totally normal.

 

[LykosAnubis]

My p.vitatta once grabbed the end of a viney plant and dragged it all the way into her den

Sounds like she was a regular Martha Stewart- redecorating her den.

 

[spideyspinneret78]

Normal. I've even had mine drag water dishes down into their burrows and completely bury fake plants. I guess they just have different tastes in interior design than humans do!

 

[Almadabes]

My best unscientific guess is that this behavior is some kind of hunting instinct.
I think maybe they would dig up plants in the wild searching for bugs to eat?

Anyway - as others have said, completely normal, no cause for alarm, you can keep them in there, and eventually, they will be buried under the substrate or you can take them out. up to you. No harm to the tarantula.

My p.vitatta once grabbed the end of a viney plant and dragged it all the way into her den

One of my versicolor slings went down to the ground yesterday and dragged up a really tiny decoration plant and a small chip of corkbark to incorporate into the web at the top of the enclosure. plenty of plants and clutter at the top of the enclosure for it - but I guess it needed to have these specific ones. lol

 

[Royalty]

One of my versicolor slings went down to the ground yesterday and dragged up a really tiny decoration plant and a small chip of corkbark to incorporate into the web at the top of the enclosure. plenty of plants and clutter at the top of the enclosure for it - but I guess it needed to have these specific ones. lol

I think it is funny what they decide to use to decorate their web "nests"

 

[Stan Schultz]

I'm trying very hard to not be judgemental, but I can't help myself on this one. So please forgive me. But, I wouldn't want that plant in my home either! Sorry.

However, may I suggest that you go to your friendly, neighborhood, dollar store and buy a $2 bag of cheap ping pong balls. Wash one of them with common dish detergent (unscented is better, but real lemon won't hurt), then rinse it well, twice, to make sure that you not only have washed away any manufacturing chemicals, but have also rinsed away as much of the detergent as you can.

Place one of the ping pong balls in your tarantula's cage. It doesn't matter where you put it, as long as it's on the floor of the cage where your spider can find it. Tarantulas' reactions to ping pong balls vary with the individual, but many of them seem to enjoy rolling them around their cages after dark, some even during daylight. Some merely push them around. Others climb on top and sit there, astraddle them. Still others try to chew on them. None of this is cause for alarm. If you can catch it playing with the ping pong ball, we'd all love to see some photos, even videos, of it!

So, if it's in a different location the next morning, your little buddy has taken notice of it, and either loves to play with it, or dearly hates it. Either way, the tarantula's getting a lot more exercise than just sitting there, staring back at you, 24/7.

BTW, this little "hack" has been around for a couple of decades or more, and is more or less tried and proven. But, if you need more encouragement, do a Search or Advanced Search for ping pong.

Enjoy your little, eight-legged, Olympic table tennis champ!

 

[Asgiliath]

My p.vitatta once grabbed the end of a viney plant and dragged it all the way into her den

This is so much of what I love about T's! Their silly, pointless, inexplicable behavior.

 

[viper69]

Normal

 

[8 legged]

Normal. My T.albo destroyed all fake plants in its enclosure.

Smart animal! She can tell shit from gold...

 

[RezonantVoid]

Normal. My T.albo destroyed all fake plants in its enclosure.

Not gonna lie, if I was a T I'd do the same