Playing or teasing?

monkeymatches

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 2, 2007
Messages
1
I just got a 4" female Pulchra and my girlfriend and I are enjoying getting to know her. We noticed how much she is kind of like a tiny cat, ie. grooming herself, etc. The other day I was picking something out of her tank with a thin stick and she attacked it like a cat playing with a cat toy! Question is does anyone play with their T like this? Do you think it's "Fun" for her or teasing? Should I get her a hamster wheel?
 

ricneto

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 9, 2007
Messages
98
No I do not play with t's.
And I do not think she is playig, it is more likely a defense / agressive atitude, most likely she assumed something is invading her territory.

If you get her a hamster wheel and she ude it please post pics {D
 

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
8,656
Ya you are just stressing her out doing things like that, she is reacting to you being close to her with that stick.
 

pitbulllady

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
May 1, 2004
Messages
2,290
I just got a 4" female Pulchra and my girlfriend and I are enjoying getting to know her. We noticed how much she is kind of like a tiny cat, ie. grooming herself, etc. The other day I was picking something out of her tank with a thin stick and she attacked it like a cat playing with a cat toy! Question is does anyone play with their T like this? Do you think it's "Fun" for her or teasing? Should I get her a hamster wheel?

I wouldn't think that tarantulas are intelligent enough to play; play is behavior generally associated with the more intelligent of creatures. More likely, you're just annoying her. She feels the vibrations of the movement of the small stick and reacts as though it is prey. Then again, I've observed behavior in my own tarantulas that I can't logically explain as some sort of survivor instinct, like shredding a plastic water cup or picking it up and placing on top of the spider and walking around wearing the cup like a turtle shell. What natural primitive instinct would cause a tarantula to do that? I've also had tarantulas groom ME, or at least, my hair-again, how does grooming another living thing, or even just what the spider assumes is substrate, figure into survivor instincts? Still, I really cannot push myself to go so far as to say that the spiders are "playing" or even being social.

pitbulllady
 

Drachenjager

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 23, 2006
Messages
3,509
I just got a 4" female Pulchra and my girlfriend and I are enjoying getting to know her. We noticed how much she is kind of like a tiny cat, ie. grooming herself, etc. The other day I was picking something out of her tank with a thin stick and she attacked it like a cat playing with a cat toy! Question is does anyone play with their T like this? Do you think it's "Fun" for her or teasing? Should I get her a hamster wheel?
ummm
a tarantula is nothing at all like a cat
NOTHING
well they are both living animals but thats it
Tarantulas are a usefull part of the natureal world, house cats are worthless to the natural world.
House cats are mammals wiht a complex brain, tarantulas are arachnids with nothing that resembles a complex brain
Cats have some ability to reason and think, and feel emotions.Tarantulas do not.
I like Tarantulas, i dont like cats (domestic ones anyway)
So to answer your points one at a time here goes
Cats and T both groom themselves yes but ...
The tarantula was acting on instinct and attackes something tht it felt was prey or a threat. period.
It dosent need a hampster wheel
A happy T is a pet rock.(few exceptions)
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 5, 2005
Messages
8,325
sounds like mistaken prey aggression to me (the stick thing, i mean)

*you* can play with your tarantulas... but they can't play with you, if you see what i mean?

i love to play with my tarantulas. they can even become conditioned to being played with... but as people have said before.. they lack the complexity to feel emotions, which i would consider a pretty firm prerequisite to playing.


that being said, and along the lines of pitbull, it is enjoyable for myself to place random (safe!) objects into a bugs domain and see how the bug reacts to them. very light waterdishes are hilarious, sometimes... some spiders will look like they are playing with them in various ways. i have a G. rosea that will sort of "walk" the empty dish like a cat playing with a ball of string... but i suspect it is more an issue of getting stuck to scopulae versus actual play
 
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