Poecilotheria striata, Mysore ornamental Burrowing?

Kilumbo

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 25, 2022
Messages
4
Hello, I have had my Poecilotheria striata, Mysore ornamental for about a month now and recently rehoused my T. into a new enclosure. set it up for arboreal style with a lot of anchoring points and a cork bark hide for my t. Here is the puzzling part, my T. who I thought was arboreal, began to burrow under its cork bark. it being an arboreal set up is only about 3-4 inches of substrate. the question at hand here is there something wrong with my T. it is regularly eating well and has been observed drinking water out of the dish once. but there is barely any to no webbing from this T.
is there anyone who can help me understand why it is burrowing? Thank you.
 

Liquifin

Laxow Legacy LLC
Arachnosupporter
Joined
May 30, 2017
Messages
2,158
How large is the specimen? Asian arboreals tend to have burrowing tendencies, especially when they're younger. As they get older and larger they tend to be more arboreal with a bit of burrowing/usage of substrate as dirt curtains. Asian arboreals are not the same as most new world arboreals so they're not always strict arboreals like Avics, etc.

Poecilotheria tends to be more arboreal as they get larger, but specimens and individuals may vary.
 

Kilumbo

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 25, 2022
Messages
4
How large is the specimen? Asian arboreals tend to have burrowing tendencies, especially when they're younger. As they get older and larger they tend to be more arboreal with a bit of burrowing/usage of substrate as dirt curtains. Asian arboreals are not the same as most new world arboreals so they're not always strict arboreals like Avics, etc.

Poecilotheria tends to be more arboreal as they get larger, but specimens and individuals may vary.
My T. is about 3inches maybe a bit bigger, it has started to use dirt curtains around the cork bark so that makes a lot of sense.
 

The Grym Reaper

Arachnoreaper
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Messages
4,830
Normal behaviour for any arboreal species that isn't from the Aviculariinae subfamily (which contains Avicularia/Caribena/Ybyrapora/etc.). Non-Avic arboreals tend to stay closer to ground level making use of crevices/hollows/dirt curtains, some will even burrow (though typically at smaller sizes).

Aviculariinae and non-Avic arboreals require slightly different setups, the former need elevated plant cover around the top of their bark piece to serve as anchor points for webbing whereas the latter should have the plant cover closer to the base of their bark piece to act as cover/anchor points for dirt curtains (examples below).

Aviculariinae sling setup.jpg
Non Avic setup 1.jpg
 

Matt Man

Arachnoprince
Joined
Jul 4, 2017
Messages
1,884
Most of my Pokies have dug burrows at the base of their bark. Normal.
 

AlbaArachnids92

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 26, 2021
Messages
180
Not long rehoused 3 of my pokies....... couple of 3-4cm slings and a 4in juvi :) all have been about a week and started making some amazing web curtains.
Although I did expect the smaller ones to burrow down (they have) my juvi has really gone for it too, collecting up the dirt and extending it funnel of webbing. I'm thinking, this might be partly as the cork I've given it is much wider than it's previously had (giving him space to grow out in there) so seeking the extra security with a meaty web wall!! :rofl:
 
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