Rubbing fangs on glass?

[darlingi]

I caught my C. versicolor drinking today, which was quite exciting since I’ve never seen any of my Ts drink before.
However, after that she started exploring the glass wall of her enclosure with her fangs spread out for most of the time. It looked like she is dragging them across the glass.
Is this some sort of grooming behavior, or maybe she’s just using her fangs as an additional tool to explore her environment? I’m worried she might want to get rid of something on her fangs or that she is uncomfortable for some reason.
There’s a white spot beneath her fangs too, but I guess her underside just looked weird because it was wet?

Any ideas what she’s doing?

edit: she is captive bred, so Nematodes shouldn’t be a concern I think?

 

[viper69]

Can’t see vid- sounds like a T looking for leverage point to escape- normal

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

I caught my C. versicolor drinking today, which was quite exciting since I’ve never seen any of my Ts drink before.
However, after that she started exploring the glass wall of her enclosure with her fangs spread out for most of the time. It looked like she is dragging them across the glass.
Is this some sort of grooming behavior, or maybe she’s just using her fangs as an additional tool to explore her environment? I’m worried she might want to get rid of something on her fangs or that she is uncomfortable for some reason.
There’s a white spot beneath her fangs too, but I guess her underside just looked weird because it was wet?

Any ideas what she’s doing?

edit: she is captive bred, so Nematodes shouldn’t be a concern I think?

After watching the video, it appears it is just repositioning the fangs back to a comfortable position. There might be some sort of grooming going on as any particulate matter that might be on the glass could have gotten lodged in the maxillae hairs or in the pharynx. Tarantulas are only able to uptake particles of 1 micrometer or less, anything larger would have to be cleaned out of the mouth.

There isn't enough magnification to determine what the white bit is with any kind of certainty, but judging by its position it could be part of the labium or the labrum. Definitely not a sign of infection of any kind.

 

[darlingi]

After watching the video, it appears it is just repositioning the fangs back to a comfortable position. There might be some sort of grooming going on as any particulate matter that might be on the glass could have gotten lodged in the maxillae hairs or in the pharynx. Tarantulas are only able to uptake particles of 1 micrometer or less, anything larger would have to be cleaned out of the mouth.

There isn't enough magnification to determine what the white bit is with any kind of certainty, but judging by its position it could be part of the labium or the labrum. Definitely not a sign of infection of any kind.

The video shows the moment where she finally closes her fangs again, but what’s weird to me is the fact that she had them spread for a whole 5-10 mins before that. But yeah, some sort of particle stuck is definitely a possibility.

Thinking about it now, her behavior reminds me of my T. albo who often uses her fangs to test the boundaries of her environment.
For example, she sometimes sticks her fangs through the ventilation holes of her enclosure. Maybe the same is going on with my versicolor, making sure the glass is secure
Anyway, she’s now resting in her web tube where I can see her fangs on the glass, and everything looks perfectly normal now.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

The video shows the moment where she finally closes her fangs again, but what’s weird to me is the fact that she had them spread for a whole 5-10 mins before that. But yeah, some sort of particle stuck is definitely a possibility.

Thinking about it now, her behavior reminds me of my T. albo who often uses her fangs to test the boundaries of her environment.
For example, she sometimes sticks her fangs through the ventilation holes of her enclosure. Maybe the same is going on with my versicolor, making sure the glass is secure
Anyway, she’s now resting in her web tube where I can see her fangs on the glass, and everything looks perfectly normal now.

If the fangs and chelicerae were spread for 5-10 minutes, it was drinking up all of the water droplets it could find. They drink and eat very slowly. Sometimes, when you spray or mist the sides of an enclosure you will see a tarantula move around with the fangs spread as it sucks up all of the water droplets it can find. The mouth is at the base of the chelicerae so in order to drink and eat, the tarantula has to move those big fangs and chelicerae out of the way.