Sling upside down in water dish

[nolyroly]

I picked up a sling yesterday and moved him into a new enclosure. He kept trying to climb up the walls at first and fell down into his water dish a few times and I had to save him once because he wasn't getting out. This morning when I woke up he was in his dish again -- I assumed he fell in again during the night and couldn't get out, so I used tweezers to gently tip over the dish (which is a water bottle cap btw) so hopefully he wouldn't drown. He got out and was fine for a while but I just checked on him and he's upside down in his water dish again! Now I'm starting to think that maybe he's molting in there and I shouldn't have disturbed him in the first place. I dipped a piece of paper towel in to soak up some of the water so hopefully he doesn't drown. I'm a bit worried about him. Is this normal behavior?

 

[ConstantSorrow]

It won't drown. They actually float.
I don't have much help to offer, being still pretty new at this myself. But knowing what species the T is and a pic of the enclosure would most likely help.

My own guess? It's molting. Leave it be. Like I said, it won't drown in there.

 

[Dorifto]

If she molt inside and the booklungs are sumerged during the molt, surely it will drown. Try to remove some water with a syringe.

 

[nolyroly]

If she molt inside and the booklungs are sumerged during the molt, surely it will drown. Try to remove some water with a syringe.

s/he stayed upside down in the water dish for about an hour this time. when i came back into the room it was back in its normal spot, right side up, no molt as far as I can tell. i’m going to leave the dish empty for few hours and see what happens. very strange.

 

[Asgiliath]

Pool day

 

[Dorifto]

She could be close to a molt, try to moist a little bit her enclosure so she won't need to search a water cap for humid spot.

 

[jrh3]

Snorkeling?

 

[49ers]

Update?

 

[nolyroly]

Update?

so i refilled the water dish last night and when i woke up this morning s/he was laying in there upside down again! i didn’t disturb him this time since his lungs appeared to be above water. he’s still there now (picture attached below, please excuse the dirty water dish).

what do y’all think? i guess if he isn’t drowning then it isn’t a big deal, just weird. if he doesn’t move in another few hours should i try to get him out?

 

[Dorifto]

so i refilled the water dish last night and when i woke up this morning s/he was laying in there upside down again! i didn’t disturb him this time since his lungs appeared to be above water. he’s still there now (picture attached below, please excuse the dirty water dish).

what do y’all think? i guess if he isn’t drowning then it isn’t a big deal, just weird. if he doesn’t move in another few hours should i try to get him out?

Put in a fish tank, much better imho... A slight movement during the molt and the booklungs could be under water. She is looking for moisture, so It would be much better to increase the moisture than letting her stay in the water cup.

 

[nolyroly]

Put in a fish tank, much better imho... A slight movement during the molt and the booklungs could be under water. She is looking for moisture, so It would be much better to increase the moisture than letting her stay in the water cup.

why would a fish tank be better?

the dish is just a water bottle cap and it’s filled less than half way up. everything i’ve read has said that it’s very unlikely for slings to drown and i don’t want to take the dish out because it’s obviously looking for water. but i am worried about it drowning if it does eventually decide to molt in there.

also i’m hesitant to add too much more humidity because i read that h pulchripes need to be kept on the dryer side (even as slings) because they can die from too much moisture. plus the substrate is slightly moist already. i guess i could spray one side and see if that helps.

 

[Venom1080]

Very weird. Just take out the dish. Spray the cage every couple of days or keep a corner damp, that and feedings will never dehydrate the spider.

I highly doubt its seeking moisture by flipping upside down in the dish.. I dont understand why it would do that. It cant drink upside down.

 

[TheDarkFinder]

There are several causes for this. The majority of them relate to molting. The tarantula will sometimes soak 2 or 3 weeks for molting.

I have had a newly arrived adult would soak to kill a mites. I have also read that other irritates like chemical, fungus, and/or bacteria infections can led to this behavior.

I would said it is a good premolt soak. The tarantula knows what it wants, if it was harming it, it would not do it.

 

[49ers]

I would use a syringe and suck out most of the water just in case leave a few drops just enough to drink and wet the corners

 

[Dorifto]

why would a fish tank be better?

the dish is just a water bottle cap and it’s filled less than half way up. everything i’ve read has said that it’s very unlikely for slings to drown and i don’t want to take the dish out because it’s obviously looking for water. but i am worried about it drowning if it does eventually decide to molt in there.

also i’m hesitant to add too much more humidity because i read that h pulchripes need to be kept on the dryer side (even as slings) because they can die from too much moisture. plus the substrate is slightly moist already. i guess i could spray one side and see if that helps.

I was ironic... do not put her on a fish tank

Moist the substrate, do not soak. Your T is asking for more moisture, so I don't understand your concerns about adding moisture to your enclosure. You can keep a drier spot, so if your T wants to be drier she will move. You can also add some pebbles to the water cap, this way she can drink water from capilarity, and wont be able to drown.

 

[vancwa]

Your enclosure is too big. Deli cup would work best.

 

[jaw6053]

Pic of your entire enclosure ?

 

[nolyroly]

update: came home from work and s/he was back to normal again! yay! in the future I'm going to trust the little guy's judgment a bit more, at the end of the day he knows what he needs more than I do. hopefully he'll molt in the next few days so I can put all the speculation to rest.

Pic of your entire enclosure ?

here: https://arachnoboards.com/threads/h-pulchripes-sling-enclosure-feedback.336394/

 

[MBArachnids]

Your enclosure is too big. Deli cup would work best.

Not sure what this has to do with the slings behavior. . . Or are you suggesting the T is behaving like this due to the enclosure being too big????

 

[vancwa]

No, just an observation.