SqueakyClam
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2023
- Messages
- 1
Hi there! I've noticed some unusual behavior from my jumper in the past few days and wanted to get some idea what's going on with her. I'm a new spider owner, so please bear with me if this is all normal stuff lol. I'm just a little anxious. And I tend to type a lot. Beware of paragraphs!
I have a Phidippus regius. I'm not sure how old she is, but I've had her since around mid-December (about six months) and she was certainly not a little baby sling when I got her. She's always seemed relatively healthy, made a nice hammock for herself and ate without problem. However, in those six months, she's only ever molted once (that I know of) and it was a little over two weeks ago as of me writing this. The molt seemed to go fine, no missing legs nor did she get stuck, but since then she started acting strangely.
The first thing I noticed was that she stopped hanging out in her hammock. She now sits low on the side of her enclosure; not on the ground, just sitting there low on the wall. She's put down bits of silk, but hasn't started building another web. She just sits in that spot. Sometimes she taps her legs around, wiggles her abdomen and spinnerets, or rotates in place a bit, but that's all she does. She won't even go back to her hammock at night.
I wasn't really worried about that at first. She was still eating okay, so I figured she was just being weird. But then when I went to mist her enclosure yesterday, she had a massive freak-out. She fell off the side and flailed spastically along the bottom of her enclosure, before stopping and sitting in what I can only assume was shock. She's always been skittish around me (not wild caught, I got her from a breeder, I just assumed she's a nervous type so I try not to bother her too much), but never to this extreme! It freaked me out, so I stopped to watch her and make sure she was okay. Within a few minutes she seemed to snap out of it and crawl up to the top of her enclosure. Still not in her web. But she didn't seem hurt.
I'm sure I got no water on her while misting. I have always been careful and wary of where she is. She was sitting on the front of the enclosure and I sprayed near the back of it. A few hours later, I experimentally sprayed the mister next to her enclosure - not in it, just to the side of it - and she flinched so hard she fell down again.
I waited overnight and tried again this afternoon, spraying first right next to her enclosure (again, not even in it), and it happened again. Flailing down on the ground like she was having a seizure. I'm not sure what's going on with her, and it's starting to worry me a bit. She's never had this reaction to misting before.
Is she just older and clumsier now? Do I have a spider with bad anxiety? Or is something else going on?
The only change in her care since the molt has been a switch from mealworms to bottle flies. I can't imagine that would cause this unless something is really wrong with those bottle flies.
I started to wonder this morning if it had anything to do with her old molt still being in her hammock. Maybe this is a silly thought, but I wondered if she thought another spider was in the enclosure? And that's what was freaking her out? Either way, I took the molt out today (which unfortunately destroyed her web, but it's not like she was sitting in it anyway) and I'm hoping that will change something.
Anyone have any ideas?
I have a Phidippus regius. I'm not sure how old she is, but I've had her since around mid-December (about six months) and she was certainly not a little baby sling when I got her. She's always seemed relatively healthy, made a nice hammock for herself and ate without problem. However, in those six months, she's only ever molted once (that I know of) and it was a little over two weeks ago as of me writing this. The molt seemed to go fine, no missing legs nor did she get stuck, but since then she started acting strangely.
The first thing I noticed was that she stopped hanging out in her hammock. She now sits low on the side of her enclosure; not on the ground, just sitting there low on the wall. She's put down bits of silk, but hasn't started building another web. She just sits in that spot. Sometimes she taps her legs around, wiggles her abdomen and spinnerets, or rotates in place a bit, but that's all she does. She won't even go back to her hammock at night.
I wasn't really worried about that at first. She was still eating okay, so I figured she was just being weird. But then when I went to mist her enclosure yesterday, she had a massive freak-out. She fell off the side and flailed spastically along the bottom of her enclosure, before stopping and sitting in what I can only assume was shock. She's always been skittish around me (not wild caught, I got her from a breeder, I just assumed she's a nervous type so I try not to bother her too much), but never to this extreme! It freaked me out, so I stopped to watch her and make sure she was okay. Within a few minutes she seemed to snap out of it and crawl up to the top of her enclosure. Still not in her web. But she didn't seem hurt.
I'm sure I got no water on her while misting. I have always been careful and wary of where she is. She was sitting on the front of the enclosure and I sprayed near the back of it. A few hours later, I experimentally sprayed the mister next to her enclosure - not in it, just to the side of it - and she flinched so hard she fell down again.
I waited overnight and tried again this afternoon, spraying first right next to her enclosure (again, not even in it), and it happened again. Flailing down on the ground like she was having a seizure. I'm not sure what's going on with her, and it's starting to worry me a bit. She's never had this reaction to misting before.
Is she just older and clumsier now? Do I have a spider with bad anxiety? Or is something else going on?
The only change in her care since the molt has been a switch from mealworms to bottle flies. I can't imagine that would cause this unless something is really wrong with those bottle flies.
I started to wonder this morning if it had anything to do with her old molt still being in her hammock. Maybe this is a silly thought, but I wondered if she thought another spider was in the enclosure? And that's what was freaking her out? Either way, I took the molt out today (which unfortunately destroyed her web, but it's not like she was sitting in it anyway) and I'm hoping that will change something.
Anyone have any ideas?
