Strange Maculata behavior.......

[blackacidevil]

....or is it?

My "Ornamental Baboon" seems to be spending an unusual amount of time on the substrate lately (2-3 weeks now). Even in her retreat, a piece of cork bark, she has scooped out the substrate at the bottom (where the bark meets the ground) and spends most of her time there. When she comes out at night she is almost always on the ground. She never used to set foot on the ground and now all of a sudden????? Anybody know what's going on?

 

[JacenBeers]

How big is she? I know that mine did the exact same thing when it was between 1 and 3 inches. It rarely climbed. Now that it is an adult it is always on the walls.

 

[Immortal_sin]

I am T sitting an adult female, and she is the same way....
She scooped out a hollow behind her cork bark, put a hammock web in there, and sits.....all day
She is an odd one

 

[safetypinup]

Yeah, this is fairly normal H. maculata behavior. Poecs will do this as well, and it comes from a desire to squeeze into a tight space so as not to be seen or disturbed. Some of our H. maculata will use the cork bark retreats on the sides of their cages, but most make little web homes in a bottom corner. Odd little creatures

 

[vulpina]

That is normal behavior for a maculata. My P. irminia does not use her cork bark I have for her to climb, she has a burrow at the base of the bark and attacks her crickets on the ground.

Andy

 

[deifiler]

hmm.. how do you heat it? heat mat from underneath? that may be why..

on the topic of h.maculata, what growth rate do they usually have? I have a small 12mm spiderling, it hasnt moulted since i got it around four-five weeks ago, I hope its fine

Its feeding normally and humidity appears correct

cheers

 

[Joanie]

My H. maculata is almost 2" and my two pokies are around 3.5-4" and all of them maintain combination burrows/web retreats. The maculata is the most dedicated burrower of any of my arboreals, and has cleared away the substrate from the bottom of her burrows, so I can see her through the bottom of her cage.

So if your H. maculata is weird, mine is too.

 

[blackacidevil]

Cool.....thanks

Doesn't sound so unusual after all. It just kind of freaked me out 'cause she used to never walk on the substrate, just all around the walls of the terrarium. I used to worry that she wouldn't even find the crickets.

Here are some pics of her little burrow.

 

[blackacidevil]

closer