Tarantula climbing on walls after I re-substrated it

[Peachypeach]

I re-substrated two of my tarantulas today (Mexican red knee and salmon pink) and they are both on the wall and not on the floor? Are they just investigating their new home or don't they like the substrate? I don't want them to fall and hurt theirselves

*the temperature and everything is how it normally is and how they like it*

 

[tbrandt]

How high can they climb above the surface of the substrate? One way to discourage an injury from any climbing is to make sure there isn't much distance between the top of the substrate and the top of the their enclosure. If you can't avoid this, then at least move any hard objects (water dish, hides, sticks) away from the edges where they could fall on them.

Regarding the substrate change, have you altered any of the variables from what they were used to? Moisture, substrate material type, etc.? I assume that when you say "everything" you are including these things. They will probably get used to the new car smell with a little time.

I re-substrated two of my tarantulas today (Mexican red knee and salmon pink) and they are both on the wall and not on the floor? Are they just investigating their new home or don't they like the substrate? I don't want them to fall and hurt theirselves

*the temperature and everything is how it normally is and how they like it*

 

[klawfran3]

Is their substrate damp at all? That could be a reason why.

Another likely reason is that tarantulas can sense and smell the objects they touch with their tarsus (feet.) The new substrate is foreign and new, and does not smell or feel like home to them, so they are probably trying to get out and find their old burrow. Their silk has pheremones in it that communicate to other spiders and themselves of the burrow, maturity level, etc. It's why mature males start tapping once they feel silk of a mature female of their species. It's also why if you put a spider in someone elses burrow (that has been evacuated) they will act anxious and try to escape, since the smell another spider.

Give your tarantulas a few days to get settled, and they should return back to the ground. What I like to do is put a little bit of their old silk/sub in the new one so that they can sense and smell it's home and get adjusted faster.

 

[cold blood]

That's 100% normal behavior in new housing, and new sub=new home to a t. Give it time to acclimate. Patience is a must have if you are keeping t's. Some take hours to acclimate, others take weeks, a few take months.

 

[horanjp]

+1 to cold blood's post. You will experience this with every re-substration, and you need not change or DO anything. Could be months before it gets used to the new substrate. Water dish full, etc. Your spiders are fine.

 

[Squidies]

Just as everyone else has said, make sure the substrate isn't damp if you've moistened it and climbing is normal every time you rehouse. I rehoused my B. albopilosum around a month or two ago and I still catch her climbing the walls every once in awhile. Same thing with my other T's the few other time's I've rehoused. Just them figuring out where the hell you put them after you abducted them from there last 'home'. (It's still new to them as far as they're concerned, even if it's the same enclosure)

 

[Ellenantula]

Agree with everyone else. Assuming enclosure, substrate, etc., is all appropriate for its needs; this is normal behavior following a re-housing (or re-substrating in your case).
I guess some like to take their time before deciding their new lair is up to their standards.
And some just really don't care, wherever they lay their hat is their home.