Tarantula enrichment

[Introvertebrate]

With tarantulas, I think of enrichment as giving the animal a chance to exhibit its natural behaviors. For example- deep substrate for burrowing, lots of available hiding places, and maybe a naturalistic enclosure to mimic its wild habitat. For a fossorial species, maybe adding something like nightcrawlers (sourced from a reliable place) into the spider's diet as a treat every so often. We could keep them in very simple, minimalist setups and meet their basic needs quite easily, but why not put in a little bit of extra effort to allow the spider to express more of its instinctual behaviors? In my opinion this is appropriate enrichment for tarantulas.

Those things might enrich the tarantula keepers experience, but the animal couldn't care less.

 

[darkness975]

Hey y’all, I have kind of a weird questions. What’re your thoughts on tarantula enrichment? The main way I’ve heard people talk about it is just to periodically break up their webbing for them to redo it. Is this an actual option or does it just cause unnecessary stress?

Don't break their webs. Just leave them alone they do not require anything. Activities you deem "enriching" for animals higher on the brain scale is actually stressful to them.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Don't break their webs. Just leave them alone they do not require anything. Activities you deem "enriching" for animals higher on the brain scale is actually stressful to them.

Maybe hurricanes are God's way of enriching humans. Every now and then he destroys our houses, so we have to rebuild them.

 

[Pyrelitha]

Fun fact, a spiders brain is so large it takes up almost all available space in the prosoma. And in some species it’s so large it extends into the first segment of each leg.

Tarantulas dont have brains I thought it was a nerve cluster or something. Its called a ganglia unless science has updated or something

 

[curtisgiganteus]

Tarantulas dont have brains I thought it was a nerve cluster or something. Its called a ganglia unless science has updated or something

I’m aware it’s not technically a brain. I linked the article

 

[Westicles]

So, I don't know if my Ts have ganglia, nerve clusters, whether their intelligent creatures or not. But, their enrichment consists of adequate substrate, water dishes, and feeding. And guess what? To my knowledge none of them have ever bitched or over thought anything! Cheers! Lol!!!

 

[DustyD]

Or it could be that tarantulas bury their water dishes to provide enrichment for us humans.

Tarantula: “Let’s see if that shadowy thing from above can find where I buried that wet thing.”
Or
Tarantula: “Yeah, I’m sitting in the water thing, just try and get it!”

 

[hypocrite]

Enrichment: Enrichment can be defined as “the act of improving the quality of life.” It is important to note that although essential health concerns primarily focus on “the basic needs of life” (food, water, shelter) it is increasingly important to note that a number of non-specific inappropriate enrichment may significantly impact our animals long term health and behaviour-wellness. One of the leading causes of death in anorexia and nutritional disease can be directly linked to the neglect of enrichment. In psychology this is known as “maladaptive syndrome” and can be defined as “the failure to thrive.” Many contributing factors may lead to this outcome; such as not having adequate burrowing provisions, substrate ingredients and integrity, hides, dens, retreats, spatial needs, gradients, etc that may be relevant to your specific tarantulas needs. Enrichment is a core function in animal care to help combat and diminish unhealthy amounts of fear and stress that may plague our tarantulas environment. It is also a means to increase the possibilities for positive experiences and cognitive stimuli, which has proven astronomically important for the overall quality of life across animal keeping, including tarantula keeping. There are five categories of enrichment that may or may not be mutually exclusive and may or may not be relevant per species and individual. While each category may hold more possibilities than what is listed, below is a list of categories and examples to source inspiration from.

So when one says "Tarantulas don't need enrichment," I truly question if you understand what enrichment is or what it entails. Or if you are only giving your animal access to its "basic needs of life," even then, particularly related to "environmental enrichment." Burrowing provisions are technically "enrichment." Your tarantulas environment and habitat and anything beyond it is technically "enrichment." Saying they do not need enrichment is a blatant misunderstanding of what it is or how it involves your animals life. It is also to be said that numerous studies have indicated why environmental enrichment may be particularly important for a wide range of arachnids, including theraphosids.



1.
Environmental Enrichment
EE is defined as the stimulation of the brain by enhancing an individual or animals social or physical surroundings (Mellen & Sevenich MacPhee, 2001).
From: International Review of Neurobiology, 2018

See also https://www.nal.usda.gov/animal-health-and-welfare/behavioral-management-animals#EE | Environmental enrichment refers to the modification of an animal's physical environment, especially those in captivity, to help meet the animal's behavioral needs and improve their well-being. These enrichments provide a challenge and stimulation to the animals so that their environment becomes more complex and dynamic.

2.

Redirecting

"Our study shows that there is a significant effect of natal environment on both the average behavioural type and potentially the syndrome structures of B. smithi tarantulas. Specifically, individuals reared in more natural conditions were less reactive to threat, most willing to attack prey and more exploratory in novel conditions. Whereas, individuals reared in restrictive conditions had opposite responses; they were more reactive to threat, less willing to attack prey and less exploratory."

3.

Google Scholar

scholar.google.com

Plug in any word in replacement of spiders and search for yourself.

4.
Just HOW relevant is your animals habitat and its experience within it? I wonder. How deep does it go and how involved is it in the lesser animals we overlook?

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100217114703.htm
"Just because cricket moms abandon their eggs before they hatch doesn't mean they don't pass wisdom along to their babies. New research shows that crickets can warn their unborn babies about potential predator threats."


Before disagreeing with things you do not like the sounds of, I urge you to instead find a vast array of literature on the subject with emerging studies for well over sixty years and no sign of stopping yet.

 

[curtisgiganteus]

Enrichment: Enrichment can be defined as “the act of improving the quality of life.” It is important to note that although essential health concerns primarily focus on “the basic needs of life” (food, water, shelter) it is increasingly important to note that a number of non-specific inappropriate enrichment may significantly impact our animals long term health and behaviour-wellness. One of the leading causes of death in anorexia and nutritional disease can be directly linked to the neglect of enrichment. In psychology this is known as “maladaptive syndrome” and can be defined as “the failure to thrive.” Many contributing factors may lead to this outcome; such as not having adequate burrowing provisions, substrate ingredients and integrity, hides, dens, retreats, spatial needs, gradients, etc that may be relevant to your specific tarantulas needs. Enrichment is a core function in animal care to help combat and diminish unhealthy amounts of fear and stress that may plague our tarantulas environment. It is also a means to increase the possibilities for positive experiences and cognitive stimuli, which has proven astronomically important for the overall quality of life across animal keeping, including tarantula keeping. There are five categories of enrichment that may or may not be mutually exclusive and may or may not be relevant per species and individual. While each category may hold more possibilities than what is listed, below is a list of categories and examples to source inspiration from.

So when one says "Tarantulas don't need enrichment," I truly question if you understand what enrichment is or what it entails. Or if you are only giving your animal access to its "basic needs of life," even then, particularly related to "environmental enrichment." Burrowing provisions are technically "enrichment." Your tarantulas environment and habitat and anything beyond it is technically "enrichment." Saying they do not need enrichment is a blatant misunderstanding of what it is or how it involves your animals life. It is also to be said that numerous studies have indicated why environmental enrichment may be particularly important for a wide range of arachnids, including theraphosids.

shoot.. i goofed.

I don’t think anyone who has said tarantulas don’t need enrichment can argue anymore. I appreciate this greatly. The troll in me is amused that you used the proper definition to affirm OP while everyone rejecting OPs theory was using their opinion of what enrichment means.

And yes I downvoted all of you because of SCIENCE…

 

[hypocrite]

I don’t think anyone who has said tarantulas don’t need enrichment can argue anymore. I appreciate this greatly. The troll in me is amused that you used the proper definition to affirm OP while everyone rejecting OPs theory was using their opinion of what enrichment means.

I work professionally as a positive reinforcement evidence-based animal trainer focused in exotic animals.

To quote Susan Friedman, PhD
"He said, She said, Science says!"

 

[campj]

i goofed

I'm pretty sure if it was understood from the beginning that we were defining enrichment as broadly as you have, literally not a single person would say that it's unnecessary. Seems silly of you to come in after the fact and give a proper lambasting because you're applying a definition that nobody was discussing.

 

[Introvertebrate]

So how are we defining tarantula enrichment? If it's keeping them optimally fed, hydrated, and warm, then I'm onboard with that.

 

[curtisgiganteus]

With tarantulas, I think of enrichment as giving the animal a chance to exhibit its natural behaviors. For example- deep substrate for burrowing, lots of available hiding places, and maybe a naturalistic enclosure to mimic its wild habitat. For a fossorial species, maybe adding something like nightcrawlers (sourced from a reliable place) into the spider's diet as a treat every so often. We could keep them in very simple, minimalist setups and meet their basic needs quite easily, but why not put in a little bit of extra effort to allow the spider to express more of its instinctual behaviors? In my opinion this is appropriate enrichment for tarantulas.

@campj

Here, someone defined enrichment as far as they understood it and in a way relevant to keeping theraphosids. And several people on this thread have said enrichment is unnecessary.

I think @hypocrite makes a very good point though. And it’s relevant to the thread we were on yesterday or day before about the hobby needing an overhaul. OP posed a question meant to illicit a discourse on enrichment in theraphosids. Instead, OP got several condescending and disrespectful comments. All because of the very narrow definition people have come to this thread with for “enrichment.” This poses an issue. If empirical evidence has shown that environmental enrichment is beneficial, even to life forms lower on the intelligence spectrum, then why do we have a bunch of hobbyists without degrees in this field, or any credentials granting them authority on the subject “lambasting” OP using flawed logic and misinformation?

And it blows my mind that people are sitting here downvoting a post with real scientific studies simply because it offends their sensibilities. I feel as though this thread exhorts what’s wrong with online forums like Reddit,and other hobbies like the herp or frog hobbies.

 

[campj]

@campj

Here, someone defined enrichment as far as they understood it and in a way relevant to keeping theraphosids. And several people on this thread have said enrichment is unnecessary.

I think @hypocrite makes a very good point though. And it’s relevant to the thread we were on yesterday or day before about the hobby needing an overhaul. OP posed a question meant to illicit a discourse on enrichment in theraphosids. Instead, OP got several condescending and disrespectful comments. All because of the very narrow definition people have come to this thread with for “enrichment.” This poses an issue. If empirical evidence has shown that environmental enrichment is beneficial, even to life forms lower on the intelligence spectrum, then why do we have a bunch of hobbyists without degrees in this field, or any credentials granting them authority on the subject “lambasting” OP using flawed logic and misinformation?

And it blows my mind that people are sitting here downvoting a post with real scientific studies simply because it offends their sensibilities. I feel as though this thread exhorts what’s wrong with online forums like Reddit,and other hobbies like the herp or frog hobbies.

From where I sit, he broadened the definition to something well beyond what we were talking about and then wagged his finger at everyone for being wrong. Like I said, if we'd used his definition of enrichment at the start of the discussion, nobody would disagree. What we were discussing though was basically whether or not tarantulas need to be entertained or mentally stimulated in order to thrive. Seems disingenuous to me to flip the script later.

 

[hypocrite]

From where I sit, he broadened the definition to something well beyond what we were talking about and then wagged his finger at everyone for being wrong. Like I said, if we'd used his definition of enrichment at the start of the discussion, nobody would disagree. What we were discussing though was basically whether or not tarantulas need to be entertained or mentally stimulated in order to thrive. Seems disingenuous to me to flip the script later.

I did not arrive at the start of the conversation because I am not omnipresent. (Wish I was! ...darn!) However, now that I am here, I don't really have any intentions of reframing what enrichment actually means in science to fit your mistaken worldview, anthropomorphising, and criteria building of animals.

The definition I shared is supported and defined in science. It is directly used in this context in Lewbart's "Invertebrate Medicine," c11 Spiders by R. Pizzi, topic burrowing provisions. It was also directly used in this context above [behavioural syndrome study], involving theraphosids and environment enrichment. It has also been used this way among a host of other studies, plenty inverts and spiders. Looking for yourself, can verify quite easily.


You're not doing any favours to the animal, yourself, or the established science. E.gs: whether you see it as entertainment instead of experience, or "playing" and "toys" instead of practice behaviours (dogs for example, "play" by practising behaviours; such as foraging, hunting, fighting, and courtship....Sound familiar?) or of course, "tub of ezdirt" and "hide" instead of environmental enrichment; It matters not. Call them whatever you wish to call them. It won't change what they are or how we understand them. Understanding these concepts (or not) is a personal endeavour that I have no business if you care to remedy. That is your choice. However, behaviours are tools of many consequences (Law of Effect): any keeper would do well to learn them, in hopes of excelling and progressing their own understanding and their own keeping of any fauna. That includes your animals.



This thread reminds me of something echoed in training and enrichment programs;

The sad objective appears to be to reach the end of the animal's life having dispensed as few rewards as possible. This isn't a virtue. It's actually kind of creepy.

 

[Smotzer]

I did not arrive at the start of the conversation because I am not omnipresent. (Wish I was! ...darn!) However, now that I am here, I don't really have any intentions of reframing what enrichment actually means in science to fit your mistaken worldview, anthropomorphising, and criteria building of animals.

The definition I shared is supported and defined in science. It is directly used in this context in Lewbart's "Invertebrate Medicine," c11 Spiders by R. Pizzi, topic burrowing provisions. It was also directly used in this context above [behavioural syndrome study], involving theraphosids and environment enrichment. It has also been used this way among a host of other studies, plenty inverts and spiders. Looking for yourself, can verify quite easily.


You're not doing any favours to the animal, yourself, or the established science. E.gs: whether you see it as entertainment instead of experience, or "playing" and "toys" instead of practice behaviours (dogs for example, "play" by practising behaviours; such as foraging, hunting, fighting, and courtship....Sound familiar?) or of course, "tub of ezdirt" and "hide" instead of environmental enrichment; It matters not. Call them whatever you wish to call them. It won't change what they are or how we understand them. Understanding these concepts (or not) is a personal endeavour that I have no business if you care to remedy. That is your choice. However, behaviours are tools of many consequences (Law of Effect): any keeper would do well to learn them, in hopes of excelling and progressing their own understanding and their own keeping of any fauna. That includes your animals.



This thread reminds me of something echoed in training and enrichment programs;

The sad objective appears to be to reach the end of the animal's life having dispensed as few rewards as possible. This isn't a virtue. It's actually kind of creepy.

I personally totally get this, environmental enrichment is such an important concept that I have seen can and does make a big difference in behavior, whether or not you view them as "enrichment" or not there is something to say about moving beyond just the "core" basics. The dart frog hobby has done the same to include more "enrichment" and better environments for their animals across the broad sense of the hobby.

 

[hypocrite]

I personally totally get this, environmental enrichment is such an important concept that I have seen can and does make a big difference in behavior, whether or not you view them as "enrichment" or not there is something to say about moving beyond just the "core" basics. The dart frog hobby has done the same to include more "enrichment" and better environments for their animals across the broad sense of the hobby.

The exotics hobby has been painfully slow to reform but it has begun to bleed out into branching communities (including my own)

Look no further than RET (Reptile Enrichment and Training) which has paved the way for animal learning and enrichment efforts across the entire exotics keeping community at large; singlehandedly based off of the teachings of Susan Friedman, PhD and creator of the LLA (Living and Learning with Animals) courses, which has become renowned in the field of behaviour analysis, modification, and training of all animals using operant and classical conditioning equipped with applied-behaviour. Animals that were once considered "inflexible" and "instinctual" are now participatory in blood draws, x-ray stationing, examination, and more with relative ease. Enrichment programs in zoos, universities, other private sectors, and study groups across fields have already started to incorporate these same concepts into invertebrate scheduled care. If they exist and if they are relevant to our spiders is absolutely no question. It is pathetic that is so strongly debated by the same users here that have followed citations to the same authors in these publications abroad. Searching Lewbart, Pizzi, and others have yielded results on this forum to some of the most "informative" and "reputable" threads this platform has had to offer, but now that it challenges our animal care, we wish not to hear it? We reference Pizzi and trust his legacy of research to explain nematodes and parasite relationships with spiders, but not his description of bloody dirt? Bollocks. What a copout. The "most informative arachnid information platform on the internet" known as AB can do far better, I suspect. So do better, chaps.

 

[campj]

started to incorporate these same concepts into invertebrate scheduled care

Please elaborate on this specifically.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Please elaborate on this specifically.

People like to delude themselves into thinking that cold-blooded animals with rudimentary nerves systems want anything more than just fulfilling their basic instincts. Eat, drink, reproduce, and sit around. Tarantulas are the 'exotic pet' equivalent of Al Bundy.

 

[hypocrite]

People like to delude themselves into thinking that cold-blooded animals with rudimentary nerves systems want anything more than just fulfilling their basic instincts. Eat, drink, reproduce, and sit around. Tarantulas are the 'exotic pet' equivalent of Al Bundy.

No one said this and I'd appreciate not putting words in my mouth. You misunderstanding how fixed action patterns (innate behaviours) work is a fault of no one but your own. This is a sign you are parroting and spouting belief with very little understanding of the subject. But rather than blubber on with my own words, let us again go right back to literature on this subject.


Jackson & Cross outlines much of this already, seen in just their opening of this publication.

As is becoming increasingly clear, spiders are not entirely instinct driven and inflexible in their behaviour. Here we review evidence for behavioural plasticity, learning and other cognitive processes such as attentional priming and memory. We first examine these attributes in several natural contexts: predation, interactions with conspecifics and potential predators, and spatial navigation. Next we examine two somewhat more artificial experimental approaches, heat aversion and rearing in enriched versus impoverished environments. We briefly describe the neurobiological underpinnings of these behaviours. Finally, we point to areas where our knowledge gaps are greatest, and we offer advice for researchers beginning their own studies of spider learning

Jakob, E., Skow, C., & Long, S. (2011). Plasticity, learning and cognition. In M. Herberstein (Ed.), Spider Behaviour: Flexibility and Versatility (pp. 307-347). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511974496.010

Also, I am curious since no one's answered with any literary sources of any sort so far, are these facts you've heard, facts you know, or facts you've made up? Because right now this comes off like the AB variant of a Petco employee explaining to me how spiders work.

Had to laugh, this publication also references enrichment.

Please elaborate on this specifically.

Established enrichment programs already exist for invertebrates in many captive settings, as the above studies have already demonstrated. I was particularly referring to the lovely people with LLA and Reptelligence certifications, however. Programs exist with considerable results; you just weren't interested to pay attention, or were busy mocking your opposition for misunderstanding the subjects at hand. Or... you know. 🦯