Tarantula Headstand

[Evan Loessberg]

My tarantula is doing this weird headstand thing that I haven’t seen him do before. Last night he was crawling on the glass and fell a few inches. His front leg was bleeding. Then he went into this position. I was a little worried so I moved him a little and he seemed fine and started wandering around the cage again. Then this morning he was back in this position. Does this mean anything or is he just being weird?

 

[vancwa]

Need pics of the entire enclosure in addition to the species. T's do strange things. Looks like you need more substrate to prevent damage/death from falling.

 

[Evan Loessberg]

I’ve been meaning to. He’s been in his burrow all winter and I was scared to uproot him. He’s just now really starting to wander around

 

[viper69]

I’ve been meaning to. He’s been in his burrow all winter and I was scared to uproot him. He’s just now really starting to wander around

Gonna give you a LIVE saving tip for your pet, not sure why don't know this. You must fill up that tank with substrate so distance from sub to lid is not more than 1.5x DLS, otherwise that RIP will very, very, very useful for your new T Splat

 

[vancwa]

The screen lid should be replaced with acrylic drilled with vent holes. The T's tarsal hooks could get caught causing damage/loss of leg(s).

 

[Andrea82]

That's not a safe enclosure. It needs the same amount of substrate on top of what it is now. I think its leg was leaking because it's claws got stuck in the mesh lid. Please replace that with an acrylic/plastic lid with holes drilled in it.

If the leg is injured, the spider might self-amputate and drop it, just a heads up