Tarantula keeps climbing to top of cage?

[Judasennnis]

Okay, so I have a male G. Porteri, and at night he likes to crawl to the top of his tank. The substrate is not more than his leg span, and it's not too moist. But, he will fully get all the way on the cage top and crawl there. He's hanging upside down, and he's a terrestrial, which makes him not fully suited for being that adventurous. He will occasionally fall from the top, and then just crawl back up again. I really don't want him to get hurt. Is it possible to stop him from crawling on the top?

 

[Sana]

How big and is he definitely male? Sounds like mature male seeking mate behavior. Picture would confirm.

 

[Judasennnis]

How big and is he definitely male? Sounds like mature male seeking mate behavior. Picture would confirm.

He is a juvenile male, which I know for sure. Most of the day he spends sitting and not loving and for an hour he will crawl and sit in different spots. My upload file keeps saying "error".

 

[Sana]

How long has he been in the enclosure?

 

[Venom1080]

substrate should be bone dry. that might be the reason hes climbing. +1 to what Sana said as well. regardless, increase substrate level to the point where theres a space no higher than 1.5DLS.

 

[cold blood]

How big is the t?

 

[MetallicArachnid]

Do you mist the substrate at all or is it a new enclosure? What kind of substrate are you using, if the T is climbing it may be a sign that something isn't ideal in the enclosure.

 

[mistertim]

Yeah definitely need more info. Did anything change since he started doing this? Did you start to wet the substrate? New enclosure? If so, what is the difference from the old one? How big is the T?

 

[MetallicArachnid]

One thing to try assuming everything else is indeed ideal, you can try starting a burrow with a cork round and show him the burrow, G. Porteri will burrow if given the opportunity.

 

[Haksilence]

One thing to try assuming everything else is indeed ideal, you can try starting a burrow with a cork round and show him the burrow, G. Porteri will burrow if given the opportunity.

G porteri are notorious for avoiding hides in captivity, it might work, but I've never had any of my adult grammostola use a hide more than like 2 times when they are first rehoused.

If the substrate is damp at all they will probably avoid it and seek out a drier less humid spot. This species thrives on bone dry substrate, so if you are misting or anything, stop it, and maybe consider the level of ventilation you have as it could be overly humid

 

[Judasennnis]

How long has he been in the enclosure?

About a month.

 

[Judasennnis]

substrate should be bone dry. that might be the reason hes climbing. +1 to what Sana said as well. regardless, increase substrate level to the point where theres a space no higher than 1.5DLS.

It is bone dry, I checked to make sure when he started climbing. That's not the reason. And it is currently at 1DLS.

 

[Judasennnis]

How big is the t?

6 DLS.

 

[Judasennnis]

Do you mist the substrate at all or is it a new enclosure? What kind of substrate are you using, if the T is climbing it may be a sign that something isn't ideal in the enclosure.

No I don't mist at all, the only moisture is in his water dish. Literally 23/24 hours of the day he is staying still, and the other he is crawling on the top of his cage. It isn't new, but he's been doing this for awhile. I use loose coconut fiber for substrate, which he usually lays on all day.

 

[Judasennnis]

Yeah definitely need more info. Did anything change since he started doing this? Did you start to wet the substrate? New enclosure? If so, what is the difference from the old one? How big is the T?

No, he's been doing this basically since when I got him (about a month ago). He shows no other weird behavior at all. I don't add any moisture to his substrate, and the only wet thing is his water dish. He is 6DLS.

 

[darkness975]

Sounds like mature male wandering for a mate behavior to me.

 

[cold blood]

He is a juvenile male, which I know for sure.

6 DLS.

As there are people on here from across the globe, its important to give us the unit of measurement used.....6 what? Because you are in Georgia, I will assume its inches...but if that's it, your top quote here is incorrect...so without the unit of measurement I'm still left scratching my head a little.

 

[Judasennnis]

As there are people on here from across the globe, its important to give us the unit of measurement used.....6 what? Because you are in Georgia, I will assume its inches...but if that's it, your top quote here is incorrect...so without the unit of measurement I'm still left scratching my head a little.

Centimeters, he's really only about 3 inches.

 

[Judasennnis]

Centimeters, he's really only about 3 inches.

Sorry, I should've clarified (I'm not American, I don't use customary units)

 

[Judasennnis]

Sounds like mature male wandering for a mate behavior to me.

He's not full grown (3 inches DLS) and he looks much different from my other G. Porteri, who is a mature male.