Tarantulas, Sounds, Vibrations, and a Grandstand Piano...?

Hypothermya

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 22, 2007
Messages
2
I moved into a new apartment this month. Obviously, I brought my precious B. Smithi with me. She's about three years old (maybe a little less), and I've had her since she was a hatchling (about the size of my pinky nail).

I decided to place her in the living room on a protected area of a large, deep bookcase. The living room gets more indirect light than my own room, and I was hoping that she'd like it better in a room with more light during the daytime; and figured that if she didn't like the light that she had plenty of hiding spots where she could avoid it.

She adjusted to the move a lot more quickly than the last time I moved her, and within the first week was being very active. (The last time I moved, she wouldn't eat for the first three weeks.) I was thinking that it was a good idea to put her there, since when she was in a darker room, she wasn't as active.

Then she began to exhibit some behavior that she had never engaged in before: I have always had a turntable, but have not had a safe, good place to play it during the time that I've owned my tarantula. During the first week at my place, I set it up on the same book case along with some speakers and played some music. My spider lifted her front legs up and began to move them up and down.

The next weekend, my roommate got her grandstand piano into the living room and began to play it (she composes modern piano music, so whenever she's not working she does this). She mentioned to me that whenever she would play the piano that my spider would emerge from her rock or from the back half of the terrarium she's in and move to the front of it. She would mostly lift up her front legs and move them -- "As if she were dancing," my roommate said -- but sometimes she would simply rest her front legs against the glass.

Does anyone know whether or not having my spider so close to loud noise is healthy at all? She seems to be responding by moving closer rather than farther away, and she seems very engaged in the noise... Should I keep her near it or move her to another room, further from the piano?

Does anyone know what spiders are sensing when they're exposed to noise/vibration? What sort of scenarios in the wild would be similar to this?

Has anyone else had their tarantulas respond or even "dance" to music?
 

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
8,656
I have seen that before and several other members have seen it as well. Even with things like the cleaning the carpets.
Constant noise and vibration can bug the crap out of your T and stress her out. You might see a bald butt over time cause she will flick hairs in defense to what she thinks may be a threat. This may also be why she is more active then she had been before in the past.
But in your case so far it seems the vibrations are stimulating her somewhat. She thinks there might be a mate close by. They movement you have described with the front legs moving in that manner is how they would respond to a mate that was vibrating to her.

How big is she? Sounds like she wants a date!

Over all every now and then vibration like that is just fine. But if you are doing that every day all day there could be some ill effects.
 
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jr47

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
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Aug 4, 2005
Messages
595
more than likely she is responding to it cause she dont like it. moving closer otr trying to could simply be cause she wants to kill whatever is making the vibration.
kind of like bass lures, many are made with noise makers in them. they are designed to irritate the fish because they have found that when many game fish are irritated by noise they will seek it out to kill it. thats why you sometimes catch small bass that are not much bigger than the lure your useing.
ive seen dogs do the same. if something bothers them they will go after it and try to stop whatever it is.
i could be wrong but i would go with its not liking it. you could have the first dancing tarantula and end up really popular.
 

Cereal Box

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 20, 2007
Messages
9
Probably crap response, but i was watching on the TV how some spiders conduct music to attract mates by lifting their two front legs up and sort of jerking them a little bit. Humans can't hear it, but it produces pulses in the air - sound waves - that the spiders enjoy and, like human groupies, makes them more willing to mate. Could be... maybe.
 

JMoran1097

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
924
i play my acoustic guitar in the same room as my T's and watch TV in there as well. but they don't seem to care as they just sit still and continue to chill.
 

Cirith Ungol

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies
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Dec 22, 2004
Messages
3,886
The sunlight thing: Please don't put the tank in direct sunlight. It will heat up like an oven -bad. Also, Ts are happier the darker it is, that's why many will hide during the day and come out at night.
 

jr47

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 4, 2005
Messages
595
Probably crap response, but i was watching on the TV how some spiders conduct music to attract mates by lifting their two front legs up and sort of jerking them a little bit. Humans can't hear it, but it produces pulses in the air - sound waves - that the spiders enjoy and, like human groupies, makes them more willing to mate. Could be... maybe.
interesting, we could eventually have t mating calls.
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 5, 2005
Messages
8,325
i doubt the music is bothering her. all my spiders and bugs have been daily exposed to 90-100db music (it used to be even louder) and i even have a pinktoe that lives in my room mates monitoring room where the sound gets up past 110db... so far that spider has molted twice and is doing fine and acts like any other pinktoe i have had

i'm pretty sure there are species out there or freqs of music out there that might be bad but those seem to be more the exception than the rule.

also, i suppose if you play your music at >= 120db that might have a more pronounced negative effect on your bugs... but you would get messed up fairly quickly, too


it sounds like you are hitting tones or patterns that are triggering a mating response. have you ever seen a spider drum? it kind of looks like dancing. that is mating behaviour. seems you little spider is becoming a young man or woman :)


there is a thread on here about triggering drumming in strange ways, btw. you might want to search it out and see if there are any similarities.

also, ifyou can make a video of the spider doing that behavior we could probably tell you if she is drumming or not
 

Midnightrdr456

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
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Jan 17, 2006
Messages
1,088
unless it were on the piano, a piano wont make enough noise to both your T. If your friend is really composing then i doubt she is smashing the keys to make as loud a noise as possible. Just playing the piano wont have an effect on your T. As for the light. My Cyriopagopus sp blue is right next to my window in my room, so day its light night its dark and it is doing just fine. I dont think either of those things will be affecting your T negatively
 
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