Too slippery?

kyrga

Arachnobaron
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Mar 24, 2007
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My a.avic sling has no problem walking around on the sticks and other objects in her habitat, but the walls on the inside seem a bit slippery. She kinda slides down the inside of the walls if she stands anywhere where she's not holding on to some sort of stick. Anyone else see this happen, and is it something I should worry about? It's starting to get pretty warm around here, and my Ts are getting more active.
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
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try wiping down the inside of the cage with a moist paper towel

it sounds ilke there is some kind of film or dust that is making the tara's scopulae adhere
 

kyrga

Arachnobaron
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try wiping down the inside of the cage with a moist paper towel

it sounds ilke there is some kind of film or dust that is making the tara's scopulae adhere
thanks I'll have to try that.... she's pretty active right now, so I'm going to let her settle down a bit or else I'll end up with her up my arm and in my hair....
 

kyrga

Arachnobaron
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I tried wiping down the sides. Fortunately, she behaved herself and didn't try and run off. Still seems like she's having a hard time with the walls though.

Edit: Actually, maybe I didn't wipe the walls well enough? She seems to have found one spot where sh'e comfortable.
 
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cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
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she might have to clean her feet if there was a film/dust problem. kind of sounds like that is not the problem though
 

Alice

Arachnoangel
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my avics have trouble holding on to very smooth surfaces like glass when they are in premolt - also noticed that with pokies. so maybe that's it.
 

David_F

Arachnoprince
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my avics have trouble holding on to very smooth surfaces like glass when they are in premolt - also noticed that with pokies. so maybe that's it.
More than likely. It seems that the longer a tarantula goes between molts the more its scopula lose their ability to "grip" smooth surfaces. It's a case of "you use them, you lose them"...or at least that's the way it seems to me.
 

kyrga

Arachnobaron
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my avics have trouble holding on to very smooth surfaces like glass when they are in premolt - also noticed that with pokies. so maybe that's it.
That would make sense. I've been expecting her to molt sometime in the next month or so, maybe it's coming up.
 

CopperInMyVeins

Arachnolord
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Mar 28, 2006
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What substrate are you using for her? I've noticed that mine have some slipping problems after walking around on coconut fiber, because it sticks to the scopulae, really not that great a substrate for tarantulas in my opinion.
 

SPIDERBYTE

Arachnoknight
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Apr 17, 2005
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My rosie gets like that when she's in pre-moult, tries to climb the glass, but just slips off. --I know they are not *supposed* to climb, but mine just loves to go for a climb after I've called it a night and gone to bed. I know because I find new web trails all over her fake plant, and from wall to the other. If I get up in the wee hours, I may even catch her in the act. She likes to climb one wall, walk across the screen top, and come down the other wall, and / or crawl all over the fake plant (she seems to use it like a ladder, or jungle gym {D ).

In fact I gave her the fake plant because one day I saw her she lose her grip and end up hanging by one leg from the screen top (she usually gets down ok, rarely do I have to help her down (and this only happens during pre-moult when her little feet dont grip so well) By looking at her web trails I know she's making good use of it.
 
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