Water dish burial behavior

[Professor T]

The last two day my G. pulchra has decided its the thing to do to bury her water dish fill of shagnum peat moss. She fills it in so that there is no water left inside. She has never done this before!

I took the dish out, cleaned it, refilled it, and half buried it in the peat. She filled it with peat again!?

Now I've put it back in and let it sit on top of the peat without half burying it like I have always done before. The dish is ceramic, 1.5 inches tall, and she is 3.25" inches long. I think she'll be able to get water if she needs it, but that behavior was something I've never seen before.

She also has sloped the entire tank with peat higher in the front, and lower in the back. I drop crickets in, they walk down the slope. So crickets now have to run uphill away from her when I drop them in...a nice design on her part.

Anyone else see any of these behaviors? My Brazilian Black is quite the bulldozer these days!

 

[skinheaddave]

My juvenile B.vagans are masters at filling their dish. Part of my regular maintenance is to empty the dish before filling it. I have no idea why they do it. I wondered for a time if it was a response to excess humidity, but even those I have kept in temporarily dryer conditions have done the same thing.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[jwb121377]

One of my adult female Brachypelma albopilosum has done this for the better part of a year. I have no idea why she does it or what brought it on.

 

[skadiwolf]

i say just enjoy the eccentricities exhibited by your obviously very creative and artistic Ts.

however, though it might annoy them, you guys could try experimenting with different humidity levels etc to see what they do. it would be fascinating if you could actually determine the reasons for this behavior.

in my mind it obvious has a function if they're all doing it.

then again, it could just be that they're enjoying annoying you. ;P

 

[SpiderTwin]

It seems most of my terestrials have done this at one time or another. I think they just get busy moving around the furniture and fill the water dish with dirt. Probably if they really knew what they were doing, they wouldn't foul up their water source. I think their impulse to borrow overules everything else.

 

[RugbyDave]

I fully agree with SpiderTwin.

I've seen this with a bunch of mine (the B.vagans as of lately, like dave), and i think they fill it in by accident (they're not dying of thirst, either)...

and maybe for the T's that aren't 'moving around furniture', it may be too humid, the captive parallel to finding a burrow in the wild farther away from water sources...

i dont know if that came out the way i wanted it to, but i'm about done with my piece, so i'm going to let it fly to chance...

alright. i think its fine. If the T's moving other stuff around, i'd say just clean it and keep refilling it. But if the T isnt moving anything else around, and really just filling in the dish, i'd say let it be for a week or two... could just be trying to lower the humidity? Not that they actively KNOW what humidity is, but you know what im saying -- im not attributing human thoughts to them..

wow, im really gonna stop now. alright
later, dave

 

[skinheaddave]

Well, my one G.rosea repeatedly capsized her water dish and then used it to block up the front of her hide. After refilling it several times, I just let her keep it and gave her a second dish. Sometimes you just shouldn't fight with your Ts.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[RugbyDave]

excatly


--> pointless post

peace
dave

 

[skadiwolf]

incorrectly spelled too...tsk!

 

[RugbyDave]

yes, there's a C missing. thats what we get when we've been watching the minnesota wild give it to the Red Sox and drinking beer all day. I think this happened like a month ago, too. Man...

seriously though, it is totally missing a C!

dave

 

[Static_69]

totally normal if you ask me...my g.rosea does it like 24/7...she must be anti-water or something.



Risto

 

[belewfripp]

Originally posted by skinheaddave
Well, my one G.rosea repeatedly capsized her water dish and then used it to block up the front of her hide. After refilling it several times, I just let her keep it and gave her a second dish. Sometimes you just shouldn't fight with your Ts.

Cheers,
Dave

I have an H. gigas that has three water dishes. Two are buried under several inches of peat, the other it actually drinks from. Personally I think it has an evil plot to take away all my water dishes.

Adrian

 

[belewfripp]

Originally posted by RugbyDave
Not that they actively KNOWN what humidity is, but you know what im saying -- im not attributing human thoughts to them..

I dunno -- my Pamphobeteus antinous has huge eyes, and I swear everytime I handle her I feel like she's looking right at me.
My P. regalis also made an escape today and I free-hand caught her (which is NOT something I would recommend doing) and as she moved about on my hands and arms I had the distinct feeling of being observed. She was very choosy and deliberate about where she wanted to go, often choosing to duck to the underside of my arms or even wait to see what I did before making her next move.

Adrian

 

[LPacker79]

I think their impulse to borrow overules everything else.

Maybe they need a raise on their allowance? ;P Sorry, I just couldn't resist.
To keep this on topic, none of my T's bury their water dishes.

 

[Arachnopuppy]

Half of my tarantulas do this on a daily basis.

 

[sunnymarcie]

My A. seemanni fills his water dish all the time.
I'd say he was doing it by accident, but I saw him put dirt in it.
Maybe they are trying to make their substrate easier to "build"
with...? His name is "Digger" kind of fitting isn't it?

 

[Sam]

Heh, my b.vagans does that all the time.

I fill the waterdish ---->couple hours----> waterdish is full of dirt and water is gone. Odd but funny

 

[Bry]

Originally posted by RugbyDave
seriously though, it is totally missing a C!

It's not totally missing a C, the C is just totally in the wrong place.

Ever since my G. pulchra and B. albopilosum started doing major burrowing, they filled their bowls with substrate daily. They've stopped for a bit, so it's not really an issue for now.

Bry

 

[Mustadio]

My G. Rosea actually dragged her hide into her water dish!