What is Langston (my G. rosea) doing???

[Judd]

Hey everyone. I'm relatively new to being a T owner. And of course my first T is a G.rosea. I've read a lot of posts on here as well as the sticky provided on Rosie care. However, something interesting has happened today that I just had to ask some questions.

First off, some background info:
Langston: G.rosea with roughly a 3 inch legspan. Only had him for 1 month. Friends bought him for me as a present at a LPS. Kept in a 10g tank filled 2/3 of the way with peat substrate. Also, the pictures I took were from my phone so I apologize in advance for the quality.

This afternoon I walked into my room and happen to glance at my G. rosea Langston's enclosure. To my surprise I see him moving clumps of dirt from the back of his hide and bringing it out to the front. I'm thinking "what a little earth mover this guy is!" After taking a few pictures, I left him alone since I had to go to a meeting.

Langston getting to work outside his hide

A closer view. I know the pictures are horrible because I only had my phone available at the time. However, if you look closely you can somewhat see the clump of dirt between Langston's chelicerae

After going to my meeting, eating dinner and relaxing in my living room I come back into my bedroom to check on Langston. What I find is this:

He has completely sealed himself off in his hide behind a pile of rolled up substrate and his own webbing. I was very surprised when I saw this!

I know that burrowing is a natural behavior of tarantulas and I have seen Langston burrow a little bit before. However, I haven't seen him move this much substrate around. I'm not worried about feeding him because it has only been a few days since I fed him last. Plus I tried feeding him yesterday but he wouldn't even pay attention to the cricket even if it was near him. My thought is that he could be sealing himself off to molt. I've read that most Ts that come from LPSs often molt as soon as they feel comfortable in their new enclosures. Could this be what's happening with Langston? What do you guys think? Any information would be greatly appreciated since if he is molting or about to, I would like to take the proper course of action (providing the right temp and adequate humidity levels). Thanks in advance!

- Judd

 

[JackWaites]

This happens sometimes, he's probably molting just leave him.

 

[Teal]

He's decided he needs some privacy.

It could be a sign of an impending molt

 

[Judd]

Thanks for the response guys. I figured that he's about to molt. Thought he would do the whole "molting mat" thing though, didn't expect him to block out his hide. Kinda surprised me.

I know I should probably just leave him alone since this is a natural thing but being that he's my first T, I'm somewhat overprotective and worried about him. I don't want any complications to occur during the whole process. Should I flood his water dish to help raise the humidity in his tank? Right now I have a hygrometer in there and it says the humidity is around 40%.

 

[Hobo]

Thanks for the response guys. I figured that he's about to molt. Thought he would do the whole "molting mat" thing though, didn't expect him to block out his hide. Kinda surprised me.

I know I should probably just leave him alone since this is a natural thing but being that he's my first T, I'm somewhat overprotective and worried about him. I don't want any complications to occur during the whole process. Should I flood his water dish to help raise the humidity in his tank? Right now I have a hygrometer in there and it says the humidity is around 40%.

You could overfill it just a bit if it will make you feel better, but it's mostly internal hydration that matters. As long as it had waterdish access before it sealed itelf in (and while it's in there, just in case it gets thirty!), it should be ok. The humidity in my rosea's tank was sitting around 45 when she molted and it was just fine, if it's any consolation. So, no real need to flood or mist her, IMO.

A better way to increase humidity is to simply have an open water dish, and retard most of the ventilation. You should do this anyway if you should notice your rosea hovering around (or in!) the waterdish all the time. Otherwise, No need to fix what ain't broken! It might be accustomed to the "40%" humidity by now, and any increase might cause her to go arboreal on you! Besides, depending on what kind of hydrometer you are using, that 40% reading might be way off!

 

[Mina]

He has put up his "do not disturb" sign. He is either going to moult or is going to fast for a bit. Don't worry about him he will be fine. Make sure his water dish is full all of the time. He will break through his privacy screen to come out and drink and then he will repair it. Most likely in the middle of the night so you probably won't see it.

 

[Judd]

New developments

Thanks everyone. I figured as much that he might be molting. Anyway, there's been some new development.

So after lunch today, I came back to check on Langston again to see if there were any changes. I wasn't expecting much since, after all, he's locked himself up. However, when I looked into the tank, I see that he's outside his hide but the entrance is still completely sealed. I then notice that he's burrowed out the back end of his hide, basically creating a "back door". I don't know if he's done molting or laying an egg/sperm web. He's currently just chilling under another log and seems to be sleeping. I figured I'd let him be for a week or so and observe if he returns to his old hide. If everything seems to be normal with him after that time frame and he doesn't return to the old hide, then I might go inspect what's inside there. What do you think?

 

[BatGirl]

need more doors!

new development

These buggers really love to burrow (I know Lady Romana did until I watched and replicated her 'choices' so she now just likes what I fix for her) and will completly re-arrange their tank if they want to... advice? Just let it do its renovation and 'learn' from what it does (the back door probably lets in less light - make sure it is dark where the cage is). This is how your tarantula likes its home ;-)

btw - are you sure it is male? are there hooks/bulbs present at only 3-inches?