Whats my G. Rosea doing?

[sweetmisery]

Lately, I transfered him to a critter keeper(plastic aquarium with slits on top) since he is now bigger. I then saw him putting a lot of the substrate(coco peat) in his mouth then climbs up the top and drop it(some going out in the slits)... Then he goes down and do it again.

Anyone knows what he is trying to do?

 

[Taceas]

Trying to block the entrance to his "burrow" perhaps? Or it could simply being a G. rosea doing what G. roseas do...do weird things.

 

[barkobarko]

same here

shes carrying a handful of dirt then climb up the critter and deposit them on the vents of the critter, worst thing is she dump dirt on the water dish, the next day i decided to put another water dish, but to my surprise she dump a handful of dirt on it, i already used three water dishes but still she covers it with dirt. :wall: :? :?

 

[sweetmisery]

^^ Why do they do that? She covered one part of the top, and made a small "hill". And yes the water dish is covered with dirt now.

 

[barkobarko]

exercise?

hehe maybe exercise, and oh her enclosure used to have a plain and nicely landscaped substrate, but now her enclosure has a Mt. Everest on it, the hide now serves as a garbage can, all the cricket and superworm remains are there

 

[phil jones]

i have two ones a like a kitten the other ones a psychopath so go figure that one out they are enigmas of the tarantula world :? ---- PHIL

 

[Rain_Flower]

My rosea sits on top of her coconut instead of in it, and also likes to dump dirt in her water dish. She's quite cute

 

[Mina]

Anything a G. rosea does, they do because they are G. roseas, and because they want to. Don't worry about it. If you stay on the boards long enough you will realize the every question that sounds like, "My tarantula is acting weird, or my T is doing strange things, or why is my T doing this?" are almost always about G. roseas.
They are very individual T's. Each one is different, I have 7 and not one is like the others. As long as your T is active occasionally, looks healthy with a nice plump abdomen, don't worry. It is doing its thing, being a G. rosea.

 

[Ungweliante]

I think that many different tarantulas cover their water dishes with substrate every now and then.

Why?

I think the answer really doesn't matter, however I trust that they know their stuff better than us ...your tarantula sounded like she was just doing "housekeeping" - transferring dirty substrate out. Maybe they think that the water dish is a place where the dirty substrate disappears...in the nature the flow of water would take care of that. Another reason could be that she wants a sort of watering system - often substrate placed on the water dish reaches over it to the "ground" of the terrarium and the water oozes there through the connection - in the morning the water dish is empty, the substrate wet and the keeper confused

What I usually do during this is not to fill the water dish for a couple of days, at least until the substrate around it is dry. Very often that helps with the "dumping" behaviour. Also I empty the dirty substrate out of it, while doing it.

 

[robbie]

she is just getting use to her new surroundings.... maybe? Just enjoy watching your T have fun. My G. rosea wonders around some times and even likes to sit right on top of her hide,

 

[Arachnoporium]

Possible Dehydration?

I have seen "Rescue?" Tarantulas upright with legs curled underneath "Death Pose" - which were clearly dying from dessication - Tarantula ER time. This is just a shot in the dark as your Grammostola is probably not dehydrated it it is perching on the underside of the container - you can rule out the dehydration scenario if you are certain you have had fresh water available continuously for the past weeks.

When you think about it - a vial is optimum for a Tarantula raised in captivity for ease of finding prey and controlling humidity. As the brain size is quite large for an Arthropod, young Tarantulas drink from substrate - this is the conclusion I came to when witnessing a dessicated Tarantula grasping clumps of substrate in its chelicerae.

 

[sweetmisery]

Thanks guys. For a moment there, I thought she was possessed by some sort of devil. lol

 

[Mina]

That still can't be ruled out, she is a rosehair, after all. They can change temperments too, so watch it. My biggest rosie was a sweet, gentle,handleable thing until she laid her sack and we took it from her. Since then she is a grouchy, unpredictable, pain the the abdomen.
Glad yours is doing well.

 

[sweetmisery]

Well right now, she got a nice 2 inches ball of substrate, mixed with her web. She is laying down in it as if its her throne.

 

[Snowball]

I left on vacation for a week and came back (Someone was keeping the water topped of and what not don't worry.) and she dug out her entire hide made a mountain on the other side, and started digging down then to the glass and is now making a long tunnle running the length of the glass...but never uses it.

 

[Orange County]

In your waters dish do you have spounge? imy T hasnt touched the water or the spounge? was up?

 

[MizM]

She's simply redecorating her enclosure to her tastes! We certainly can't expect them to like our décor!

 

[barkobarko]

She's simply redecorating her enclosure to her tastes! We certainly can't expect them to like our décor!

now this is very true, maybe for us its perfect, but for them its not, thats why they always and always redecorate it themselves

 

[Bosing]

I will have to share a similar case just to get comfort that I was not tricked into buying a Rosea who behaves extraordinarily. Mine started shoveling dirt upwards to the extent of littering just outside its cage. At first I would level the substrate everytime I visited it, but the routine of it digging and me leveling went on for days, and I gave up.

To my appreciation, the masterpiece is a very natural landscape inside its cage. I will try to take a photo and share what the little critter did...

So to the thread starter (and me as a newbie), I guess its just normal for Roseas to do this.

For the experts and more seniors -- is this behavior an indication of its gender? I was hoping I got a female...

 

[MizM]

For the experts and more seniors -- is this behavior an indication of its gender? I was hoping I got a female...

Who you callin' SENIOR?:razz:

A juvenile's burrowing habits will give you no clues as to the sex. Generally speaking, an adult male will wander from the moment it matures until it's death. But, our contrary little friends love to be the exception to the rule, so I'm sure someone will post a photo of a burrowing adult male!!

Also, not all adult females burrow. Each individual of each species are different.