Why is my Green Bottle Blue Roaming the top of the Enclosure?

[Jordan99]

Hi, this is my first tarantula and after rehousing him to a bigger enclosure about 2 and a half weeks ago. He’s been roaming the sides near the top and will go down at the corners and will only go on the substrate on the front right corner for a second.

He’s done some webbing in the back over the mushrooms and the plant in the right. He also webbed up over the cork bark hide in the very first week after rehousing and is accepting food and isn’t in pre-moult.

I know the GBB is a terrestrial and in the hobby has been classified semi arboreal and some prefer to be up high and some may prefer to be more terrestrial and burrow which he has never done. And yes I don’t know the sex yet but just am identifying it as a him.

The substrate is a mix of cocoa fibre and soil (zoo med creature soil). The only thing I can think of for the reason for all this roaming is maybe the substrate is too wet or it’s the enclosure size which I think is a bit to big right now but from the last moult he should be having his 3rd moult soon.

I expected some roaming but after almost 3 weeks. Is there anything else that I’m missing or that can cause this constant roaming or why he isn’t going on the substrate?

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Reason, it’s exploring its surroundings. No one knows why a spider climbs !

 

[TheraMygale]

After rehomings, many tarantulas do that. Especialy terrestrials. Sometimes substrate is still moist, or too wet: that accentuates the behavior.

but gbb is kept dry so i suppose your substrate might just not be dry enough if you used it fresh.

if your substrat levels are safe with top of enclosure, there is nothing to worry about.

you want about 1.5x the diagonal leg span of your tarantula, from substrate to top of enclosure. Or, if tarantula can stand on its back legs and touch top of enclosure thats good too. Especialy the bigger heavy tarantulas.

id remove some decorations. Make it minimal for now. And add webbing anchors here and there. That way it will help your tarantula make a web.

i used straws in one of my enclosures and its great.

this is for my d pentaloris. And the straws helped that my Davus webbed the straws instead of the top of enclosure. I know it might eventualy web the top. But i strategicaly placed items to make them feel safer.

it still roams the sides too.

in your case, you want want more substrate levels until it gets bigger, and webbing anchors.

 

[Cmac2111]

I know the GBB is a terrestrial and in the hobby has been classified semi arboreal and some prefer to be up high and some may prefer to be more terrestrial

GBB is a heavy-webbing terrestrial tarantula, that exhibits 'semi-arboreal' behaviors within nature often as a result of environmental conditions & pressures. See here: Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens-- Arboreal vs Terrestrial | Arachnoboards

The only thing I can think of for the reason for all this roaming is maybe the substrate is too wet

"Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens live in extreme xeric conditions in sandy thorn tree/cactus forests on the Paraguana Peninsula of Venezuela." - From above thread... You don't want 'wet' sub.

 

[Mustafa67]

Hi, this is my first tarantula and after rehousing him to a bigger enclosure about 2 and a half weeks ago. He’s been roaming the sides near the top and will go down at the corners and will only go on the substrate on the front right corner for a second.

He’s done some webbing in the back over the mushrooms and the plant in the right. He also webbed up over the cork bark hide in the very first week after rehousing and is accepting food and isn’t in pre-moult.

I know the GBB is a terrestrial and in the hobby has been classified semi arboreal and some prefer to be up high and some may prefer to be more terrestrial and burrow which he has never done. And yes I don’t know the sex yet but just am identifying it as a him.

The substrate is a mix of cocoa fibre and soil (zoo med creature soil). The only thing I can think of for the reason for all this roaming is maybe the substrate is too wet or it’s the enclosure size which I think is a bit to big right now but from the last moult he should be having his 3rd moult soon.

I expected some roaming but after almost 3 weeks. Is there anything else that I’m missing or that can cause this constant roaming or why he isn’t going on the substrate?

Normal

 

[viper69]

Hi, this is my first tarantula and after rehousing him to a bigger enclosure about 2 and a half weeks ago. He’s been roaming the sides near the top and will go down at the corners and will only go on the substrate on the front right corner for a second.

He’s done some webbing in the back over the mushrooms and the plant in the right. He also webbed up over the cork bark hide in the very first week after rehousing and is accepting food and isn’t in pre-moult.

I know the GBB is a terrestrial and in the hobby has been classified semi arboreal and some prefer to be up high and some may prefer to be more terrestrial and burrow which he has never done. And yes I don’t know the sex yet but just am identifying it as a him.

The substrate is a mix of cocoa fibre and soil (zoo med creature soil). The only thing I can think of for the reason for all this roaming is maybe the substrate is too wet or it’s the enclosure size which I think is a bit to big right now but from the last moult he should be having his 3rd moult soon.

I expected some roaming but after almost 3 weeks. Is there anything else that I’m missing or that can cause this constant roaming or why he isn’t going on the substrate?

1. Your sub seems too moist based on color- could be just the image.
2. They come from an extremely xeric environment
3. The sub to lid distance is too tall, your T is going to die.
4. If your sub is dry - every prisoner is looking to escape

They are a terrestrial species.

 

[TheraMygale]

1. Your sub seems too moist based on color- could be just the image.
2. They come from an extremely xeric environment
3. The sub to lid distance is too tall, your T is going to die.
4. If your sub is dry - every prisoner is looking to escape

They are a terrestrial species.

That was nice

 

[Jordan99]

Okay so I’ve just fixed the enclosure. The substrate did feel damp and too wet. I mixed it up and added more soil and cocoa fibre up to the vent holes.

 

[viper69]

Okay so I’ve just fixed the enclosure. The substrate did feel damp and too wet. I mixed it up and added more soil and cocoa fibre up to the vent holes.

See my 3rd point if you want that T to live, no joke.

 

[Jordan99]

See my 3rd point if you want that T to live, no joke.

Yeah I was worried a bit about it being to much height when he started roaming a lot

 

[Jordan99]

Here’s the enclosure now. The soil is a dark soil and it may need to be dried

 

[TheraMygale]

Okay so I’ve just fixed the enclosure. The substrate did feel damp and too wet. I mixed it up and added more soil and cocoa fibre up to the vent holes.

This is excellent. It might still feel moist for tarantula. It takes a while to dry out. Be patient.

make some substrate dry out on the side.

Its not mentionned enough that usualy, enclosures should be made in advance for dry kept species.

 

[Jordan99]

This is excellent. It might still feel moist for tarantula. It takes a while to dry out. Be patient.

make some substrate dry out on the side.

Its not mentionned enough that usualy, enclosures should be made in advance for dry kept species.

Thats a good point, I’ll get a spare container to dry some out and swap it out what’s in the enclosure if it still feels damp after a while.

 

[viper69]

Here’s the enclosure now. The soil is a dark soil and it may need to be dried

Much better. I would remove some of those cage decorations in there, easy for crix to hide around them I THINK. Keep a hide of course.

 

[TheraMygale]

Your new enclosure looks so much better and i have to agree with @viper69 . You dont need all those decos (except hide).

its a webber and needs webbing anchor points. Your beautiful decos wont look the same once it settles in.

 

[Jordan99]

Much better. I would remove some of those cage decorations in there, easy for crix to hide around them I THINK. Keep a hide of course.

True. I drop the crickets near him and he grabs them right away so I’m not too worried about that yet. Once he’s bigger then I leave them in there for a bit.

 

[TheraMygale]

True. I drop the crickets near him and he grabs them right away so I’m not too worried about that yet. Once he’s bigger then I leave them in there for a bit.

It won’t always be like that, even when he’s small. They can get scaredy cats real quick.

when its enclosure will be all webbed up too. And when it webs, more places to hide will happen.

 

[Jordan99]

Your new enclosure looks so much better and i have to agree with @viper69 . You dont need all those decos (except hide).

its a webber and needs webbing anchor points. Your beautiful decos wont look the same once it settles in.

Yeah they’ll be all covered up at some point. I just like the look of them for now and I used the fake plants to somewhat resemble Venezuela. Except the mushrooms lol

 

[TheraMygale]

Yeah they’ll be all covered up at some point. I just like the look of them for now and I used the fake plants to somewhat resemble Venezuela. Except the mushrooms lol

you do you. We gave you the best tips. Now its up to you to learn for yourself! You’ll see in less then 60 days what works best for you. Let us know!

 

[Jordan99]

you do you. We gave you the best tips. Now its up to you to learn for yourself! You’ll see in less then 60 days what works best for you. Let us know!

I’ll probably remove the mushrooms if he continues to stay on or near them.

I can’t disagree with that. I’ve learned a lot just from this one forum post. Thank you for all the information everyone gave. I really appreciate all the help and will keep you posted.