is my spider stupid?

daveemory · is my spider stupid?

Okay, I realize that's not really possible, but I do need to ask:

So, I've had this B. emelia which has basically been a stiff rock and not eaten ever since getting it from the meeting. It's been suggested she has a big butt and may molt soon. So I put a ceramic cup in the enclosure, buried half way. The B. got up on the enclosure and never seemed to come down all week (I initially placed it on top of the cup because it was hard to maneuver the spider to the ground). Literally. Sometimes it has sat with its legs sort of danging over the top of the cup.

Well, I decided it didn't know how to get down. So I picked it up (not an easy proposition because the spider refuses to budge) and put it right down on the dirt in front of the "cave". It froze solid for about 20 minutes. And then... went into the cup and spent the next hour or two goin' nuts digging out peet moss and making this huge pile (which eventually consumed its water dish completely). And now it is, finally, sitting deep in the back of the cup.

What the heck? Was it really too dumb to know to come down and try the hiding place? When I got it from Fred via John T., it came in a small Herp Haven with only dirt and a water dish. It was either sitting in a heap or on its legs pressed into the corner and it just never seemed right.

Any thoughts on this???

PC

squirrel

Hey D,
well by no means am I an expert..not by a longshot (since I have only been keeping T's for a month but...that sounds weird LOL! Maybe the cup is too slick to climb off of? maybe try a terra cota pot? or a hollow 1/2 log....don't know :(

darth skippy

Ts are just weird

that's why they're fun!

daveemory

Lo and behold, this emelia molted on Friday. Looks like it just needed a little encouragement...

I'd share a photo of what looks like a gorgeous new "look", but it's hiding in its cup, deep inside, and I assume it won't come out until it has toughened up a little.

All my spiders are simultaneously being weird. I gave the greenbottle a smaller enclosure because it only ever used about 1/3 of its tank, and now it has dug all the way out to the glass bottom of the tank, leaving a "ring" of dirt around the hole, instead of using the driftwood hide. And my G. rosea and B. vagans slings won't eat, but don't look like they're going to molt.

So, of course, I had to go get another spider - and bought a lovely adult G. rosea from the EB Vivarium. It hasn't done any digging, but seems to be fairly comfortable.

PC

squirrel

gratz!!! cant wait to see the pics :)

daveemory