My Emilia, the Arboreal Acrobat

[Craig Moore]

I've had my B Emilia now for around 6 weeks. Lovely little pet she is but her behaviour is beginning to worry me. She is always on the sides or top of the enclosure. She does come down to feed but that's about it. Even more worrying was something that she did today..
I came home from work to find her upside down on the roof of her faunarium. She was hovering above her corkbark hide and I was worried that she was going to fall on it. She moved gradually toward the centre (where there is a plastic flap), then suddenly her arms began to flail...then she literally did a backflip and landed (luckily) on her feet!
I get the feeling that she hates her substrate (coir with some vermiculite mixed in). In the pet store where I got her she was kept on Terra Bark. A part of me wants to change the substrate to see if she likes it better but I don't want to ruin an environment that she's possibly getting used to.
Any thoughts?

[Daniel Richardson]

Whats the humidity in there?

[Craig Moore]

Around 67 at the moment?

[Daniel Richardson]

Its not too humid then. My E truculentis loves climbing but it does sit on the peat too.How long has it been in there? sometimes it may take a good few weeks too settle.If no change i would put it back to the bark that its used to-i used to have a chile rose on bark and it did fine.

[James Box]

changing the substrate may be the solution, also you may want to increase the height to reduce even the possibility of her falling to far and injuring herself.

[Craig Moore]

Cheers guys - I'll keep an eye on her. She's been in the enclosure for around 6 weeks. Like I said she does come to the floor every so often (usually when I get up in the morning she's on the floor) but she spends most of her time on the sides, usually near the top. You can see her little feet clinging to the bars, cute haha...

[Nicola Dolby]

Hi, I don't know whether this will help but I've been having the same problem with my baumgarteni, and now my smithi has started too. first they try to dig, then climb. The problem could well be the weather we are having. I know it sounds daft but in the wild Brachypelmas live in burrows, they are now terrestrial. with all the hot weather he (or she) might actually be trying to get out of the sun. I've tried putting the petpals on the floor where it is cooler at night and this seems to work a little. A little more shade and a little less heat might be the answer. or 6 inches of substrate for the little critter to dig a burrow!!!!!!!!!

[Craig Moore]

Thanks again, she's still at it though - my nerves are gone watching her...it's almost as though she's determined to get completely upside down. I even seen her using her fangs to try and drag herself up onto the lid this afternoon. I know it's warm at the moment but they're not in direct sunlight. It'll be 6 weeks on Sunday since I got her, how long would u give before changing the substrate?

[Daniel Richardson]

Hi,i just transfared one of my t's (e truculentis) to a larger tank,and same thing happening-she does walk on the floor and is used to it,but she does love climbing and makes me worry sometimes-loves climbing upside down on mesh-i'm sure she thinks she's an aborrial,even as i type-she's stuck on the fake rock thingy asleep right at the top-humidity fine-temp bit warmer than normal-so maybe just a heat thing?

[Craig Moore]

Could be, problem is I want to feed her tonight and top up her water bowl. The feeding part is fine because I can just lift the flap on the top of the lid but I can't take the lid off because she's always on it.

[James Box]

it's worth experimenting with conditions, alot of spiders stay off the substrate if they don't like how moist it is, in cases of spiders like E truculentis.
it could also be heat...again with this species, they like it cool, and room temperature may be too high in this climate, not that we can always help that.

again though, it's important to raise the substrate height so it's no more than a few inches from the lid. if the spider falls from any higher, injury and even death may result. E truculentis and in the case of this thread B emilia are not arboreal, so they are not that able to maintain a secure grip high up. i realise the emilia is in a faunarium, however which isn't as bad.

how high is the truculentis tank?

Craig, just go ahead and change the substrate. if you feel a bit funny just plonking it into new environs, to make yourself more comfortable (as she won't care, and will soon settle), you can take some of the webbing (if you can find any) that it's laid over current substrate. but she'll soon make more so that isn't a requirement.
spiders are able to adapt quite quickly, and though naturally it's good to minimise stress, it won't kill them to experiment with different substrate/housing/heating/moisture (or lack thereof!) til you find a balance they're more comfortable in.

also, being spiders, they will climb and explore and re-arrange. it is just what they do. making sure they can do that in safety is your responsibility, that's why i strongly suggest ensuring that the maximum distance it can fall is only a few inches, and hopefully only onto something soft.

[Daniel Richardson]

Can't u temp her down off the top? is she a bit scatty? try using a long paint brush or a chopstick,or when tempting my smithi out of its burrow,i use water drops-it brings her right out!!!
If your tank is quite high u could try to catch her in something or just hold it under her and try to tempt her into it using a chopstick,then put her on the bottom to feed. Where there's a will,theres a way.
with time and patience you can f**k a flea!!!!!!

[Craig Moore]

"with time and patience you can f**k a flea!!!!!!"

Lol- I suppose that's one way to put it! Both of my spiders are pretty skittish and move like grease lightening at the slightest contact. I see all these vids on youtube of people touching a leg and gently getting their spiders onto their hands, I really don't think I can do that with mine. My G Concepcion thinks everything that comes into her vicinity is food. And tonight the Emilia tackled her crickets with such ferocity that she was literally a blur!