Crawling the walls ...... and the ceiling!

[Jane Mitchell]

We re-housed our L. Para a couple of days ago into a lovely new perspex tank (a lovely job from House of Spiders!) He seems to have settled in well and has been putting down webs all over. This morning he has been doing his 'Spiderpig' impression and crawling all over the walls. He's also been trying to get upside down on the ceiling. This is something he used to do in his old tank (an exo-terra) but because of the mesh roof had something to grip on to .... I know this isn't ideal and is one of the reasons we changed the tank. Unfortunately, he fell from the top of the tank while I was watching. The tank is 12" high and we've put about 4 - 5" of substrate down so I guess he only fell about 7 - 8" onto soft topsoil. He looks OK so I don't think he's damaged himself in any way.

What I'm really asking is firstly, is this normal?? secondly, if he did fall onto anything harder, like his hide or water dish could he do serious damage?? third, is there anything we can do to stop him??

[Thomas Pitchford]

Our LilyRose loves to annoy her "parents" by trying to hang upside down on a lid from which she has learned is the only place she can do. She winds up sliding most of the time, but she has fallen a few, but the distance is not enough to hurt her and there is nothing but substrate under that section of the tank (there's a hide and a branch on the the other side of the tank). If I thought there was a way to "ground" her, I would but since she does it I must feel she really wants/needs to and just try to make it as safe as possible. I think her tank is also 12 inches high with a good 2-3 inches of substrate and of course she's so big, she just doesn't have far to fall. Hope that might help a little.

[Jane Mitchell]

Thanks Thomas. I know there's probably nothing I can do and he probably does it all the time when I'm out but I can't help but worry. I'm considering moving his water dish so it may be out of the way a bit, just in case. Fingers crossed he never does any serious damage.

[Alistair Kennington]

stop climbing

Have you considerd that the humidaty & or temp,wetness or lack of moisture or some such could be the cause of him/her climbing ,maby to get to a cooler/warmer/dryer/weter area? of cause there is the bit were its maby just into climbing & perhapse a bit of arborial bark mite incorage it to climb safer.... my 3 para slings are into burrows at the min,but i can see them in ther kenco coffee jars ..

[Jane Mitchell]

If he just started doing it, I would agree that it may be that he wasn't happy with the conditions but he's been doing it since December last year (nothing changed at that time, he just started climbing!) Temp & humidity are all fine, so I think he's just into dare-devil exploits! The bark is a good idea though, thanks.

[Iain Condy]

I know what you mean, my L.Para female (Gerty) goes all around her tank but her tem/humidity are fine I just think it's what she's into. She webs all over the side of the tank also. I think this is just normal tho'.

[Jane Mitchell]

I'm glad I'm not the only one! It just worries me when he trying to get upside down - to the point where he's even using his fags to try and get a grip!! I just can't watch!!! Anyway, we've moved his eater dish into the middle of the tank so hopefully he won't fall into it but there's not much we can do about his hide.

[Iain Condy]

If you or someone you know is good at DIY, get a sheet of perspex from a DIY shop, ensure the sheet is big enough to cover the top of the tank and cut to the same size as the tank, then (hoping the tank is big enough) cut a hole approx' 2" (inches) from the edge, so you end up with a rectangle whose outer edge is the same dimensions as the tank, and inner edge is 2" from the outer edge, then drill a lot of holes in the piece that came from the centre of the perspex attach a couple of hinges on one edge and reattach the drilled piece to the larger piece, next attach a catch on the same side as the hinges to stop the T from escaping, and stick the whole lot on top of the tank with clear silicone ensuring the hinges and catch are on the outside. if your T can reach more than 2" from the side of the tank into the roof then cut the "door" far enough from the edge so the T cannot grip the air holes.
Just a quick thought. I don't think T's can get a good enough grip on perspex to hang upside down, and this would mean that the T can only fall from the side. I have just thought this up but hey it may work. If your tank already has ventilation on the sides then omit the drilling of holes to the "door". Hope this helps.

[Jane Mitchell]

Thanks Ian, as you say I think he's only ever going to fall from the edges of the tank so we've moved everything we can to the middle, and if he did land on his hide it would only be about 4" so I doubt he could do much damage. Hopefully when he's completely settled in his new surroundings he may stop ...... but I don't think so!

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Jane, we've got a few large female Para's, they all pretty much do the same, they can be extensive webbers, that's the problem with 12"h tanks, if they fall onto hard objects. We've got one in a 12" exo-terra, and she's a big female 10" ls, she climbs the glass, but we have put duct tape over the mesh on the inside, just leaving a centre square open for ventilation, so now she can't get her feet caught in the mesh, and is now satisfied to go to the top of the glass and then slide to the bottom lol.

I'm intregued, you mention food dish - prey enlighten me, lol

[Jane Mitchell]

Thanks Linda, I think it must just be the species. He used to go all over the ceiling in his old exo-terra so we would have had to tape the whole thing!!!

The dish is a spelling mistake - it was meant to say water!!!

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Jane, with you saying food dish, I could envisage him tucking into a roast lunch lol.

We've found our Paras don't attempt the lid anymore because the tape stops them getting an initial grip, so can't get to the middle to reach the mesh.

[Craig Mackay]

I think she meant water dish when she wrote eater dish. E and W are next to each other on the keyboard. I make similar mistakes all the time, lol!

EDIT: Didn't notice this had gone on to page two and been cleared up already.
P.S I did like the pun Linda

[Jane Mitchell]

I would love the idea of a food dish where the cricket/locust would just sit and wait to be eaten. Save a hell of a lot of time trying to chase the buggers round when Mikey won't eat them! Unfortunately, I don't think they can be trained (the T's or the food!)