really strange behaviour

[vincent winyard]

hi everyone just wondered if someone can shed some light on the following. i have a young male chilli rosa who a few weeks ago made what looked like a webbed tunnel on the side of his tank then climbed inside it and went on to his back i thought he was going to molt again but he didn't. after a couple of hours of watching him struggle i decided to carefully help him out of it and he was fine when he came out of it still eating and doing what spiders do. i went in to check the gang tonight and he's done the same again he's on his back in this webb tunnel. again dont look like a possible molt as he looks like he's trying to find a way out. i've left him alone for the moment to see what advise is given. many thank's in advance everyone.

[Aaron Annal]

Hi Vincent
By the sounds of it your male is mature and was making a sperm web(not sure on correct term).He will make a web and lay on his back to transfer sperm to his pedipalps where he will store the sperm until he finds a female to mate with.
It is perfectly normal for an adult male to do this and he shouldnt be disturbed he will get out an destroy the web when he has finished

I'm sure someone will explain better than me but hope that helps

Aaron

[wayne balcombe]

firstly i must ask is your spider a mature male? does it have tibial spurs (hooks unthe underside of the front pair of legs)? does it have small boxing glove type bulbs on the end of the pedipalps?

if the answer is yes to any of the above questions then i would say the webbed tunnel you describe is a sperm web, mature males make these when they are ready to mate a female, they make a thick sheet of web that they can crawl under and deposit sperm on then climb on top of the web and collect the sperm with their palps.

[wayne balcombe]

good timing Aaron, you beat me by about 2 minutes lol.

[Aaron Annal]

good timing Aaron, you beat me by about 2 minutes lol.

glad some one else posted i sometimes struggle to explain wot i mean lol

[vincent winyard]

hi aaron thank's for letting me know whats going on with him that's really interesting to know thanks a lot. at least i know what's going on.

[vincent winyard]

yes wayne he's got he's hooks and boxing gloves. thank's for getting back to me wayne i really appreciate your help cheers. something else i've learned.