Is she drinking or drowning?

[MattFreier]

Hi i am very new to keeping Ts, i recently aquired a Red G. rosea. She seems to be settling in ok, last night she ate 3 crickets and after various movings of her tank we have foiund a nice quiet and warm spot.

The question i need answering as the internet appears quite vague is: Do tarantulas drink from thier bowl?

Yesterday i found her what looked like face down in her bowl, being worried i rushed to her tank to check her and she moved out of her bowl looking and acting fine, then she settled down and we fed her ok.

Well low and behold i found her in exactly the same position today, and when i approached the tank she moved out of her bowl again.

Is she Drinking from her bowl or has she fell in?

There is only about a cm water in the bowl which is about cup sized. Ive heard if you put a stone in the bowl is prevents drowning?

[matthew king]

yes, she is drinking, by the sounds off it a bit dehydrated if she is drinking alot. make sure you keep topping her water bowl.

take care,

[craig mcinnes]

Yep this is just your spider drinking from the water bowl. You can put a pebble in the bowl but this is more for stopping prey items such as crickets from drowning rather than your spider which unless it is seriously ill and weak, will have no problems getting out the waterbowl if it wants to.

[MattFreier]

Cool! Thanks guys i can stop worrying now is just looked like i has a kamikaze T. Im already finding out this is a fascinating hobby wtih all my Ts nuances.

[JensFalk]

Do you have a heat mat under the tank?

[MattFreier]

Hi Jens,

Thanks for your reply.
No i dont have a heat mat in my tank. I keep it a room temp which is normally between 21-23 .

[R Thomas]

G. rosea seem to favour fairly dry substrate so hanging over the waterbowl when the T wants water is not an everyday event but when they want water they can spend a while perched over the bowl.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Good to hear that you haven't got a heat mat under/inside your tank, it's a bad idea for T's. If it's necessary for a heat mat, and it's certainly not at 21c+, put it on the outside of the tank on the end or side, where the T can move away from it if it is too warm. Oh, and Welcome to the forum Matt