Pulchra sealing burrow

[CedricPicard]

Hi,

I was really happy after 2 weeks when I started seeing my grammastola pulchra sling first eat a miniworm, then ignore miniworms but eat crickets, then start to burrow herself in the substrate, below a bit of bark. However, her initial efforts were so laborious that she seemed to seal herself in accidentally. Or so I thought.

After several days, I worried she simply ran out of air and decided to brush her gently out and into a smaller tub, while I pre-dug the beginning of a hide for her, and slid a stone below the bark to form a narrow mouth she could slid into. When I transferred her back in, she explored the area, identified the hide, explored some more and decided this evidently was the best spot.

Again, she proceeded to dig further, but once more, the entrance was just a mound of earth after a few days, and she once again seemed trapped for several days. We have played this game about 3 times now, and I filmed her for several minutes to look at her building pattern. There's definitely method to her madness!

When I've freed the entrance, she won't venture out completely, but happily preys crouched into the mouth, and as soon as she's caught food, she's back in. Fair play. But the next day, she's sealed the entrance with more earth again, until the next feed.

Should I just wait for her to venture out of her own? Is she trying to moult? If so, why is she hunting and eating when given the chance?

Thanks,
Cedric

[Nicolas Charrière]

Hello Cedric. Just a quick answer from work...! Most of the Ts slings love to bury themselves (some kind of survival behavior?). There's no need to worry about such a burrowing activity (she kinda "dig it", if I may say...!) Your T is just looking for a secure burrow and she won't be trapped by herself (unless the decoration of her box collapse - beware!) You should leave her alone, without disturbing her: she knows best!!! And she might be molting soon (she'll stop eating before molting, but it could happen fast because she's still very young). When she'll be hungry, you'll see her at dusk staying just at the opening of her now-openened entrance, ready for a feast!

All the best with your three Ts! Take care.

[Peter Roach]

Tarantulas are nocturnal so they will block the entrances of their burrow while they are hiding during the day (also while waiting to moult)
At night when and if they decide to come out, they will unblock their burrow to go hunting and then reblock it when they have finished hunting or daylight appears.

After several days, I worried she simply ran out of air and decided to brush her gently out and into a smaller tub

I think you would have a heart attack if you have a few of my spiders.
I have a few that i hadnt seen for 27 MONTHS because they had blocked their burrow. I dug them up to move them and they promptly blocked their burrows again when they was placed into their new tubs. So that makes it that I have seen them once in 34 months !!

[CedricPicard]

Ah ah, thanks Peter! No sign of Cassius for a week now, and no heart attack reported yet It's early days though haha

Thanks Nicolas as well, yeah, I strongly suspect she is in pre-moult, she seems to settle pretty quickly, considering I messed with her habitat on a regular basis. Not even a threat posture, she's definitely on the "safety first" side of the fence. When she first moves into a spot, she'll briefly explore before coming right back at the entrance and camping there for 20-30mins. Probably to make sure she hasn't been followed by that tongue-wielding giant