Strange behaviour..

[Siouxzy]

Hi all,

My P.irminia juvie has been acting quite strange recently. He/she (think it's a she) moulted about a month ago, for the first 2 weeks after moult she was pretty quite, hiding away/not eating etc

.... but now, she is really active. From about 5am every morning without fail, she is doing laps of her enclosure... for hours on end. Sometimes she scares the life out of me and hangs upside down on the lid... I've seen her fall twice but she gets up and carries on running around like nothing happened. Last night she dug a burrow against the side of the tank (it's HOS, so cool I can see what she's doing) but hardly spends any time in it.

It's around 21:45 now and she's still at it, she's eating loads at the moment too. What do you reckon it is? I'm worried she needs something but I don't know what... She def not a mature M looking for a female (no hooks, I'm about 80% it's female, only a juvie) She was re-housed a little while ago, but spends quite a lot of time examining the substrate so don't think it's that... I'm out of ideas, it's lovely to see her out all the time but can't help worrying that I'm missing something?? Any ideas what she wants??... apart from escaping and running around the room!

[_TiMiSdRuNk_]

Does it have access to water? I've had a spider that used to pace around a bit then i gave it a drink and that seemed to sort it out, if not then check other things like temp etc or try moving the tank somewhere else as something outside her tank might be disturbing her

[Paul c 1]

What temperature is it been kept at?

[Siouxzy]

Originally Posted by _TiMiSdRuNk_

Does it have access to water? I've had a spider that used to pace around a bit then i gave it a drink and that seemed to sort it out, if not then check other things like temp etc or try moving the tank somewhere else as something outside her tank might be disturbing her

Yep, she's got a water bowl. I've seen her sit in it and drink loads of times. Infact, she'll sit in it always after a meal, and then raise her bum up and fire turbo poo at the side of her enclosure! She's facinating to watch. Not sure what it is, the only time she seems to be still is when she's stuffing her face!. Temp and humidity both good, I'm really stumped!

[mcluskyisms]

Yeah Id say it sounds somewhat stressed, I had a A.Avicularia that did this once, constant relentless laps around its enclosure, Its usually a sign of distress and I like Tim think you should make sure it has access to clean fresh water and if your already doing that then start looking at the environment outside the enclosure ie is it noisy, like near a radiator or window or is there too much natural daylight shining into the enclosure during the day?

Hope its going to be ok anyway

Regards, Chris

[Siouxzy]

Originally Posted by Paul c 1

What temperature is it been kept at?

Temp at 26' at the moment, will cool down a bit tonight no doubt. Humidity is at 75%.

[mcluskyisms]

Originally Posted by Siouxzy

Temp at 26' at the moment, will cool down a bit tonight no doubt. Humidity is at 75%.

That sounds like perfect conditions....

<stumped

[Siouxzy]

Originally Posted by mcluskyisms

That sounds like perfect conditions....

<stumped

Tell me about it, looking at her now and she's still lapping. She's not in bright daylight but has a fair amount during the day (that doesn't stop her pacing though) At night she's pretty much in the dark and it's quite. She's next to all my other T's and they are kept in near enough the same conditions depending on type. No drafts, No bright light, No excessive vibrations etc etc.
Worrying now, hate to think she's stressed, but stumped as to what it is??!

[garlicpickle]

Are you 100% sure it's not a mature male? Does it look extra furry and leggy since its last moult and is its abdomen skinnier?
I know you said you can't see hooks, but Psalmos are very furry and the hooks can be hard to spot. You should be able to see its "boxing" gloves on the pedipalps if it has them.

I am not doubting you if you say it definitely isn't, but if a normally reclusive spider started pacing restlessly after a moult, that would be the first thing I'd check for.

[Siouxzy]

Originally Posted by garlicpickle

Are you 100% sure it's not a mature male? Does it look extra furry and leggy since its last moult and is its abdomen skinnier?
I know you said you can't see hooks, but Psalmos are very furry and the hooks can be hard to spot. You should be able to see its "boxing" gloves on the pedipalps if it has them.

I am not doubting you if you say it definitely isn't, but if a normally reclusive spider started pacing restlessly after a moult, that would be the first thing I'd check for.

You got me thinking maybe it is a male, so just had a really close exam of her/him... plenty of oppurtunity to do it seeing as she is out and about all the time!

It IS really leggy since the last moult but no sign of hooks... my eyes are pretty good I don't think it's old enough to have matured yet, not very big. It's about 6cm legspan at the mo. After the last moult the bum was pretty skinny, but all my T's are like that after moult and as soon as it started feeding again, it soon fattened up... although not massively considering the appitite!

Think I'll try get some pics...(if my cam behaves itself!)