Should I be worried?

[NatashaG]

Last week I noticed that my T (B.Smithi) was a hell of a lot more active than usual. He had, up until that point, not really been seen out and about other than sitting at the back of his hide. Then he started sitting at the entrance of his burrow and even at one point chased his food out, which I have been delighted at, because he finally seems to be settling in. That was until a few days ago when I woke up and did my daily check of him in the morning, and he was right up on the side of his tank, climbing (which worried me as I know B.Smithis' are meant to be terrestrial). I've kept a closer eye on him than I usually do, just to see if there could be a reason for him not wanting to be on the ground, and I can't see anything. The substrate is bone dry, and the only moisture is his water dish, which is filled daily too. He doesn't look to have any marks on him, apart from the missing patch of hair on his abdomen, which I have posted about before.
Since then, he hasn't been on the ground, he has stuck to climbing around the heights of his enclosure and now I'm worried in-case this is a sign that something could be wrong.

OR I'm over worrying and he is just getting brave enough to explore his enclosure properly for the first time.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[kormath]

could be anything. Weather changes i've noticed will have them on the sides of their enclosures. has it been stormy there? We're coming out of stormy weather and moving into a heat wave. I've noticed my smithi on the side of his enclosure also the last few days. My guess is he's trying to get to higher ground because of the weather changing.

I keep mine in moist substrate and let it dry out, so the top is dry but the mid and lower levels are moist to help burrowing.

 

[Enn49]

Both of our B. smithi spend a lot of time up the sides of their containers.

 

[Rmac88]

Is he a he? A mature he? Could be restlessly seeking a female

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[kormath]

Is he a he? A mature he? Could be restlessly seeking a female

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mine's only 3/4" or so now, so doubtful, unless he's a young stud

 

[NatashaG]

could be anything. Weather changes i've noticed will have them on the sides of their enclosures. has it been stormy there? We're coming out of stormy weather and moving into a heat wave. I've noticed my smithi on the side of his enclosure also the last few days. My guess is he's trying to get to higher ground because of the weather changing.

I keep mine in moist substrate and let it dry out, so the top is dry but the mid and lower levels are moist to help burrowing.

The weather has been a little on the wet side, but not stormy or anything like that. The top layer of the substrate is dry, the bottom was dampened and when I fill his water bowl I always tend to wet a little spot of the dirt near it. Funny thing was that I checked on him, had the thought to post on here and when I went back he was on the ground and making his way back to his hide typical.

 

[NatashaG]

Both of our B. smithi spend a lot of time up the sides of their containers.

I was expecting the odd climb, but he was up there for 3 days almost. I was just a little worried, especially since he was more interested in being at the back of his hide and suddenly wanted to have a look around

 

[NatashaG]

Is he a he? A mature he? Could be restlessly seeking a female

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No, in fact I'm not 100% sure it is a he! It's just how I refer to him. He is a juvenile

 

[Enn49]

I was expecting the odd climb, but he was up there for 3 days almost. I was just a little worried, especially since he was more interested in being at the back of his hide and suddenly wanted to have a look around

The 2 we have I bought as tiny slings and they have always been different in their behaviour. The smallest one has always spent most of its time up the side but the other tended to hide away. Now they are around 1.5" they both spend most of their time either on top of their hides or up the sides of the containers.

 

[NatashaG]

While he has been climbing, and seemingly more active, I've noticed a few things. 1 is that his abdomen seems rather large. For only getting fed weekly it seems a bit too big for my liking. Could anyone let me know if this happens for a reason? He isn't overfed, and if he doesn't want to eat he wont touch it and then I remove the food.
2 is that there is a small mark on the underside of his abdomen. It is a little round mark, and I'm unsure if it is normal or if he has injured himself. Any advice here would be helpful!!
Pictures included, the black and white is in reference to his abdomen size, the next you can just see the lighter mark underneath.

 

[NatashaG]

The 2 we have I bought as tiny slings and they have always been different in their behaviour. The smallest one has always spent most of its time up the side but the other tended to hide away. Now they are around 1.5" they both spend most of their time either on top of their hides or up the sides of the containers.

It's very interesting how different each tarantula can be! Zoltan used to hide away, but now he seems happy enough to sit just outside of his hide

 

[Enn49]

While he has been climbing, and seemingly more active, I've noticed a few things. 1 is that his abdomen seems rather large. For only getting fed weekly it seems a bit too big for my liking. Could anyone let me know if this happens for a reason? He isn't overfed, and if he doesn't want to eat he wont touch it and then I remove the food.
2 is that there is a small mark on the underside of his abdomen. It is a little round mark, and I'm unsure if it is normal or if he has injured himself. Any advice here would be helpful!!
Pictures included, the black and white is in reference to his abdomen size, the next you can just see the lighter mark underneath. View attachment 16890 View attachment 16891

It may be that is coming up to a moult but it doesn't look too fat so don't worry. The light patches that you see underneath are the book lungs.

 

[VanessaS]

Those are his little lungs. He seems quite happy and looks good.
Before I rehoused my two B. smithi, they were always up the sides of their enclosure. The enclosure was far too high for them, I actually have a sub adult A. avic in one of them now, and they had these great big rocks in the bottom. Plus, there was not enough room for them to even have a decent sized water dish. I rehoused them almost immediately, but while they were in the old enclosures they were constantly up the side right near the top.
They will often explore and you just need to set them up so that they won't suffer an injury if they fall. Adults are more of a concern and so are chubby youngsters. Their abdomens are just so delicate.

 

[NatashaG]

Oh thank goodness!! I was panicking in case he had bumped himself of scraped himself or something along those lines. My partner had sat and looked up tarantula anatomy and said this, but that was not enough for me So thanks for the confirmation!!! BIG relief.
His tank was a specific terrestrial one, but it did look rather high. We added extra substrate to try and compensate for it, but now that he seems to be exploring I want to add more. It's about 4 inches at the moment, but he has never burrowed too much as I made his hide myself and buried it in quite deep. I also didn't leave the terrain too flat and he has some plants and things to climb over, so I am hoping that he sticks to the ground from now on.
Thank you again for the help

 

[NatashaG]

It may be that is coming up to a moult but it doesn't look too fat so don't worry. The light patches that you see underneath are the book lungs.

Last week he ate two small crickets, for the first time. Usually he has one medium weekly. I was worried in case I had over fed, and he is due a feed tomorrow, do you think I still should feed him, or leave off for an extra few days. I don't want him getting too fat!! Thanks for the lung advice, it's a huge relief, and I'm a natural born worrier haha

 

[VanessaS]

My two really love their plastic plants. When I look in on them, they are very often just stretched out on their plants. Like this...

 

[Enn49]

Last week he ate two small crickets, for the first time. Usually he has one medium weekly. I was worried in case I had over fed, and he is due a feed tomorrow, do you think I still should feed him, or leave off for an extra few days. I don't want him getting too fat!! Thanks for the lung advice, it's a huge relief, and I'm a natural born worrier haha

I'd feed and remove it next day if it doesn't eat. Some will feed right up to moulting, others won't.

 

[NatashaG]

My two really love their plastic plants. When I look in on them, they are very often just stretched out on their plants. Like this...
View attachment 16894
View attachment 16895

Lovely looking T's They do look rather comfortable! I'm hoping Zoltan had a good look around his tank, he has plastic and silk plants and the top of his hide to stretch out on.

 

[NatashaG]

I'd feed and remove it next day if it doesn't eat. Some will feed right up to moulting, others won't.

He is a good eater, apart from some bad experiences with some meal worms when he first arrived with us. He wolfs those crickets down, even managed to see him do some good hunting and chase them about. Does anyone have a rough idea of how often juveniles moult? He has been with us about 2 months now, ate weekly and is kept at room temp with a heater on for an hour on colder days. I'm excited to see his first moult

 

[Enn49]

He is a good eater, apart from some bad experiences with some meal worms when he first arrived with us. He wolfs those crickets down, even managed to see him do some good hunting and chase them about. Does anyone have a rough idea of how often juveniles moult? He has been with us about 2 months now, ate weekly and is kept at room temp with a heater on for an hour on colder days. I'm excited to see his first moult

It's so difficult to say how often any T will moult, there are so many variables such as species, age, sex, temperature, humidity etc. Even 2 Ts of the same species and kept in the same conditions can vary. So sorry I can't help on that.