newborn tarantulas are called eggs with legs and are completely
helpless. while they can wiggle their legs around, they can’t walk and
rely on protection from their mother. before the young hatch the mother
will fiercely guard them and turn the egg sac to prevent the spiderlings
from becoming deformed. once the spiderlings are able to eat and
survive alone they leave their mother, but in one species, the blue
baboon, the family stays together and leads a very social life.
they’re sensitive……anything from slight drafts to having their stuff
moved around a bit can make them STRESSED. because of this they
shouldn’t have full enclosure clean outs more than every few months.
when they’re stressed they normally sulk in a corner with their legs
drawn up to their bodies. depending on the species some tarantulas are
more stress-prone than others.
sometimes they just have to stand VERY tall. why? nobody’s really sure.
sometimes they do this when eating, kinda like theyre making themselves
into a table. they also display another strange feeding behaviour - the
“happy dance.” whilst munching away the tarantula will turn on the spot
and wiggle its body this way and that, as if dancing, whilst placing web
on the ground.
some seem to enjoy “playing” with ping pong balls. nobody’s 100% sure on why they do this but it could be a housekeeping behaviour - tarantulas ball
up their leftover food and throw it out into a corner, so the behaviour
may be the tarantula trying to discard the object in a similar fashion.
regardless of why they do it, it’s pretty damn cute.