# Naughty Ts keep burying their water bowls!!!!!!!!



## chalky76 (Aug 23, 2007)

Ok so I have some quite well behaved Ts who lay their enclosures out with web and leave their water bowls alone but I have others that dig everything up and bury their water bowls NO MATTER WHERE I PUT THEM. So I was wondering if anyone has any cunning ways to stop the mischievous ones as their substrates are overly damp. 
Cheers
Chalky


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## voyagerxp (Aug 7, 2009)

My b.smithy does it every week, i can never tell if he gets any water.


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## Freakinfreak (May 13, 2009)

I gave up on waterbowls in the end with mine. Instead I got one of those hair sprayer things for like £2...










And you just spray one side of the plastic so there are droplets. If they're thirsty, they'll drink. Just re-spray every few days depending on how much dampness they need.


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## TeamCockroach (Nov 22, 2010)

my giant white knee buries bowl, fake plants, hide and anything it can find daily. I gave up digging them out, if it wants it like that then why stop it?


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## chalky76 (Aug 23, 2007)

TeamCockroach said:


> my giant white knee buries bowl, fake plants, hide and anything it can find daily. I gave up digging them out, if it wants it like that then why stop it?


Not looking to stop them I just want to ensure they get the hydration they require.


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## vivalabam (Aug 8, 2010)

Freakinfreak said:


> I gave up on waterbowls in the end with mine. Instead I got one of those hair sprayer things for like £2...
> 
> image
> 
> And you just spray one side of the plastic so there are droplets. If they're thirsty, they'll drink. Just re-spray every few days depending on how much dampness they need.


That's good for slings, but it's recommended that any T over 2 inches should be provided a water dish. 

I get the exact same thing with a few of mine, I just take it out, clean it and put it back in. I do this every 3 days and give a mist around the edges, seems to work. : victory:


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## Freakinfreak (May 13, 2009)

vivalabam said:


> That's good for slings, but it's recommended that any T over 2 inches should be provided a water dish.
> 
> I get the exact same thing with a few of mine, I just take it out, clean it and put it back in. I do this every 3 days and give a mist around the edges, seems to work. : victory:


Yep, but I assumed it was, considering the size of the RUB, but I may be wrong.


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## spidersnake (Dec 1, 2009)

Mine tend to bury their water bowls. You could try putting the water bowl into something like a toilet tube. If there is no substrate around the bowl, I doubt the spid would carry enough to bury it.
Havn't tried it myself - only just thought of it lol


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## joeyboy (Jul 19, 2008)

mine to it too, especially the Brachys. I sometimes remove the water bowl for a few weeks, then leave it until it's tipped over/buried, rise and repeat. They seem to bury the water bowl over other items so I'm not if it's that they don't like it there all the time?


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

Freakinfreak said:


> I gave up on waterbowls in the end with mine. Instead I got one of those hair sprayer things for like £2...
> 
> image
> 
> And you just spray one side of the plastic so there are droplets. If they're thirsty, they'll drink. Just re-spray every few days depending on how much dampness they need.


Yup this is what i did after a few months. None of mine really have water bowls lol


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## 8and6 (Jan 19, 2010)

water bowl? what's that then? :lol2:


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> water bowl? what's that then? :lol2:


Lol dont say that you will get your @ss whipped for cruelty lmao


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## 8and6 (Jan 19, 2010)

riiiiiiiight, so is there little leprechaun that dances from burrow to burrow with a little silver jug and a dish for every T during the dry season out int wilderness? :lol2:

i make sure my T's are well hydrated via food and humidity kept about right by heavy misting when the need arises:2thumb:


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## solifugid (Jun 4, 2011)

i;ve not had that probs yet sounds irratating


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## G18241 (Feb 28, 2009)

My Smithi Juvi is a prain for this, buries its hide, plants and waterbowl...ive given up with the hide and plants, if it wants them burried, then fine


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## PeterUK (Jun 21, 2008)

vivalabam said:


> That's good for slings, *but it's recommended that any T over 2 inches should be provided a water dish. *


Recommended by who, exactly ?

Why not 1 inch and 7/8th's or 2 inch and 1/8th ?

Who decided that 2 inches was the exact size ?




[email protected] said:


> water bowl? what's that then? :lol2:



I think its summink that 'experts' demand that every Tarantula over 2 inches MUST have ! ! :lol2:


I must admit that i have one (hangs head in shame) not bad considering that i have 80-ish T's (not sure exactly though, might be 90 something)
Also not bad that of all the many hundreds of T's that Ive kept over the years, none have died through dehydration :2thumb:
I guess my spiders didnt read the 'experts' book and decided that they wouldnt die cos i didnt give them a waterbowl to fill in and bury.:whistling2:

The one that i have is a green milk carton lid that I use for every new T that i get. It gets a chance at water for the first few days as i have no idea on the conditions that it was kept before i got it. After the few days it is hydrated only from the prey insects.

There was a bit of a chat before the actual BTS show where a few of the big traders were discussing the sale of fancy spider water bowls. After much laughing it was agreed that none of them actually used water bowls except in extreme circumstances. :whistling2:


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## Lucky Eddie (Oct 7, 2009)

[email protected] said:


> i make sure my T's are well hydrated via food and humidity kept about right by heavy misting when the need arises:2thumb:


^-^ What Steve says................simples! 

In fact, I would go so far as to say that I have only seen two of my spiders drink!


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## joeyboy (Jul 19, 2008)

Lucky Eddie said:


> ^-^ What Steve says................simples!
> 
> In fact, I would go so far as to say that I have only seen two of my spiders drink!


I've only ever seen my OBT drink. Most of my T's have water bowls but as said earlier If they tip them/bury them I take them out for a few weeks/months then reintroduce them until they're tipped again. I hadn't filled my OBTs water bowl for about 2 months and when I did it did drink from it (it was hanging around the water bowl hence me doing it). However now I feed more of mine male dubia roaches I imagine they get a much bigger liquid meal.


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

Most of mine have water bowls but a lot of time they bury them or web them over. I usually unearth them from time to time and fill them, and I have seen some of the spiders drinking, especially ones that tend not to eat much.


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## chalky76 (Aug 23, 2007)

I’m quite glad I posted this thread now as there are some really good points. From what I’ve seen in most literature water bowls are recommended. However I’m not sure how practical this is with species that like dryer substrates. With my Chacos, for example, one of them always shifts the substrate over the water bowl. If I dig it out and refill it then the same happens, as a result the substrate ends up quite damp which isn’t ideal for this species.


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## mcluskyisms (Jan 24, 2010)

garlicpickle said:


> Most of mine have water bowls but a lot of time they bury them or web them over. I usually unearth them from time to time and fill them, and I have seen some of the spiders drinking, especially ones that tend not to eat much.


Same here, I often catch them having a wee drink. Guess we must live in areas where the water actually tastes appealing to tarantulas or somthin'...


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## becky89 (Nov 24, 2009)

Lol my B.vagans is pretty bad for burying hers, I just empty it again and refill it, it gives her something to do! Don't really use waterbowls for a lot of my arboreals, there's enough water there when I spray for them to drink if they need to.


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

just took this tonight...... maybe I am anthropomorphising but I don't like to deny my Ts access to water.


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## freedomisle (Jul 9, 2010)

If a B.albopilosum hasn't pooped in her waterbowl she's thrown substrate over it, if she hasn't done that then she has turned it upside down.

Its an Albopilosum thing!
My B.albopilosum was drinking all the time! as you see in the photos bellow and I have had to ICU her twice due to dehydration after her last 2 molts.


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## Stelios (Aug 28, 2009)

garlicpickle said:


> just took this tonight...... maybe I am anthropomorphising but I don't like to deny my Ts access to water.



Anthrowhattheheck? Wow hurt my head just reading that word.:blush:
Yeah I am the same I like them have access to water, it's there if they want it.
The only exception is my rosea and I want to see if it can mature without having a water dish.


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## becky89 (Nov 24, 2009)

freedomisle said:


> If a B.albopilosum hasn't pooped in her waterbowl she's thrown substrate over it, if she hasn't done that then she has turned it upside down.
> 
> Its an Albopilosum thing!
> My B.albopilosum was drinking all the time! as you see in the photos bellow and I have had to ICU her twice due to dehydration after her last 2 molts.
> ...


I could be wrong but don't B.albopilosum prefer more humid conditions? It might be why she drinks so much and gets dehydrated?


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## freedomisle (Jul 9, 2010)

I do wet the substrate as you can see in the photos above. However I think you might be right, it might not be humid enough.


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## becky89 (Nov 24, 2009)

freedomisle said:


> I do wet the substrate as you can see in the photos above. However I think you might be right, it might not be humid enough.


Ahh possibly :hmm:I've not kept these but if I did I'd probably keep most of the substrate damp and just leave a little dry area for them


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## pcwells (Jul 19, 2013)

I've just watched my young Chaco Golden Knee and Curly Hair pick up big clumps of substrate in their palps (right word?), carry them directly over to their water bowls and drop them in. Then repeat the action until the bowl is buried.

Both did it in exactly the same way and at the same time. It seemed to be a very deliberate process too.

Anyone have the slightest idea why they do it?

The synchonised nature of it made me think it might have something to do with temperature or humidity or noise - some environmental stimulus that affects them both. I'd be interested to hear anyone else's experience on this.

Thanks again,

Pete


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## muska2510 (Jul 12, 2013)

mine the around the edge of the bowl so its protected by the plants works with mine


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## boxofsorrows (Nov 7, 2011)

Nice to see another thread from the crypt 
It really is pretty cool to see old threads, especially for common topics like this. 

I think of all my spiders, the Nhandu's are the worst for submerging their bowls, now and then I dig a few back up but usually I'm lazy and just pop a new one in.


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## Mitch636 (Mar 26, 2013)

pcwells said:


> I've just watched my young Chaco Golden Knee and Curly Hair pick up big clumps of substrate in their palps (right word?), carry them directly over to their water bowls and drop them in. Then repeat the action until the bowl is buried.
> 
> Both did it in exactly the same way and at the same time. It seemed to be a very deliberate process too.
> 
> ...


No idea but my chile rose does it too. The sun was flat and now there are mounds everywhere, plus he's moved the flower pot hide too.


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## mrkeda (Nov 6, 2012)

I've had my obt drag and bury its bottle top at the entrance of its hide. There was 3 in there at one point! 

I've always wondered why they do this and thought of two conclusions.
1) It's sitting water in there homes which could potentially flood and destroy their homes. That may sound complex for a spiders brain but look at their engineering skills.
2) It's unnatural to them so don't like it?


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## mort13 (Sep 20, 2010)

I've given up with water bowls, all of them got buried or tipped upside down. Even better was the games of tug o war with my G.rosea that I had to play to get the damn thing out to refill it!!:gasp:


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## boxofsorrows (Nov 7, 2011)

mort13 said:


> I've given up with water bowls, all of them got buried or tipped upside down. Even better was the games of tug o war with my G.rosea that I had to play to get the damn thing out to refill it!!:gasp:


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## mort13 (Sep 20, 2010)

:lol2: I wish she'd looked that inoffensive when she did it!!


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## chalky76 (Aug 23, 2007)

Wow I posted this just over two years ago :2thumb:


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## pcwells (Jul 19, 2013)

...and yet they persist!

Don't they USE the internet??


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## EffyDaydream (Jan 29, 2012)

Mine do that too. If they want to mess it up, they're gunna do it. :Na_Na_Na_Na: If you're worried they're not getting the water, just try misting in there instead. It doesn't get too damp, but they're still getting moisture. : victory:


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