Tarantulas are extremely picky about their substrate and tank decor – if you are the owner of a tarantula, you know this. I instinctively knew this ever since I got Spidey, my grammostola rosea. Spidey will throw a fit anytime something is just a little different about her substrate, so I try to keep things very stable and routine in her tank from tank cleaning to tank cleaning so as not to upset her. As rose hairs are infamous for being a bit tempermental, I thought I would have a far easier time with my A. chalcodes (Arizona blonde) Blinky. Well, I was wrong!

I wanted to create this because we all make mistakes and it is SO important to say that! Even very experienced, well known tarantula owners such as Toms Moran (Tom’s Big Spiders) and Richard Stewart (The Tarantula Collective) will admit that they are still learning and sometimes stumble along the way. And well, I made a mistake and Blinky did NOT like it!

When I first purchased Blinky last year, I used the same eco earth substrate that I use with Spidey. In using this substrate, I witnessed Blinky happily getting busy making their elaborate tunnel designs and constructing burrows on a daily basis. They even developed a nasty little addiction to throwing substrate in their water dish! However, it was suggested to me by a fellow tarantula owner that I change the substrate to give the dirt a bit more density due to the ability of the light coconut fibre substrate to collapse and not hold shape very well. So in the name of adding more buildability for Blinky, I mixed in some vermiculite and spaghmum moss with the coconut fibre substrate during their last tank change.

Well, let’s just say they didn’t appreciate it. It’s now been several weeks since the new substrate was put in and their tunneling habits have completely changed. There was no tunneling for a few weeks, and when there was it was very surface level. It was almost like the substrate was TOO dense for the little sling and they didn’t even have the urge to soil their water dish like they used to! Perhaps the added density was discouraging to the little spider, or perhaps they don’t like the way it feels anymore. We all know how particular our tarantula babies are about their houses, and it seems I have displease Blinky greatly. So in light of this grave mistake, I’ve decided I will be replacing much of the new substrate with more coconut fibre to see if conditions improve.

Have you ever offended your tarantula? This is all trial and error based on observation. I don’t have any scientific data to tell me Blinky is uncomfortable. Perhaps I’m totally wrong and they’re just acting different for no reason. But it doesn’t hurt to try and observe, and see if there’s something to learn here. I hope this may help you in noticing your tarantulas’ behavior.