Since getting my first tarantula, I have witnessed A LOT of weird things going on in her tarantula enclosure! From her little mood swings to her strange obsessions with her water dish and ping pong ball, there is no telling what Spidey (g. rosea) will do from day to day!

One of the most interesting things that I’ve shared on Spidey’s blog, to the excitement of her fans, is this weird pose she does that seriously looks like a downward dog! That’s right – Spidey will do her own little spider yoga, showing off her version of a handstand and a child pose (pics in video!). I’ve definitely posted about this before, but I wanted to dive a little deeper into the possibilities of WHY this happens.

I feel like this is definitely something that no one talks about, but many tarantula owners secretly know about. I first witnessed this phenomenon in my first year with Spidey, when I saw her doing her little upside down handstand, which was absolutely adorable. I thought it was pretty cute and to be honest I was a bit envious since I myself can’t do a handstand to save my life. But I started to think much more deeply about Spidey’s weird spider yoga habit after I witnessed more interesting poses from her.

Enter the “tarantula pancake.” Yes, this is actually a thing. It’s when a tarantula does this silly little thing where they flatten their entire bodies and stretch their legs out – just like a pancake! It looks like a cross between a downward dog and child pose, and it’s pretty cute! Spidey does this every few weeks, so I’ve got quite a few good pics of it!

Now over the last few years I have seen Spidey get herself into several weird positions, but the “pancake” one fascinates me a lot because it seems to be the most consistent yoga pose for Spidey and many other tarantulas I’ve seen posted on the internet. So I began to wonder, why are these spiders having their own little yoga classes?! I mean, I have even seen my little Arizona blonde sling Blinky doing it, so this is some weird spider code move.

My first theory is that just like us, tarantulas need and like to stretch out. Being a tarantula is hard work, and perhaps they need to relax. I’ve seen this stretching behavior after Spidey and other tarantulas molt. For the few days after a molt, Spidey will spend a few days stretching out her legs in different positions and flattening herself. I believe that after a molt, this is a practical move to help tarantulas get comfortable in their new post-molt body. However, when it is done at a time when post-molt is not a factor, I think spiders do this just because it feels nice for them.

Perhaps tarantulas have exoskeletons or bodies that regularly need to be stretched out to prepare them for new growth. Or perhaps stretching themselves into this flattened version of themselves aids them in digestion processes (although, to be fair, Spidey will even do this when she’s in a long term fast). She will do this stretching behavior on the ground, on her log, etc. It seems a little random whenever she does it, to be honest.

Why do they do this?! There’s actually an Arachnoboards thread dedicated solely to this stretchy spider behavior. That most is mostly about tarantulas stretching out post-molt, but a few posters on the board have stated their tarantulas were doing this behavior for no good reason. I’ve done quite a bit of research on YouTube, arachnoboards and the internet and most of what I’ve found is that… everyone is just as confused as I am lol. There aren’t many other theories out there about the purpose of this behavior – so I’d love to ask you guys, what do you think it’s about?