Sometimes keepers of jumping spiders run into an interesting circumstance regarding their care. You do everything right, give them an upside-down jar filled with holes, spritz weekly, and abundant food, and then they do something I haven’t covered happens: they hole up in their newly-made tent.
But why? It’s certainly annoying from a human standpoint, but there must be a good reason for it. Here are a few possibilities, ranked from least likely to most likely (in my experience.)
1.) It’s about to molt.
I mentioned this phenomenon briefly in my previous post about keeping jumping spiders, but I didn’t hit on any of the signs they are about to. One is that they build a thick, white tent and stay put. Another sign is that they refuse food that they normally would have taken. If you see them staying put in their little home, and their abdomen doesn’t shrink due to them refusing food, then it’s highly likely it’s about to molt, just give it some time.
When they molt the top of their “head” literally pops off and they squirm out by wiggling their legs in a way that reminds me of the way octopuses move, though in much, much slower motion. I realize this might be slightly disturbing to some of you, but they have a fresh new exoskeleton underneath their old one that will harden in any time between a few hours to a day. It isn’t like if you or I were to suddenly crawl out of our skin. ;)
2.) It’s just a homebody.
Some jumping spiders just like to stay home… just like some people. If the spider still eats even though it spends most of its time in its tent, then this is probably what is happening. Also, a spider that was out-and-about a lot before molting may become this way afterwards. I had this recently with a juvenile P. johnsoni. I’m always startled when I see it completely out of its tent now—even while eating all I see is its head or front legs, the rest is tucked away inside its home. While this might be a little frustrating, I still enjoy having the little bugger around.
3.) It’s a gravid female.
“Huh? Gravid? What’s that supposed to mean?” you ask. Well, put simply, gravid for bugs is the same thing as being pregnant for humans. Except they don’t give live birth like we do, they lay egg sacs, thus the different term. Gravid females become enormously plump—and I do mean fat. They literally look like they’re about to explode. Since I don’t actually have personal experience keeping a gravid jumping spider myself, I am not sure if they will eat while heavily gravid, but they may. I just don’t know if they’d have room for it, though after they lay the eggs they will become much skinnier and then are definitely in need of a good meal by then. :P
Their tent looks a bit different than the ones above. It will be more “3-D,” not just a sheet of web stretched over a corner. It’s thicker, whiter, bigger and almost impenetrable with sight.
I hope this post was helpful to some of you out there that may have set out on the jumping-spider adventure with me, or informative anyway if you did not. As always comments are welcome, and I’ll do my best to reply to them. :)
But why? It’s certainly annoying from a human standpoint, but there must be a good reason for it. Here are a few possibilities, ranked from least likely to most likely (in my experience.)
1.) It’s about to molt.
I mentioned this phenomenon briefly in my previous post about keeping jumping spiders, but I didn’t hit on any of the signs they are about to. One is that they build a thick, white tent and stay put. Another sign is that they refuse food that they normally would have taken. If you see them staying put in their little home, and their abdomen doesn’t shrink due to them refusing food, then it’s highly likely it’s about to molt, just give it some time.
When they molt the top of their “head” literally pops off and they squirm out by wiggling their legs in a way that reminds me of the way octopuses move, though in much, much slower motion. I realize this might be slightly disturbing to some of you, but they have a fresh new exoskeleton underneath their old one that will harden in any time between a few hours to a day. It isn’t like if you or I were to suddenly crawl out of our skin. ;)
2.) It’s just a homebody.
Some jumping spiders just like to stay home… just like some people. If the spider still eats even though it spends most of its time in its tent, then this is probably what is happening. Also, a spider that was out-and-about a lot before molting may become this way afterwards. I had this recently with a juvenile P. johnsoni. I’m always startled when I see it completely out of its tent now—even while eating all I see is its head or front legs, the rest is tucked away inside its home. While this might be a little frustrating, I still enjoy having the little bugger around.
3.) It’s a gravid female.
“Huh? Gravid? What’s that supposed to mean?” you ask. Well, put simply, gravid for bugs is the same thing as being pregnant for humans. Except they don’t give live birth like we do, they lay egg sacs, thus the different term. Gravid females become enormously plump—and I do mean fat. They literally look like they’re about to explode. Since I don’t actually have personal experience keeping a gravid jumping spider myself, I am not sure if they will eat while heavily gravid, but they may. I just don’t know if they’d have room for it, though after they lay the eggs they will become much skinnier and then are definitely in need of a good meal by then. :P
Their tent looks a bit different than the ones above. It will be more “3-D,” not just a sheet of web stretched over a corner. It’s thicker, whiter, bigger and almost impenetrable with sight.
I hope this post was helpful to some of you out there that may have set out on the jumping-spider adventure with me, or informative anyway if you did not. As always comments are welcome, and I’ll do my best to reply to them. :)