Fossorial Advice

[Hagraven]

My Aphonopelma Seemanni has dug plenty, but never really made deep tunnels or burrows.
My Chilobrachys Huahini don't seem keen on burrowing, even though I have offered them the space to do so.
Now my Hysterocrates Gigas BURROWS. I set them up with lots of moist substrate and they immediately went about making amazing tunnels.

As the cold weather interacts with my home's heat, condensation appears within my H Gigas' burrow- plenty in the morning.

Now I am happy to provide cross ventilation along the bottom of her enclosure, to allow for better airflow, but is it necessary?

I know this species needs alot of moisture.

Do you all see some amount of condensation in your fossorial burrows? And do you ever vent the bottom of your enclosures (far below the surface?)

I've attached photos of the setup- appreciate your thoughts!

 

[PanzoN88]

I do not see a need to add ventilation to the bottom of enclosures. More ventilation is better. I tend to add ventilation up until probably 2” from the surface of the substrate. I don’t see too much condensation in my enclosures surprisingly.

 

[Hagraven]

I do not see a need to add ventilation to the bottom of enclosures. More ventilation is better. I tend to add ventilation up until probably 2” from the surface of the substrate. I don’t see too much condensation in my enclosures surprisingly.

Thank you!

 

[m0lsx]

I tend to add extra ventilation to any high humidity species & that includes all of my arboreals. It is one of the reasons I choose acrylic over glass for my arboreal enclosures.

I get no condensation issues.

 

[Hagraven]

Appreciate it. My arboreal enclosures are also cross- ventilated. I have my adult Chilobrachys in a friend's no-longer needed glass snake enclosure and I've modified the acrylic top to have good ventilation and haven't had any real condensation worry- especially because she seems happy to web rather than burrow, so there are no large pockets of open air in the most sub to allow for condensation in the same way. I think because my H Gigas actually burrows, this is a thing I've only now encountered! Looks like I'll be rehoming the little beauty sooner or later

 

[m0lsx]

I have a few enthusiastic burrowers. One is my Melopoeus albostriatus who I do occasionally see above ground. I keep her in a top opening arboreal enclosure that is 80% full of moist substrate.

Another pet hole is a Cyriopagopoeus minax, who I see close to the burrow entrance a couple of times per year. I keep her in a large storage box with close to 12 inches (30cm) of moist substrate.

My only enclosure to get any condensation, is the one I keep a Acanthoscurria geniculata in & that enclosure is as well ventilated as any other. But for some reason it gets a small amount of condensation on the lid.

My Cyriopagopoeus minax encloure.


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[Hagraven]

Love that your Cyriopagopoeus minax has 12 inches to burrow through. Given how quick my H Gigas was to make their way to the enclosure bottom, I'll have to experiment with a very tall enclosure someday- saw on Arachnoboards someone had anecdotally reported H Gigas in the wild may burrow as deep as 20 feet!
I'll share what I do to cut the condensation on the new enclosure.

 

[Hagraven]

Added ventilation along the top (one can't see it well here, but it is mirrored on the opposite side). And as an experiment for my own interest I added a few single holes down below. She (?) gave me no trouble. I partially dug away her burrow and then used the "flood" method to encourage her out into my catch cup. By the end of the day she had already begun work on a new burrow. Thanks everyone for your help!