Do your old worlds dig?

[Roo]

Because mine don't. I have three Asian T's and none of them will burrow. I know they can as some of my young new world T's are on the same substrate and they are burrowing fine.

All three of my new world's have made silk hides on the substrate but wont go into it, even if I start a burrow out for them :/

 

[Enn49]

Not something I'd thought about before but checking through now I might be agreeing with you. Most of my OW Ts are arboreal but the 5 ground dwellers that I have are Haplopelma sp. Midnight Blue, Heterothele gabonensis, Orphnaecus sp Blue Panay, Phlogiellus sp. baeri and Pterinochilus murinus and although they began by making a hollow all of them have webbed prolifically, adding substrate to the web. The one exception is the Haplopelma sp. Midnight Blue which has done both spending some time on the container bottom.

 

[Tomoran]

Hmmm...interesting question. The majority of my Old World's have burrowed at one time or another, including my three L. violaceopes, C. dyscolus, P, crassipes, my M. balfouris, one of my H. pulchripes, my two E. pachypus females, both T. gigas, my C. darlingi, my H. lividum, and my two O. sp. blue panay slings. That said, I have had a couple instances where, after a rehousing, a species has never dug or adapted to the pre-dug starter burrow I provided. One of my H. pulchripes, an M. balfouri female, and a P. murinus never dug after being house/rehoused and have instead webbed up their enclosures extensively. After her recent molt, my female C. guanxiensis also abandoned her burrow and has instead webbed up everywhere. It seems that if they don't dig after a certain amount of time, they will instead web up their enclosures (the same behavior you see when you keep some of these species terrestrially with only a couple inches of substrate).

Are yours webbing, Roo? How long have you had them?

 

[Roo]

Hmmm...interesting question. The majority of my Old World's have burrowed at one time or another, including my three L. violaceopes, C. dyscolus, P, crassipes, my M. balfouris, one of my H. pulchripes, my two E. pachypus females, both T. gigas, my C. darlingi, my H. lividum, and my two O. sp. blue panay slings. That said, I have had a couple instances where, after a rehousing, a species has never dug or adapted to the pre-dug starter burrow I provided. One of my H. pulchripes, an M. balfouri female, and a P. murinus never dug after being house/rehoused and have instead webbed up their enclosures extensively. After her recent molt, my female C. guanxiensis also abandoned her burrow and has instead webbed up everywhere. It seems that if they don't dig after a certain amount of time, they will instead web up their enclosures (the same behavior you see when you keep some of these species terrestrially with only a couple inches of substrate).

Are yours webbing, Roo? How long have you had them?

These old worlds? A few weeks. They have basically taken one corner of a plastic tank and created a web tunnel which they stay in.

 

[Tomoran]

These old worlds? A few weeks. They have basically taken one corner of a plastic tank and created a web tunnel which they stay in.

Oh, they still may dig then. I've had mine take several weeks to a couple months to finally settle in. As juveniles, two of my M. balfouris took over a month before they started tunneling. I had an OBT that also took several weeks (she had originally built herself a little web "tent" using a fake plant in her enclosure. I've found that just because you make a starter burrow for them doesn't mean that they will use it. I've had several ignore the starter burrow and instead start their own burrows somewhere else.

 

[Roo]

Also starting to think that the Chilobrachys sp is more arboreal than terrestrial..

 

[Tomoran]

Also starting to think that the Chilobrachys sp is more arboreal than terrestrial..

Really? Which species are you keeping? Mine have all burrowed or webbed extensively, and none have left the ground or shown any inclination to climb. Interesting.

 

[Roo]

Really? Which species are you keeping? Mine have all burrowed or webbed extensively, and none have left the ground or shown any inclination to climb. Interesting.

Chilobrachys sp "Nog ya plong". Mostly because any time I see a video of them they are either climbing or in an arboreal setup.

 

[Tomoran]

Chilobrachys sp "Nog ya plong". Mostly because any time I see a video of them they are either climbing or in an arboreal setup.

I'm not sure about that particular species, but I keep all mine on deep, moist substrate without extra room to climb (and I've never caught one trying to climb). Perhaps someone else who has this species can chime in on whether they are different than other Chilobrachys.

 

[Roo]

I'm not sure about that particular species, but I keep all mine on deep, moist substrate without extra room to climb (and I've never caught one trying to climb). Perhaps someone else who has this species can chime in on whether they are different than other Chilobrachys.

Mmm I've only spoken to one. They claimed that this species specifically is very adaptable and hardy for an Old World species. They will live whatever you put them in so he keeps them in a semi-arboreal setup.

 

[micheldied]

Because mine don't. I have three Asian T's and none of them will burrow. I know they can as some of my young new world T's are on the same substrate and they are burrowing fine.

All three of my new world's have made silk hides on the substrate but wont go into it, even if I start a burrow out for them :/

Which species do you have? Pretty much all my OWs burrowed, except the pokies, which didn't really burrow, but moved the substrate out of where they preferred to hide as slings. Even my young Lampropelma violaceopes(now Omothymus violaceopes) made true burrows until they were moved to a cork bark hide enclosure.

 

[Roo]

H. Lividum(s) and Chilobrachys sp Nog ya plong

 

[Tomoran]

Which species do you have? Pretty much all my OWs burrowed, except the pokies, which didn't really burrow, but moved the substrate out of where they preferred to hide as slings. Even my young Lampropelma violaceopes(now Omothymus violaceopes) made true burrows until they were moved to a cork bark hide enclosure.

Ahhhh...forgot about the revision to violaceopes!

 

[Roo]

Pictures for you guys

 

[Tomoran]

Is that substrate moist at all? Asian species need moist substrate, and those H. lividums will definitely need it nice and deep and moist. My apologies if the sub IS moist; I certainly don't want to jump to conclusions, but if it's not, that could be a big issue. Also, if those are critter keepers, the vents in the top let a lot of moisture evaporate. I still have a couple I use, but only for arid species.Just something to think about.

 

[micheldied]

H. Lividum(s) and Chilobrachys sp Nog ya plong

Haplopelma are burrowers. As far as I know, so are all the Chilobrachys.

It may be possible that your substrate is too dry for them to burrow properly, although this is just going by the pic. It looks crumbly and too dry for these tropical species.

 

[Roo]

Is that substrate moist at all? Asian species need moist substrate, and those H. lividums will definitely need it nice and deep and moist. My apologies if the sub IS moist; I certainly don't want to jump to conclusions, but if it's not, that could be a big issue.

Oh yeah it's moist. The top level dries off pretty quickly (like 2-3 mm) and the rest stays moist. It's sprayed once a week to keep it between 70-80 humidity.

 

[Roo]

Haplopelma are burrowers. As far as I know, so are all the Chilobrachys.

It may be possible that your substrate is too dry for them to burrow properly, although this is just going by the pic. It looks crumbly and too dry for these tropical species.

It looks dryer than it is. It's a mix of eco-earth, vermiculite and some moss.

 

[Tomoran]

Oh yeah it's moist. The top level dries off pretty quickly (like 2-3 mm) and the rest stays moist. It's sprayed once a week to keep it between 70-80 humidity.

I've found that spraying only raises the moisture level temporarily and only wets down the top layers (which quickly evaporates). It also used to seriously annoy my Ts. I have better luck when I use a large bottle filled with water with holes in the cap to simulate rain and soak things down a bit. The water will then soak into the substrates lower depths and keep things moist below.

 

[Roo]

I've found that spraying only raises the moisture level temporarily and only wets down the top layers (which quickly evaporates). It also used to seriously annoy my Ts. I have better luck when I use a large bottle filled with water with holes in the cap to simulate rain and soak things down a bit. The water will then soak into the substrates lower depths and keep things moist below.

Hah good point. Will do that just in case.

(edit) I did that and my C. sp did not like that one bit XD