Flooding a burrow....

[Remigius]

Hi!

I just had a bad experience with supposedly safe way of rehousing a spider, and wanted to share, possibly listen to some opinions.

I've read somewhere hear, on boards, that flooding a spider out of his burrow was the best way to make it leave it. Unfortunately my B. vagans decided to make a dive, and swam into the corridors of his burrow. My girlfriend used a spatula as a fishing net, and managed to catch him. All the three of us, who witnessed it, were sure he would die, if the reaction wasn't so quick. Did any of You had a similar problem with this rehousing method? It's probably worth notice that the spider is too small to be defensive, yet.

regards,
Tomek

 

[Atreyuhero4]

Thats why I have never done this my self I would thiink that would happen and so I just dig out the T.

 

[Windchaser]

Tarantulas oxygen needs are very low and you would be amazed at how long they can stay underwater. First, they are able to trap air around their bodies. Secondly, as I stated their need for oxygen is very low. As a result they can stay submerged for a very long time. At an ATS conference a few years ago someone brought some pictures of a H. lividum that they had flooded in a burrow and it stayed submerged for over three hours with no harm to the tarantula.

 

[Atreyuhero4]

Just because they can, dosent mean I would want them to

 

[nasty bugger]

I'm new to all this, and maybe I should study more, but I thought I read that
some t's have 2 book lungs, and others have 4 book lungs, and I was wondering how this would affect their subaquatic abilities, if anyone knows.
Are the 4 book lungers apt to survive longer subaquious adventures, or the 2 lungers?

Was the T more aggressive or what was his disposition after being spatula'd out of the drink? Did it make him passive or more confrontational?

I'm wondering if hair flickers can still throw hair while they are wet?

 

[Skullptor]

It's probably worth notice that the spider is too small to be defensive, yet.

Being very defensive is often the criteria for flooding out a T.
I don't think flooding out the T is best way to vacate this size or species from it's burrow.

I would have tried gentle persuasion with a paint brush.

 

[Widowman10]

sometimes flooding is needed, but i rarely see the occasion when it is. usually, you can just coax your T out, or get it out via another method.

and yes, T's can stay submerged in H2O for a looong time. they need very little oxygen, and like someone else said, they have a pocket of trapped air around them.

 

[T_DORKUS]

I flood mine out all the time. Just seemed a lot easier than digging them out and having to clean up the mess afterward. Tilt the container so the water fills the deepest part of their burrow first and do it slowly so the T has time to move to higher ground. Don't pour water into the burrow opening- just let it trickle down the side of the enclosure.

 

[T-Harry]

I'm new to all this, and maybe I should study more, but I thought I read that
some t's have 2 book lungs, and others have 4 book lungs, and I was wondering how this would affect their subaquatic abilities, if anyone knows.
Are the 4 book lungers apt to survive longer subaquious adventures, or the 2 lungers?

No, when you talk about T's (as in tarantula or Theraphosidae, scientifically spoken) then all of them have two pairs of book lungs.
Spiders belonging to other families either have also two pairs of book lungs but depending on the species they can have only two book lungs, or a combination of one pair of book lungs and tracheas or they have no book lungs at all but only tracheas.
Generally tracheas are more effective than book lungs. From an evolutionary point of view tracheas are a step up the ladder, thats why modern spiders have less or no book lungs at all.

Argyroneta aquatica, the only spider living under water instead of on dry land, has only one pair of downsized book lungs in favor of tracheas which makes me think that tracheas are more suitable for leading a submarine life.

 

[gvfarns]

It's probably worth notice that the spider is too small to be defensive, yet.

No such thing.

 

[clam1991]

flooding the burrow is weak put you hand in there

if ya get bit ya get bit

but its better than the possibility of harming your t by flooding imo
especially if its a smaller specimen

DISCLAIMER

i have lil obts that are no problem to me but my king baboon is still only 1.5 inches so i may end up using this method if its a female that gets huge

 

[Remigius]

No such thing.

no such thing as a spider being to small to be defensive? You wanna bet on this?

btw - the oxygen pocket looks pretty cool We were concerned more about the coco fiber expending and trapping it. I think I should have mentioned that before. Didn't think the discussion would go into this direction, though. As for the method of flooding itself - I did flood the farthest corner of the terrarium, so that the "main chamber", to which it was probably going to run, would be underwater first.

regards,
Tomek

 

[Windchaser]

no such thing as a spider being to small to be defensive? You wanna bet on this?

I have had quarter inch G. rosea throw threat displays. It is quite amusing actually. However I would have to agree that even slings can be defensive. Not very effectively but they can still try.

 

[Windchaser]

Just because they can, dosent mean I would want them to

I generally don't do it either. I generally try to coax them out of their burrows before digging them up or using some other means. However the point I was trying to make is that a flooded burrow is not likely to cause any harm to a tarantula. If you think about it I am quite confident that their burrows flood in the wild. They survive it there and I am sure they can survive it in captivity. I am not recommending that you do this all the time but I also don't think it is necessary to say that you should never do it because it is harmful to tarantulas.