H. Gigas pair enclosure, with water.

Phases

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 1, 2017
Messages
205
Alright guys, wish me luck on this one! I decided to try a mini-communal set up with a pair of Tawny Red's. So far, they do seem to be getting a long, and yes, they do submerge!

20170721_071035.jpg

20170720_182318.jpg

If this looks to be working out, I'm going to add some sort of bubble device or something to keep some water movement going. I am monitoring very closely, got up a couple times in the night to make sure all was well. Hoping it stays that way!

Here's the enclosure, and a the very uneventful (thankfully) introduction to each other.


/fingers crossed!

Edit: Failed :'(
 
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Phases

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 1, 2017
Messages
205
Oh I use 2 standard office binder clips :) Not pretty. But effective and not terribly ugly. I should have mentioned that!

I'll play feeding by ear. Prob 1x a week.. some roach variety..
 

Phases

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 1, 2017
Messages
205
@Nightstalker47 What sort of clarification, sir? (Sir right?)

1. For clips, I linked a picture below
2. For feeding, I think the key here is to make sure they are happily fed, but of course not to over do it. Until I'm comfortable that they are comfortable, I may offer more often, seeings how they are only about 2 inches. Don't want them to feel hungry at any rate, so I will probably offer every 5 days or so.
 

Phases

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 1, 2017
Messages
205
Ah. I was just.. talking, as in, how may I help - because I thought you were asking for clarification. But, I wasn't sure you were a sir, or a ma'am. No biggie :)
 

Nightstalker47

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 2, 2016
Messages
2,612
Ah. I was just.. talking, as in, how may I help - because I thought you were asking for clarification. But, I wasn't sure you were a sir, or a ma'am. No biggie :)
Lmao all good man, Hysterocrates are an awesome genus. I had a big female H. Sp. Cameroon produce a phantom sack a while back, they are very active and make crazy tunnel systems.
 

Attachments

Mojo288

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 18, 2017
Messages
160
Nice setup, do they use the water very often? i noticed the one diving during the rehouse, was that just a stress response? or do you notice them actually using the water while exploring? Also could you pleaaaaaaaaaaaaase try to put a feeder in the water to check if the will hunt in the water :D? (guppy or freshwater shrimp) it would be amazing to see that behavior in an enclosure.
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
3,292
I've never heard of this species being kept communally, this is definitely a first for me. Given their aggression, I don't have high hopes. But this would be very cool and interesting if it does work out. Best of luck to you!
 

Phases

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 1, 2017
Messages
205
Nice setup, do they use the water very often? i noticed the one diving during the rehouse, was that just a stress response? or do you notice them actually using the water while exploring? Also could you pleaaaaaaaaaaaaase try to put a feeder in the water to check if the will hunt in the water :D? (guppy or freshwater shrimp) it would be amazing to see that behavior in an enclosure.
Well, they just went in last night. I'm not sure why he went in during the housing, I'm sure he was stressed, I was nudging them a lot. That said, someone got it at least a little over night. They are still getting settled, working on their first tunnel - I have yet since I woke this AM to see them out. Course, it's daytime.. :)

Oh, and you can bet I'm going to try feeding in the water!

I've never heard of this species being kept communally, this is definitely a first for me. Given their aggression, I don't have high hopes. But this would be very cool and interesting if it does work out. Best of luck to you!
I learned of the possibility, here and here:

http://www.mikebasictarantula.com/Hyst-sp-care-sheet.html

https://fearnottarantulas.com/hysterocrates-gigas-cameroon-red-baboon-spider/

Both reference it, and speak highly of it. But, that said I'm not sure how well TWO will work out. So. :)
 

Phases

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 1, 2017
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205
20170722_090126 (1).jpg

Welp, that was a short lived experiment :'(

After reading what was on the two sites I linked above, and knowing these came from the same seller (not who I bought from, who THEY got from), and their cost vs that of M. balfouri - seemed like a pretty solid opportunity before me. Sadly, I'm not even sure if the survivor was my original one or not. I would prefer that but who knows.

I discovered it last night after my second check in, and @Venom1080 was so very right. I checked on them, they were both there, then I blinked for a second while grabbing a flashlight. Literally I turned around, grabbed it, and turned back, and then all there was, was a leg. Rest of whatever or whoever was left, was down in the burrow. I had a pretty sleepless night. The picture above was from this morning, a few minutes ago.

So, a couple post experiment considerations and observations:

1. Well, next time I will be sure to use spiderlings who are still together, from the sack, and never separate. Or, buy as a group sold meant to be communal by the seller.

2. I don't know which is the survivor but to be honest I'm just.. so happy.. that there IS a survivor. This could have easy resulted in two dead or dying Ts. I worried about that all night. This one left measures 2" which is what I measured my original at, and the second seemed smaller. But, I'm just not sure.

3. I now need to determine if this enclosure is too big for the one. He seems okay, but, we see how far my judgement got me. He did put part of the dead T in the water, and has expanded the webbing at his entrance. He's working on that a tiny bit now as we speak. He's still eating part. Part is, I assume, still in the burrow. Which is at least 3" down, maybe 4 or more. Originally, he was in something about 4x less dirt volume, with no water.

Thoughts?

4. Well. I guess I can name him. Hannibal? Lecter? Cain? That seems mighty fitting. "Cain, the firstborn, tilled the soil, and his brother Abel was a shepherd. The brothers made sacrifices to God, each of his own produce, but God favored Abel's sacrifice instead of that of Cain. Cain murdered Abel. God punished Cain to a life of wandering, but set a mark on him so that no man would kill him."

I'm not 100% but I THINK it was the one at the bottom that .. tilled the soil... and ate the other. Who as far as I know was a sibling. He's now doomed to a life of solitude and wandering. I'm not going to put a second one in there, so no other will kill him. But he shall be alone, forever, now.

Heh. It *does* fit.

Or maybe some fictional character who absorbs the powers of others he kills. Is there such a thing? So he can be sorta, a super tarantula.

... :'(

5. Well guys. I'm bummed. Humbled. Embarrassed. Depressed. I feel like I let my lil guy down. I don't even know how best to describe it but I was very excited about the possibilities with this. At least one is still alive. I was afraid if it didn't work out the survivor would be injured and I would have had to decide how to handle it, which would have really, REALLY upset me. I worried all night about that, so I was relieved enough this morning when seeing the one alive and well and .. at work.. to feel well enough to make this super, super depressing post that I dreaded all night, and take whatever beating is coming my way.

To use a phrase I hate, it is what it is.

Edit: After reviewing pictures and looking at this guy now, and remembering what I saw last night - I am fairly sure the survivor is the smaller, non-original one. And it was the bigger, original, who was on top of the two, mostly at the mouth of the burrow whilst still alive.
 
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Phases

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 1, 2017
Messages
205
What is the container you are using? It looks nice for a small burrower.
Trying to find the product on their site... sorta like these but not watertight lids and you buy individually:

https://www.containerstore.com/s/kitchen/modular-canisters/1d?productId=10029918&refinements=~register_price:10..25

This one was 18 bucks, I have about five. I have several other containers I use from there too, all my slings are in little 1-3 dollar plastic cubes, like what you see in.. I dunno. Probably some video or picture somewhere. ..Eh hang on, I'll upload.

This:

20170722_094935.jpg

All these are are under 3 bucks each. If you have a Container Store in your area - it's a pretty remarkable place - go check it out.
 

Mojo288

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 18, 2017
Messages
160
Sorry for your loss.... but hey, you still get to experiment with H. gigas water feeding habits, not much of a silver lining, but its something.

You could name it Sylar, that dude from heroes that would eat people's brains to gain their power. :vulcan:
 
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