Keeping baboons in shallow substrate?

[Fresher]

I just purchased a stout leg baboon from the pet store and she was in a enclose with shallow sand and no hide :wall:

Anyways, the store didnt have any eco earth in stock so i have to go back and get some next week,so atm she is in an enclosure with about an inch of eco earth. im just wondering if anyone has keept a baboon T in shallow substrate? Can they thrive with a good Hide, or do they acctually need to borrow?

I don't want to stress out the T, but i mean our T rooms etc arnt the natural habitats of these animals and yet they still adapt to our room temps, humidity,noises etc... so would shallow substrate make that much of a difference to them?

Here she is:
http://img684.imageshack.us/i/image0151l.jpg/
http://img340.imageshack.us/i/image0149.jpg/

 

[xhexdx]

I'm sure she would be fine, even though that's not an ideal setup for her.

Nice find, btw.

 

[super-pede]

she'll be fine for a week.Just make sure the hide is solid so she can web.

S-P

 

[jebbewocky]

From what I understand, you are saying you intend on getting more substrate next week, so this shallow substrate would be temporary. Assuming that's a correct reading of your post, then, yes, IMO it will be fine.

 

[Fresher]

From what I understand, you are saying you intend on getting more substrate next week, so this shallow substrate would be temporary. Assuming that's a correct reading of your post, then, yes, IMO it will be fine.

Yh but has any one ever tried keeping them in shallow substrate for a long period of time to see if they can adapt, that was my question?? :?

 

[jebbewocky]

Yh but has any one ever tried keeping them in shallow substrate for a long period of time to see if they can adapt, that was my question?? :?

Oh! I haven't. No idea if anyone else has. I would think not giving obligate burrowers enough room to burrow long-term would lead to stress, and they wouldn't adapt.

 

[Mack&Cass]

Yh but has any one ever tried keeping them in shallow substrate for a long period of time to see if they can adapt, that was my question?? :?

Our female only has about 3" of substrate. She will not burrow....even when she had deeper substrate. When we asked the guy we got her from, he said she never burrowed with him either and he gave her a lot of sub, too. He said that there was this round piece of bark that she loved and he meant to give it to us when we got it from him, but that he'd give it to us next time we saw him. We met up with him in Feb and got the bark, put it in with her and she went right in, and hasn't come back out since. We tried everything to get her to burrow, but she just won't. We're getting another female E. pachypus and a female E. constrictus tomorrow who burrowed like crazy with their previous owner, so I'm interested to see how long it takes them to start burrowing. Maybe our current female is just a weirdo, haha.

Cass

 

[Fresher]

Oh! I haven't. No idea if anyone else has. I would think not giving obligate burrowers enough room to burrow long-term would lead to stress, and they wouldn't adapt.

Do you think it's worth the experiment? I mean i would get to see it when ever i needed to and it would be easier for me to monitor her?

I saw something on the internet once about some guy keeping a king baboon in shallow substrate and he said after a while the tarantula adapted and would just retreat to his hide instread of a burrow etc, and his T never suffered or got stressed.

But was just wondering if anyone else had tryed anything similar?

 

[xhexdx]

My female is about 2" long and has about 1.5" of substrate. Instead of burrowing down, she burrows across (down to the bottom then across to the other side).

Your setup should be fine. It'll adapt, and it'll be fine. They're not as finicky as H. lividum, imo.

 

[BrynWilliams]

these are the ones that block their burrow hole/entrance with their back legs, if i remember correctly?

 

[Moltar]

these are the ones that block their burrow hole/entrance with their back legs, if i remember correctly?

Yep.

They definitely want to dig (usually) and need some kind of hide at the very least. When you get more eco-earth go ahead and set it up for burrowing. They are fairly industrious diggers once they get going and are definitely more content at the bottom of a burrow than just scrunched up in a hide. They're pretty shy.

It should be fine like you have it for a while though. Just keep them fairly dry. These are not tropical type T's, more like arid scrubland.

 

[KoffinKat138]

It should be fine. I have two stout legs,one has about 3" of bedding,and never burrows,and hardly stays in her cork hide. My other one is a crazy digger she'll be in her burrow and i can hear her at the bottom scratching the bottom of the Kritter keeper with her fangs trying to dig deeper.

 

[jebbewocky]

Do you think it's worth the experiment? I mean i would get to see it when ever i needed to and it would be easier for me to monitor her?

I saw something on the internet once about some guy keeping a king baboon in shallow substrate and he said after a while the tarantula adapted and would just retreat to his hide instread of a burrow etc, and his T never suffered or got stressed.

But was just wondering if anyone else had tryed anything similar?

I wouldn't do it, if it were my T--but I don't really have an issue with burrowers hiding. My burrowing slings I've been bothering too much, but that's because they are slings more than because they burrow. So, no, I wouldn't do it. But my T's are pets, not experiments or parts of a collection (no criticism meant of those who keep them in those styles, just stating why I think the way I do), if you have a bit of a different view, feel free.

Now, do I think you should do it? Any knowledge we can gain is helpful, and it's your T. It's your call, not mine.

 

[Fresher]

I think i might have the enclosure half with 1 inch of substrate, a hide and a water dish and the other half just pure 5 inch substrate and see what she does, ill update this post for any one who is interested

 

[Teal]

Way back when, before I was collecting Ts, I ended up with a "featherleg" that I found out to be a baboon after handling.. she was very mild (I handled her all the time), and the set up I had her in was with shallow substrate like the only other T I had at the time (G. rosea). She did just fine, in the time I had her.

Ugh.. never should have gotten rid of her, though! Stupid move lol

 

[Ariel]

Way back when, before I was collecting Ts, I ended up with a "featherleg" that I found out to be a baboon after handling.. she was very mild (I handled her all the time), and the set up I had her in was with shallow substrate like the only other T I had at the time (G. rosea). She did just fine, in the time I had her.

Ugh.. never should have gotten rid of her, though! Stupid move lol

How's that E. pachypus you got a little while ago doing? do you still have her?

to the OP I can't imagine it would be 'bad' per say, but I'd still reccomend giving her the substrate so she can burrow.

 

[Teal]

How's that E. pachypus you got a little while ago doing? do you still have her?

I don't, actually I don't know what happened.. but she never really ate or did well, and then died

 

[xhexdx]

How's that E. pachypus you got a little while ago doing? do you still have her?

Well, considering...

Ugh.. never should have gotten rid of her, though! Stupid move lol

I would say no.

Unless she got a second one or something. I could have missed that.

 

[Ariel]

I don't, actually I don't know what happened.. but she never really ate or did well, and then died

I'm sorry to hear that. That really sucks, I remember you mentioning she was being kind of iffy. I'm sorry.

 

[The_Jess_Ness]

baboons are known for thriving on neglect and they usually web everything up, it should be fine. however a hide is always a good idea.