Seemani help

[DixonCyder]

I have problem developing. ... Self inflicted. I need some advice. My big girl has made quite the burrow. I want to redo her home for more substrate and less deco. But I've been waiting for an appropriate time (after she molts). She came to me very stressed, and I've been leaving her be. She got really mad, the last time I messed around in there.
Moving forward...
She's been digging again. I think it's time to molt, and she's making extra space for this. Under her water dish, I buried a flat rock to keep it level.
In her burrow, I'm starting to see the bottom of that rock.
I'm worried she's going to try to dig under it, and cause a cave in. Does she know the danger of digging under the weight? Will she recognize it and leave it alone?
If I pull it out, it will definitely open a hole into her den... And I try not to mess with her den, at all...
Any advice? I got two evils to choose between. Unless I can be confident she won't dig under it...

 

[Jororo]

For these reasons I always prefer to use light weight water dishes and just set them on top. If it caves in a burrow it won't be too heavy. Anything heavy should probably rest directly on the bottom of the enclosure. I'd just remove the rock when she's not near it. It may mess up her burrow a bit but shell rebuild. If she's not too close to it then it shouldn't bury her.

 

[DixonCyder]

That was fast.
Copy that... Resting it on the bottom isn't an option. I keep the dirt pretty deep for her so her burrows are stable... She's even pulled back my screen and dug out a bunch of the gravel... (I was impressed)
But I can take the foundation rock out and move the dish to a corner she not digging up.
The enclosure I'm talking about in on the bottom of the shelf, in photo.
She doesn't use the burrow entrance I started her with anymore. It won't be there when I am finally am able to mess with it... But the water dish is the shallow black dish, partially buried to the right of it.
I can't pull the deco out now, because I'm sure she's going to molt and her new entrance is behind that root.
I'm not kidding, when I messed with her burrow last. It was just pulling that corkbark up a bit to give her more space under it to dig out. ... She chased my hand out a couple of times and spent the next two weeks guarding the entrance... Standing on it, any time I came near. She was so mad! Normally she doesn't mind my presence or opening her enclosure. She's usually docile... The change was very noticeable.

 

[Jororo]

That was fast.
Copy that... Resting it on the bottom isn't an option. I keep the dirt pretty deep for her so her burrows are stable... She's even pulled back my screen and dug out a bunch of the gravel... (I was impressed)
But I can take the foundation rock out and move the dish to a corner she not digging up.
The enclosure I'm talking about in on the bottom of the shelf, in photo.
She doesn't use the burrow entrance I started her with anymore. It won't be there when I am finally am able to mess with it... But the water dish is the shallow black dish, partially buried to the right of it.
I can't pull the deco out now, because I'm sure she's going to molt and her new entrance is behind that root.
I'm not kidding, when I messed with her burrow last. It was just pulling that corkbark up a bit to give her more space under it to dig out. ... She chased my hand out a couple of times and spent the next two weeks guarding the entrance... Standing on it, any time I came near. She was so mad! Normally she doesn't mind my presence or opening her enclosure. She's usually docile... The change was very noticeable.

Yeah just move the dish and remove the rock and she should be fine. My seemannis are both wild cards and are probably some of the least gentle Ts have. It's good that you keep the soil deep so they can burrow. Maybe just switch out the water dish with something lighter (I use 1.5 oz portion cups) and that way if she does under it there won't really be any damage. Plus when she inevitably messes the water up it's super easy to replace.

 

[Thekla]

Why do you even have a drainage layer with your T? :wideyed: Your T needs moist substrate not wet substrate. There's absolutely no need for that and like you said yourself it creates problems where there should be none.

Okay, here's what I would do. Get her out of the enclosure (it doesn't matter if she's in premoult, only if she's indeed moulting this very moment you should leave her alone) and redo the whole thing.
Assuming she's an adult, she needs way more substrate. Put (slightly) moist substrate on the ground and then a bit dryer substrate on top, this way it's up to her what kind of moisture level she likes and where she wants to dig to. Get rid of all the rocks in the enclosure. You also don't need the root but keep the cork bark as an entrance for her future burrow. And as said before, get a lighter water dish. That's all she needs to be happy.
A. seemannis are obligate burrowers and you need to provide a safe and appropriate environment to go with that behaviour.

 

[DixonCyder]

Yeah just move the dish and remove the rock and she should be fine. My seemannis are both wild cards and are probably some of the least gentle Ts have. It's good that you keep the soil deep so they can burrow. Maybe just switch out the water dish with something lighter (I use 1.5 oz portion cups) and that way if she does under it there won't really be any damage. Plus when she inevitably messes the water up it's super easy to replace.

Just asking... Are you sure? I didn't mention. That dish is only an inch deep with a couple of rocks in it to keep prey and pillbugs from drowning. It's just a little glass dish like you would get some dipping sauce in, with your hotwings. I'm only asking because obviously I care about asthetics. That entire wall is full of enclosures, that wall is my zen-garden.
She a big spider... About the size of my hand fingers included. Based on the size of the items I've seen her carry, I doubt that dish is too heavy. Especially if the water spills out. ... But I don't have an actual weight to proclaim... I'm at work atm.
Lol... They sure do love to mess up their water, don't they. Mine loves to dump the dirt there, when she digs.

 

[Jororo]

Why do you even have a drainage layer with your T? :wideyed: Your T needs moist substrate not wet substrate. There's absolutely no need for that and like you said yourself it creates problems where there should be none.

Okay, here's what I would do. Get her out of the enclosure (it doesn't matter if she's in premoult, only if she's indeed moulting this very moment you should leave her alone) and redo the whole thing.
Assuming she's an adult, she needs way more substrate. Put (slightly) moist substrate on the ground and then a bit dryer substrate on top, this way it's up to her what kind of moisture level she likes and where she wants to dig to. Get rid of all the rocks in the enclosure. You also don't need the root but keep the cork bark as an entrance for her future burrow. And as said before, get a lighter water dish. That's all she needs to be happy.
A. seemannis are obligate burrowers and you need to provide a safe and appropriate environment to go with that behaviour.

I was wondering about the drainage layer also but being that I didn't really know how it impacted the enclosure 100% I opted for someone with better knowledge to say something. It did seem a bit odd

 

[Jororo]

Just asking... Are you sure? I didn't mention. That dish is only an inch deep with a couple of rocks in it to keep prey and pillbugs from drowning. It's just a little glass dish like you would get some dipping sauce in, with your hotwings. I'm only asking because obviously I care about asthetics. That entire wall is full of enclosures, that wall is my zen-garden.
She a big spider... About the size of my hand fingers included. Based on the size of the items I've seen her carry, I doubt that dish is too heavy. Especially if the water spills out. ... But I don't have an actual weight to proclaim... I'm at work atm.
Lol... They sure do love to mess up their water, don't they. Mine loves to dump the dirt there, when she digs.

Mine is an absolute demolitionist haha. If the dish isn't too heavy then maybe it could stay. I'd definitely get the rocks out of it though. Even if the rocks aren't heavy the dish doesn't need them and they just offer more surface for bacteria to stick to and grow

 

[DixonCyder]

Why do you even have a drainage layer with your T? :wideyed: Your T needs moist substrate not wet substrate. There's absolutely no need for that and like you said yourself it creates problems where there should be none.

Okay, here's what I would do. Get her out of the enclosure (it doesn't matter if she's in premoult, only if she's indeed moulting this very moment you should leave her alone) and redo the whole thing.
Assuming she's an adult, she needs way more substrate. Put (slightly) moist substrate on the ground and then a bit dryer substrate on top, this way it's up to her what kind of moisture level she likes and where she wants to dig to. Get rid of all the rocks in the enclosure. You also don't need the root but keep the cork bark as an entrance for her future burrow. And as said before, get a lighter water dish. That's all she needs to be happy.
A. seemannis are obligate burrowers and you need to provide a safe and appropriate environment to go with that behaviour.

Yep, I intend to pull it out. My tanks are all bio active... There was drainage because there was live plants. She saw to it, there's no more live plants. That is coming out when I redo it.
I even make substrate just for a burrower. Little bit of a special potting soil, little bit of store bought substrate and litter and some soil from my yard "no contaminates". For strength.
We make our own stuff. Like bark walls for the climbers. Decontaminated and flattened in my home.
I didn't know she was going to be so destructive when I adopted/rescued her.

 

[DixonCyder]

Mine is an absolute demolitionist haha. If the dish isn't too heavy then maybe it could stay. I'd definitely get the rocks out of it though. Even if the rocks aren't heavy the dish doesn't need them and they just offer more surface for bacteria to stick to and grow

Thanks for the chat guys. I'll take care of the water dish when I get home. I'm still holding off on the re-do until this molt happens... And then I'll probably fill the enclosure to the half way line, with soil. In the future giving her space to dig, without getting that close to anything on the surface.

 

[Thekla]

Usually, the more you give a T what it needs the less defensive it'll be.

 

[DixonCyder]

She had a very stressed life, before me. All glass container. I could see straight through her hide, just a dusting of dirt, and light 24/7.
She had scars from always flicking.
My avicularia came from there too. But she was younger when I got her.
I been leaving them alone as much as possible. Letting them choose when they were comfortable enough to start showing themselves... 7 months later, they both seem much more calm and less stressed about being seen. I try to let my animals live and act as they are supposed to. Instead of acting like they are "pets" for my entertainment.
I've been involved in animal rescue, my whole life. I'm new to T's. But Not to burrowing spiders.
I artificially populate my yard with wolf spiders to help keep my neighbors roaches from visiting me. I find one about to freeze to death, as we approach winter. Ones that come out during a warm snap, and find themselves in trouble. She'll lay and hatch her eggs in the spring, and I release them. I try to understand the animal, and let it be true to it's nature.
My tree frogs didn't go so well. They've become like house cats. They have come to like my interaction. Riding around on me, snatching food from my hand. It's great when I'm gaming a fly is bothering me. Set a frog on my shoulder and it will handle my annoyance.
... And everything I read says they don't like being handled. Those two Wild rescues have become the highlight of my every morning.
Anyway... I'm rambling.