# A quick guide to keeping Trapdoors



## RezonantVoid (Oct 24, 2018)

I have seen a few people ask questions about keeping trapdoors and tips on finding them. Well, I'm no expert but I have bred some species and own 24 specimens across several genus so at the very least I hope I can give advice from a successful hobbyist point of view.

1- ARE THEY HARDER TO KEEP THAN TARANTULAS??

No, they are considerably easier in my opinion. The only thing that may be challenging for breeders is that slings do prefer a little bit more space to wander around to choose a burrow so as a sling you need a slightly larger container.

2- HOUSING

They do not require a 2ft deep container to dig a massive burrow in order to be content, the maximum depth I would reccomend is 30cm (1ft) but I have proven that in captive situations they can be content with 20cm or less depending on the species. Here is what I use for 3 sizes- sling, juvenile to subadult, and large.






The biggest container is SISTEMA brand. These are probably my favourite thing to use because: they are clear, don't break easy, are easy to drill through without melted plastic covering the drill, very cheap, have a clip on lid, are available in a massive range of sizes and can stack on top of each other. I will usually fill one of these cubic ones up to 2 thirds or 3 quarters with cocopeat. It's good to leave a bit of spag moss or crunched sticks on top as some species will arrange these around the burrow entrance and it looks cool. For very large species you may want to invest in a 30x30x30 tank or custom make your own, and angle the substrate as many large species prefer to dig into riverbanks horizontally. Do not regularly rehouse them as they do not cope with relocation very well and take a while to readjust.

3- HUMIDITY

Trapdoors will require pretty moist substrate as they loose water very quickly which is a reason why many species make lids in the first place. However, DO NOT absolutely soak your substrate as they will feel very uncomfortable. A good idea is just hand squeeze the substrate as hard as you can to get as much water out as you can and that will usually be good. For my SISTEMA setups I drill about 28 3mm ventilation holes in the lid and 5 2.5mm ones on 2 sides close to the lid. This will usually hold the moisture pretty well. They do not need water dishes as they will never leave the burrow aside to forage for food at night and their burrows hold enough humidity for them. Here is what I like to see on the side of the container, a light film of condensation.






4- FEEDING

Most trapdoors are opportunistic feeders and will take food almost regardless of how long ago you fed them. They are quite slow growing so it's good to feed them regularly if you have a sling. I prefer crickets since they don't dig and they put up a decent struggle on any web so the spider will catch them pretty quick. My slings I feed 2 or 3 times a week, subadults 2 times and adults 1 large cricket plus whatever crickets I find escaped in my room. They are the longest living of any spider group so they grow slowly.





5- BREEDING

Dead easy most of the time. A feature of many species is compact wild colonies since the slings hardly wander far from the mother's burrow. A lot of the time a male will mate with many females from a colony and the females rarely show aggression. If you have a male and female just add the male close to the females burrow and he should begin drumming. Mating mostly takes place outside the burrow so the male may enter and coax the female out. After that it's just the same as T's. The gestation period strongly varies but it is generally quite a long time; I have paired some females in April and June and they still haven't layed. I wouldn't pull their eggsack, I would let the mother care for it and after they hatch sit the container in a larger one with the substrate level with the top of the female's container. The slings will just climb out on their own after a few weeks.






6- FINDING THEM IN THE WILD

A little theory I've been looking into is an easy way to locate an ideal habitat for them. I have worked out that across several countries trapdoors will be much more commonly found in red soil zones. Keeping in mind their high moisture preference try places like red soil zones near bodies of water such as riverbanks and tropical areas. I have noted alot of Australian species of myglamorph stick to tropical rainforest mountains with red soil, so if you have somewhere like that near you give it a shot.

Hope this guide helps answer any questions people might have about keeping Trapdoors, they are fascinating and you will thoroughly enjoy keeping them.

Reactions: Like 7 | Thanks 1 | Informative 6 | Helpful 10 | Award 3


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## RezonantVoid (Oct 24, 2018)

Did I mention never to handle them? Most species are extremely defensive and will readily bite for no apparent reason even if their venom isnt that bad. Definitely avoid handling

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 3 | Informative 2


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## chanda (Oct 24, 2018)

Or - the even easier way to keep trapdoor spiders, based on my VERY limited experience:

Fill a tub with dirt.
Poke a hole in the dirt and cover it with something.
Tell everyone about the cool trapdoor spider you've got in there. 
Imagine all the amazing things it's most likely doing under the dirt.
Did I mention no actual spider required? It's not like you're ever going to see the darn thing anyway!
Enjoy your pet hole.

Reactions: Funny 10


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## WildSpider (Oct 24, 2018)

This is great! Thank you, Rezonant!

Reactions: Like 1


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## RezonantVoid (Oct 24, 2018)

chanda said:


> Or - the even easier way to keep trapdoor spiders, based on my VERY limited experience:
> 
> Fill a tub with dirt.
> Poke a hole in the dirt and cover it with something.
> ...


I can say from experience that this can work as an effective strategy XD

Only issue is that there are a considerable number of species that are lidless, so you'll have to get species specific  about never seeing them, all of mine are night active and the ones that aren't have a burrow against the container sides so you still get to see them quite a bit

Reactions: Funny 2


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## Joogvanhedel (Oct 25, 2018)

Some never come out, some quiet often.. Love them

Reactions: Like 1


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## Venom1080 (Oct 25, 2018)

Helpful. Thank you.

Reactions: Like 1


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## chanda (Oct 25, 2018)

RezonantVoid said:


> I can say from experience that this can work as an effective strategy XD
> 
> Only issue is that there are a considerable number of species that are lidless, so you'll have to get species specific  about never seeing them, all of mine are night active and the ones that aren't have a burrow against the container sides so you still get to see them quite a bit


You're lucky! I tried making starter burrows near the sides of the container for mine, but she preferred dead center. She wouldn't even come out to eat for me. I guess all the vibrations from walking around in the room, opening the lid, dropping in the cricket, and closing the lid again were enough to convince her to hunker down until everyone was safely out of the room. I tried being still and waiting her out a few times - but she was a _lot_ more patient than I am!

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 1


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## RezonantVoid (Oct 25, 2018)

chanda said:


> You're lucky! I tried making starter burrows near the sides of the container for mine, but she preferred dead center. She wouldn't even come out to eat for me. I guess all the vibrations from walking around in the room, opening the lid, dropping in the cricket, and closing the lid again were enough to convince her to hunker down until everyone was safely out of the room. I tried being still and waiting her out a few times - but she was a _lot_ more patient than I am!


Yea lol it's hell for me during the day I got the washing machine on the other side of the wall which just terrifies them all but let loose at night quite regularly


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## RTTB (Oct 29, 2018)

Great information.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## RezonantVoid (Oct 30, 2018)

I decided to make a big 30x30x30cm tank for my largest trapdoor (Idiommata sp. Silverback/Brushfoot) and it looks really nice, ill add a photo of it here soon as a reference but here she is exploring it.

Reactions: Like 3 | Love 1


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## Galapoheros (Oct 30, 2018)

Good info, I've only tried keeping a local sps I find in my yard, she kept coming out of her hole.  I probably had it to dry below.

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## RezonantVoid (Oct 30, 2018)

Galapoheros said:


> Good info, I've only tried keeping a local sps I find in my yard, she kept coming out of her hole.  I probably had it to dry below.


i would think so too, or maybe she just didnt take to the relocation well. It's pretty cool you have them in your yard, alot of people ik who do take it for granted that they have them so close by. Sometimes a good idea is dig down near a burrow 30cm and see what the moisture gradient is like where they are located.


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## RezonantVoid (Oct 30, 2018)

Ok so here's the big setup, it's actually 25x25x25cm but still sufficient. 





I have just cocopeat with crunched stick pieces mixed in (they were already in there) I have a slight slope in the substrate, with about 10cm of it at the front and  bit more up the back; how much you want to slope it is up to you. I have a few pieces of wood, a few rocks and a branch of ground covering fern in 2 corners.





DO NOT PUT A DRAINAGE LAYER!!

They will likely try and dig through the mesh and end up injuring themselves, or worse they may become trapped under the mesh and drown if there is too much moisture.

That's about it, if you wanna make a big enclosure like this just be prepared to see very little of your trapdoor, but you should see them exploring at night

Reactions: Like 2


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## Teds ts and Inverts (Nov 3, 2018)

chanda said:


> You're lucky! I tried making starter burrows near the sides of the container for mine, but she preferred dead center. She wouldn't even come out to eat for me. I guess all the vibrations from walking around in the room, opening the lid, dropping in the cricket, and closing the lid again were enough to convince her to hunker down until everyone was safely out of the room. I tried being still and waiting her out a few times - but she was a _lot_ more patient than I am!


Yea I have 2 Cyclocosmia torreya slings/juvis that I rehoused a few days ago into tall deli cups instead of the med. critter keepers I had them in, and these should be their permanent homes. One of them dug straight away, but the other took some time getting used to the new enclosure, so later that day, I poked a little hole near the side of the deli cup and angled it towards the side. He/she took to it and looking at the burrow through the side of the container is super cool. Sucks that your Trapdoor was a bit more stubborn 

Here are some pics before they dug:

Reactions: Like 3


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## RezonantVoid (Nov 3, 2018)

Teds ts and Inverts said:


> Yea I have 2 Cyclocosmia torreya slings/juvis that I rehoused a few days ago into tall deli cups instead of the med. critter keepers I had them in, and these should be their permanent homes. One of them dug straight away, but the other took some time getting used to the new enclosure, so later that day, I poked a little hole near the side of the deli cup and angled it towards the side. He/she took to it and looking at the burrow through the side of the container is super cool. Sucks that your Trapdoor was a bit more stubborn
> 
> Here are some pics before they dug:


i am so jealous of your cyclos  one of the cooler species i can't get in Aus. Deli cups work just fine, i've read some people put tiny holes in the sides at the bottom to add water to the bottom substrate which makes sense to me. hope they are doing well!

Reactions: Like 1


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## Teds ts and Inverts (Nov 4, 2018)

RezonantVoid said:


> i am so jealous of your cyclos  one of the cooler species i can't get in Aus. Deli cups work just fine, i've read some people put tiny holes in the sides at the bottom to add water to the bottom substrate which makes sense to me. hope they are doing well!


Thx man, and they’re are doing great! I bought them April this year, and when I saw them on Swift’s Inverts, I thought I couldn’t pass em up For moisture, I just drizzle a little bit of water on the surface, and the coco-sand mix I use for substrate absorbs the water straight away. They’re kinda annoying to feed though, since they are still itty-bitty, and I can’t seem to find anyone selling week-old crickets, so it looks like I’ll have to put up with those darn annoying fruit flies, for now, lol. 
Cheers

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## Rhino1 (Mar 21, 2019)

Excellent thread, some good tips through this. I have some arbanitis being sent to me (Adelaide locale) that are much prettier than the ones I keep now

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## RezonantVoid (Mar 21, 2019)

,


Rhino1 said:


> Excellent thread, some good tips through this. I have some arbanitis being sent to me (Adelaide locale) that are much prettier than the ones I keep now


Arbanitis are good because they learn quickly. Pretty soon they recognise feeding schedules, hunting tactics, and not to panic when the lid is opened. Mine are at the point where they don't even shoot down their holes when I open their lids. Not to mention the stunning gold carapace


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## Rhino1 (Mar 21, 2019)

Good natured and some pretty colours and patterns, I have a couple of juvenile "A.Robertcollinsi" at this stage they have more of a metallic silver colour carapace, keen to see them mature though


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## RezonantVoid (Oct 12, 2021)

In the 3 years since this thread was made I've improved my husbandry skills considerably and would like to declare alot of the info in this thread is outdated/generalised. I'm in the process of making a much more accurate care guide that covers a larger range of mygalomorphs, from sandy coastal habitat species and large trapdoors from thick clay embankments to arid zone wishbones and curtain webs

Reactions: Thanks 2 | Informative 1


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## Nacnac (Dec 5, 2021)

RezonantVoid said:


> I have seen a few people ask questions about keeping trapdoors and tips on finding them. Well, I'm no expert but I have bred some species and own 24 specimens across several genus so at the very least I hope I can give advice from a successful hobbyist point of view.
> 
> 1- ARE THEY HARDER TO KEEP THAN TARANTULAS??
> 
> ...


Hey have a question I have gravel at bottom of tank would it be bad if you drill one whole in bottom so water never gets the height you want it. Thanks in advance


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## Nacnac (Dec 6, 2021)

Nacnac said:


> Hey have a question I have gravel at bottom of tank would it be bad if you drill one whole in bottom so water never gets the height you want it. Thanks in advance


Quick update since the rehousing yesterday the liphistus has gone down a burrow and looks like constructing and now the tank I have him in has light film of condensation on side of tank like resonantvoid has said in his post on the quick guide for trapdoors. Will post updates through out. Ty Res


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## RezonantVoid (Dec 7, 2021)

Nacnac said:


> Hey have a question I have gravel at bottom of tank would it be bad if you drill one whole in bottom so water never gets the height you want it. Thanks in advance


I just put a layer of peat moss and sand mix about 15-20mm thick at the bottom and compress a pillar of it in one corner that goes all the way from the bottom of the enclosure to the top of the clay substrate, water drains into the peat and sand and evaporates up the corner pillar over time


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