# Gorgyrella sp. - black pictures and observation



## Ambly (Nov 30, 2012)

Hello All,
  Attached are a couple pictures of my newly acquired Gorgyrella sp. black trapdoor spider.  After a while of interest and research, I picked em up from a local show.  Sold in a small vial, I rehomed the spider and it is almost 3 days rehomed.  It has not yet tunneled, and until today has remained barely active.  This morning I found it wandering about it's enclosure and hope to find it burrowed into the 10' of substrate it has available.  Until then, the spider is being left entirely alone.  Here I'll post pics, videos, and observations in my experience with trapdoor spiders and, with hope, some pictures and videos from trapdoors and purse-webs in the wild this coming spring.  I encourage you all to post your own observations and experiences.




Hope you enjoy.


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## Shrike (Nov 30, 2012)

Great looking spider!  Keep us posted.


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## spiderengineer (Nov 30, 2012)

I find with most trapdoor and burrowing spider a way to help speed up the digging process and getting a faster adjustment period is to make premade burrows. of course some will just take for ever, but most usually will take to it. all my black took to their premade burrow that very night I introduce them to their new home.


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## KingBaboon85 (Nov 30, 2012)

I once had I Red trapdoor never accepted any burrow I made wouldn't ever attempt to make one then it died 2 weeks later


But it did make    What look like a sperm web .. But  why did it die so fast?
I have other type of trapdoors and there fine so I'm confused lol

Cheers Angelo


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## spiderengineer (Nov 30, 2012)

KingBaboon85 said:


> I once had I Red trapdoor never accepted any burrow I made wouldn't ever attempt to make one then it died 2 weeks later
> 
> 
> But it did make    What look like a sperm web .. But  why did it die so fast?
> ...


was it a MM when you purchase it.


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## Ciphor (Nov 30, 2012)

KingBaboon85 said:


> I once had I Red trapdoor never accepted any burrow I made wouldn't ever attempt to make one then it died 2 weeks later
> 
> 
> But it did make    What look like a sperm web .. But  why did it die so fast?
> ...


Males do not make new homes. If its a mature male OBT, it wont make a new web, MM funnel-web, wont make funnel-web. And in your case, MM trapdoor, wont make a burrow.

They have one goal and one goal alone; Finding a female.

Mature male mygalids often do not even eat, which means this guy likely had not eaten in awhile, and died of a lack of nutrients.

Kinda messed up if someone sold you the aged mature male without making you aware of its short lifespan and lack of burrowing. Honestly mature males in Idiopinae should live around 2-6 months depending on how much extra food was in their belly before they molted into maturity IIRC.


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## KingBaboon85 (Dec 1, 2012)

Thanks Ciphor

I dont think the wholesaler I know to much about trapdoors but he send me another one huge and fat and now there verification is a female 

She just settled in the hole I made her and put some leaflitter to aid in construting a lid for the trap

Cheers Angelo


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## Ambly (Dec 3, 2012)

So far, the spider has not burrowed but does seem more active.  Yesterday afternoon I removed the spider and created an artificial burrow I hope it will take to.  I am a bit concerned.  Possibly it does not like the substrate: loose coconut (very fine) mixed with a slight bit of sand and a handful of pulverized, dried live oak leaves.  The substrate is far from moist, but not lacking water all together.


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## spiderengineer (Dec 3, 2012)

some times trapdoor just take forever to burrow nothing you can about it. If you are worried you might want to try peat moss instead of coconut coir. I mainly use peat moss I like how it holds compared to the other substrates around. another option you can try is to put it in a dark place so very little light is available and just leave them in their for a day or two. I have done that to two of my trapdoors because, the were being stubborn and that seem to make them start burrowing.


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## Ciphor (Dec 3, 2012)

Ambly said:


> So far, the spider has not burrowed but does seem more active.  Yesterday afternoon I removed the spider and created an artificial burrow I hope it will take to.  I am a bit concerned.  Possibly it does not like the substrate: loose coconut (very fine) mixed with a slight bit of sand and a handful of pulverized, dried live oak leaves.  The substrate is far from moist, but not lacking water all together.


Sometimes they can take over a month to re-burrow/take a pre-dug burrow.


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## Ambly (Dec 3, 2012)

thanks guys - yeah I've heard it can take a while, that's why I am trying to leave it alone as much as possible.  Trying to make a burrow was all I was willing to do.  If it doesn't burrow in a few weeks, I'll rehome for substrate reasons.  I have tried putting it in a dark room for a few days, little help.  I'll keep you all updated


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## Ciphor (Dec 3, 2012)

Ambly said:


> thanks guys - yeah I've heard it can take a while, that's why I am trying to leave it alone as much as possible.  Trying to make a burrow was all I was willing to do.  If it doesn't burrow in a few weeks, I'll rehome for substrate reasons.  I have tried putting it in a dark room for a few days, little help.  I'll keep you all updated


Put it in a closet for a week. Trust me, 7 days can make a world of difference.

Coco or peat, doesn't mater which, should be _semi-moist_, not damp or dry. How hard it is packed makes no difference. Depth is important, it should have at least 6 inches of depth.

If it has 6 inches, if substrate is semi-moist, just do the 7 days undisturbed thing. If no response, probably give it another 7 days. They can go months & months without food.


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## catfishrod69 (Dec 3, 2012)

You know i never thought of telling you this earlier. But you could force the spider into the premade hole. Then sit a empty waterdish or something similar that it cant lift up, over top the hole. Then just leave it there for a few days. Maybe then it will take to it, and within those few days will have webbed up the tunnel a little. Good luck.


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## spiderengineer (Dec 3, 2012)

catfishrod69 said:


> You know i never thought of telling you this earlier. But you could force the spider into the premade hole. Then sit a empty waterdish or something similar that it cant lift up, over top the hole. Then just leave it there for a few days. Maybe then it will take to it, and within those few days will have webbed up the tunnel a little. Good luck.


I would just like to chime and say I have tried this and you have to be very careful, because since this is a trapdoor they are not prawn to movement like other spiders. they have three settings. setting one the don't budge or only move a leg but not their body, setting two they freak out and run around for a few second until they think they are safe, and finally setting three threat posture. so I just want to stress if you can't get it nudge in their after a few tries. then don't continue because,  you will ultimately be stressing the heck out of it.


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## catfishrod69 (Dec 3, 2012)

Yeah that makes sense. Although sometimes a little stress is better than to let them lose the will to thrive. But like you said trapdoors are wierd creatures. 





spiderengineer said:


> I would just like to chime and say I have tried this and you have to be very careful, because since this is a trapdoor they are not prawn to movement like other spiders. they have three settings. setting one the don't budge or only move a leg but not their body, setting two they freak out and run around for a few second until they think they are safe, and finally setting three threat posture. so I just want to stress if you can't get it nudge in their after a few tries. then don't continue because,  you will ultimately be stressing the heck out of it.


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## The Snark (Dec 4, 2012)

Sure seems like potential spider buyers should be schooled a little. Ask the dealer for a warranty against the purchase being a MM. A dealer that isn't just out to make quick bucks should try to accommodate the buyer.


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## spiderengineer (Dec 4, 2012)

The Snark said:


> Sure seems like potential spider buyers should be schooled a little. Ask the dealer for a warranty against the purchase being a MM. A dealer that isn't just out to make quick bucks should try to accommodate the buyer.


what makes you think its a male?


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## Ambly (Dec 4, 2012)

I do not think it is a mature male - someone else mentioned they experienced receiving a mature male.  Though I don't know the age of the spider, it was tunneled up when I purchased it and the vendor told me it was quick to burrow.  My instincts say it's just taking a while to burrow.  I will leave it in the closet for a good while.  My intentions here were only to post some pictures, my observations, and gain insight from those who have kept the spider before - not to panic because I didn't do my homework and my spider is likely stressed from moving from a small vial to an enclosure and taking some time to do his thing.


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## spiderengineer (Dec 4, 2012)

Ambly said:


> I do not think it is a mature male - someone else mentioned they experienced receiving a mature male.  Though I don't know the age of the spider, it was tunneled up when I purchased it and the vendor told me it was quick to burrow.  My instincts say it's just taking a while to burrow.  I will leave it in the closet for a good while.  My intentions here were only to post some pictures, my observations, and gain insight from those who have kept the spider before - not to panic because I didn't do my homework and my spider is likely stressed from moving from a small vial to an enclosure and taking some time to do his thing.


their are only two possibilities right now for it. possibility one is that its a juvenile (I don't know how big they get so it could still be young). the other possibility is its not and if that is the case then its definitely female. in either case in should burrow just will take some time. also like you said it was in a pit when you got it so it had burrow before.


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## Ambly (Dec 18, 2012)

Well... it was nice while it lasted.  Now I have pet dirt.  The spider had gone into the burrow a few times, returning to the surface to wander, and after about 2 weeks being mostly left alone in dark closet, it began creating the trap door.  I was actually lucky enough to watch it applying some silk, holding leaves and eventually putting them in place.  I am going to give it a bit to settle in then feed.  All said in done, it took from 11/30/2012 to 12/18/2012 to get settled in, though I removed the spider to mix in sand and a bit of moisture to the substrate two weeks in.  I'll post videos if any are worth while

Sean

Reactions: Like 1


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## Ambly (Jan 10, 2013)

update on my experience with Gorgyrella.  It is definitely more active than most folks make them out to be.  Maybe 15 minutes post feeding #2 I decided I'd peak in the door (slightly left open to my surprise) and see what was going on - kinda against my way of leaving things completely be but curiosity got the best of me.  I expected to see a stationary spider, holding it's cricket.  Instead, it seemed to rush to the door to attempt closing it.  Now I know it was no harm, as I was using a long, thin skewer to lightly lift the lid, but it scared the HELL out of me.  The area around the lid seems to be pretty manicured, and a bit pitfall-like.  Do they leave the tunnel to manicure the surrounding area, atleast partially?  To me it looks as though the spider has left small indentations in a circle about an inch and a half to two inches diameter, almost like it was tapping around in a circle with it's front legs.  I will post photographs.  The process of capture was actually pretty menacing... the cricket wasn't quite snatched from life in the blink of an eye, but more of dragged into the depths of death.  I am sure this depends on the orientation of the cricket to the spider's tunnel.


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## spiderengineer (Jan 10, 2013)

Ambly said:


> update on my experience with Gorgyrella.  It is definitely more active than most folks make them out to be.  Maybe 15 minutes post feeding #2 I decided I'd peak in the door (slightly left open to my surprise) and see what was going on - kinda against my way of leaving things completely be but curiosity got the best of me.  I expected to see a stationary spider, holding it's cricket.  Instead, it seemed to rush to the door to attempt closing it.


mine never like me peaking on them eating either.


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## Ambly (Jan 11, 2013)

yeah, it is definitely far more of a frightening creature than I had anticipated.  Atleast when compared to the gentle (besides when...killing) amblypygids...  I am very much enjoying keeping it though and will be keeping a running photolog of the surface around it's hole.  I am very interested to see if it manicures its landscape.  I had a thin layer of willow-oak leaflitter, now all part of the lid.  I am interested to see what the spider would do if I were to introduce more leaves.  In the wild this must occur, and I imagine it would hinder prey capture.


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## spiderengineer (Jan 11, 2013)

Ambly said:


> yeah, it is definitely far more of a frightening creature than I had anticipated.  Atleast when compared to the gentle (besides when...killing) amblypygids...  I am very much enjoying keeping it though and will be keeping a running photolog of the surface around it's hole.  I am very interested to see if it manicures its landscape.  I had a thin layer of willow-oak leaflitter, now all part of the lid.  I am interested to see what the spider would do if I were to introduce more leaves.  In the wild this must occur, and I imagine it would hinder prey capture.


it will make his burrow bigger and longer over time and you will see same with lid. so I wouldn't be surprise if you saw alteration of the terrain around then entrance either.


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## Ambly (Jan 11, 2013)

so do immature offspring migrate from the female's tunnel when hatched, create a burrow, then adjust it as time goes on?  I assumed this with older individuals, but the offspring are so small I find it shocking they would continue the same tunnel.


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## spiderengineer (Jan 11, 2013)

Ambly said:


> so do immature offspring migrate from the female's tunnel when hatched, create a burrow, then adjust it as time goes on?  I assumed this with older individuals, but the offspring are so small I find it shocking they would continue the same tunnel.


all burrowing species usually stay in one burrow and over time just make them longer and bigger as they get older. I see changes to my trapdoors burrows over time one made a bigger door so that it has two flaps one on top of the other like loose skin. with trapdoor the young usually set up shop around the mother burrow thats why you can find colonies of trapdoors. some times a burrower will abandon a burrow its happen to some of my T's have done it, but it not a common thing.


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## Ambly (Feb 19, 2013)

Ah good to know.  Noticed my trapdoor's door open the other day, as if it had been out adjusting things.  After inspection, it no doubt has adjusted the leaves incorporated in the lid, the surrounding area, etc.  It does not seem to be from random movement at all.  

Last night I fed my trapdoor and the cricket, a female, began depositing eggs in the substrate.  Though I believe it may be too dry for the eggs or nymphs to survive, would it pose a problem?  Might I find myself picking out a buncha pinheads?


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## spiderengineer (Feb 19, 2013)

Ambly said:


> Last night I fed my trapdoor and the cricket, a female, began depositing eggs in the substrate.  Though I believe it may be too dry for the eggs or nymphs to survive, would it pose a problem?  Might I find myself picking out a buncha pinheads?


they will die off due to lack of food, so don't worry about it


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## plantecarnivore (Mar 5, 2013)

Nice! Other pictures?


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## Ambly (Mar 5, 2013)

I'll post some up soon.  Seems as though the spider has sealed emself.  I assume molting


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## Ximmanis (Mar 5, 2013)

Mine lived for over 10 years, and I'm guessing she was already an adult when I got her back in early 2000's. She passed away last year. I kept her like a plant; in a jar with about 10cm of potting soil, and watered the substrate once a week (or whenever I remembered to). Popped a mealworm in there every now and then, I even fed her raw meat by dropping small pieces into her burrow. I believe she molted once, possibly twice during the time I had her, but I can't say for sure. As for digging a new burrow she would typically wait for up to a week, but once she got started the burrow would be completed - lid and all - within 24 hours.

Sent from my GT-P5110 using Tapatalk HD


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## Ambly (Mar 7, 2013)

You mention her digging another burrow... was this after you would unearth her or would she naturally unearth herself and dig somewhere else?


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## Ximmanis (Mar 7, 2013)

Ambly said:


> You mention her digging another burrow... was this after you would unearth her or would she naturally unearth herself and dig somewhere else?


I changed the substrate maybe once a year and also removed her old burrow in the process, basically forcing her to make a new home (the shame!). If it wasn't for the changing of substrate, she would [probably] have spent her entire life in the initial burrow. 

At one point I moved her to a mini Kritter Keeper, and [from what I recall] she did end up making two burrows in it, unlike the jar she was previously kept in. The substrate in the KK had a slight angle/slope to it (I guess I was trying to simulate a hill...), so I'm guessing this is what made her change her mind about the placement of the burrow. Did she move from the bottom of the slope and up to higher ground? Bah, I can't remember. Too long ago. I'm hoping to stumble upon any notes I might have made back then, but not likely to happen. 

Oh, and she was initially sold to me as a cryptic "Stasimopus sp." (S. robertsi looks fairly similar), but it was later established that Gorgyrella sp. was a more appropriate assumption. 

Sent from my GT-P5110 using Tapatalk HD

---------- Post added 03-07-2013 at 09:17 PM ----------

DanFekar here on the forums might be able to shed some light on the subject. We got our specimens from the same supplier back in the early 2000's. Here's a thread DanFekar made in 2004: http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=22706

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## Ambly (Apr 9, 2013)

Thanks, very helpful.

So the crickets did hatch and there are a buncha small nymphs.  I have put in some eggcrate so that they may climb on it and I may remove them.  A couple days after adding the egg crate, I noticed the spider out of it's hole.  It has been out for a few days now... could this be because of the crickets?  I am hesitant to rehome right away. 

If it stays out I guess I'll sex it.  Maybe it's a mature male.


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## Ambly (May 2, 2013)

Update:  My spider has still not dug it's burrow.  It has webbed the HELL out of one spot and seems to have created a small hole in the webbing, but it has been quite some time.  Still not rehoming, as the spider appears overall healthy and has eaten a small Madagascar hisser.

---------- Post added 05-02-2013 at 02:44 PM ----------

Would it have webbed up an area if it were a mature male?  I'd assume not and that it'd be roving a bit more.  Thoughts?


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## Ciphor (May 2, 2013)

Ambly said:


> Update:  My spider has still not dug it's burrow.  It has webbed the HELL out of one spot and seems to have created a small hole in the webbing, but it has been quite some time.  Still not rehoming, as the spider appears overall healthy and has eaten a small Madagascar hisser.
> 
> ---------- Post added 05-02-2013 at 02:44 PM ----------
> 
> Would it have webbed up an area if it were a mature male?  I'd assume not and that it'd be roving a bit more.  Thoughts?


If it is a mature male the palps will be quite easy to distinguish from a females. I have heard males are incredibly rare in the hobby however.


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## Ambly (May 2, 2013)

Good call.  I haven't heard that... any insight as to why?


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## Ciphor (May 2, 2013)

Ambly said:


> Good call.  I haven't heard that... any insight as to why?


A believe Idiopinae as a whole produces far more females then males. Don't quote me on that though ^_~

Most specimens found in the hobby are wild caught. They are a pretty plentiful trapdoor spider in Southern Africa.


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## Ambly (May 8, 2013)

Alright, so my spider has been unearthed for well over a month.  One area is kinda hollowed/halfpiped out against the wall and webbed up, but it has been for weeks.  It has eaten and appears healthy.  

My substrate is 70% peat based substrate and sand.  I wish now I used a soil mix.  Is it possible the spider does not like the substrate?  If you've read above, it took to a manmade hole.  Rehome and replace substrate or wait?  Thoughts?


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## spiderengineer (May 8, 2013)

I used peat moss and all my blacks made burrowers. so try that and see if that works


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## Ciphor (May 8, 2013)

Ambly said:


> Alright, so my spider has been unearthed for well over a month.  One area is kinda hollowed/halfpiped out against the wall and webbed up, but it has been for weeks.  It has eaten and appears healthy.
> 
> My substrate is 70% peat based substrate and sand.  I wish now I used a soil mix.  Is it possible the spider does not like the substrate?  If you've read above, it took to a manmade hole.  Rehome and replace substrate or wait?  Thoughts?


I recommend 70/30 peat/vermiculite. The vermic really helps the tall soil stay hydrated. Pure peat would probably be fine too. I would not recommend sand but I don't see why it would cause a rejection.

I personally would remove spider (its already stressed being out and about) and re-substrate with no sand. I would use a broom handle or something similar to make a deep burrow that the spider can just walk into and web up.

Maybe someone already asked this, but have you checked the pedipalps to see if this _is_ a mature male?


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## spiderengineer (May 8, 2013)

Ciphor said:


> Maybe someone already asked this, but have you checked the pedipalps to see if this _is_ a mature male?


the pic the op posted doesn't appear to be mature male.


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## Ciphor (May 8, 2013)

spiderengineer said:


> the pic the op posted doesn't appear to be mature male.


Ahh, probably externally hosted so I can't see it.


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## Ambly (May 9, 2013)

The spider is not mature, and I agree it is time to rehome.  I will do the peat/vermiculite mix - I have both on hand for my amblypygids as it is. 

Initially, I mixed a small bit of sand, maybe 1/15 cups, as suggestion of something I read keeping Gorgyrella, as well as some ground up dried leaves (very fine).  


I will let you all know how rehoming goes and the new susbstrate.


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## Ambly (May 20, 2013)

I rehomed my Gorgyrella 2 weeks ago in a peat, vermiculite mix with some dried, boiled, and baked live oak leaves.  I was hoping it would naturally dig, but a week and a half went by with no digging.  I added a cricket it hopes it would eat, as well as creating a manmade hole.  It has been over a month and a half since it surfaced and left it's burrow - it has been in a dark space most of this time.

I did all of this as minimally invasive as possible - though still fairly invasive.  Yesterday, I removed the cricket for obvious reasons and sacrificed it to an amblypygi.  Almost immediately after removing the cricket, the spider began moving more than I had ever seen it move - though not frantic movement.  I watched for the next hour as the spider roved around a bit, went in and out of the burrow, and by late that evening it had taken to the burrow.  This morning, the entrance has a good deal of webbing.  I'll take some photographs of the build process if possible.


This may be horribly uninteresting to you all - and let me know if it is.  I have been keeping herps my whole life but am new to spiders.  I have read no real observational accounts on these spiders other than "it's a pet hole."  This may be uninteresting or common knowledge, therefore not discussed.  I am soon receiving a cyclocosmia sling and am interested to see a life time observation of one of these spiders.


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## freedumbdclxvi (May 20, 2013)

If we found it boring, we wouldn't be here.    keep the updates coming.


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## Ambly (May 20, 2013)

Alright so a real update - but prefaced with a question.  *Who here has watched their trapdoor making it's trap door, digging, or doing anything other than feeding (please elaborate)?*  I have never witnessed any of the construction process from any of these spiders, nor pursewebs (soon to come and figure that would be one of the most fascinating parts of keeping them.  I don't know what people/scientific community/trade know about these spiders, and the information I have found is limited.  I have read some lit. on geographic distribution and different species.  Either way...

I went home for lunch and my trapdoor had built a lid.  The lid looked flimsy, mostly made of webbing and substrate, and a leaf loosely attached.  20 minutes later it had made some significant adjustments and I was able to capture some fairly decent video of the process.  Excuse the short periods of poor focus and when the spider is in the hole.

I suggest you do not enlarge the video for better quality.

Video 1, the spider is moving it's spinnerets along the lid. (around 25 seconds is best)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwfkWSc3Xlg&feature=youtu.be

Video 2, the spider seems to be almost folding, or pressing down on the entrance in areas it had previously webbed.  First it is adjusting the ground, then it is upsides down adjusting the lid.  The video is too poor to show it's chelicerae moving and all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_bsl13zqCc&feature=youtu.be

I find it interesting that all the time in the dark, it choose to build its door during the daylight.  As seen in the video, it is next to one of my dart frog tanks.

Thoughts?  Enjoy


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## spiderengineer (May 20, 2013)

Ambly said:


> Alright so a real update - but prefaced with a question.  *Who here has watched their trapdoor making it's trap door, digging, or doing anything other than feeding (please elaborate)?*


first Two videos of one mine digging its burrow. it was throwing dirt pretty hard 

[video=youtube;vznk-UBm_Hs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vznk-UBm_Hs[/video]

[video=youtube;kh3V5tBSSkM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh3V5tBSSkM[/video]

This is another one of mine I caught making the lid and closing the lid at the end, I had to use my phone for this one so it not the best quality.

[video=youtube;DZwmu16gnFk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZwmu16gnFk[/video]


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## akarikuragi (May 20, 2013)

Wow, I didn't know they could throw dirt like that! I couldn't help but laugh 'cause it almost seemed like it was throwing the dirt at you to get you to leave it alone. XD


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## spiderengineer (May 20, 2013)

akarikuragi said:


> Wow, I didn't know they could throw dirt like that! I couldn't help but laugh 'cause it almost seemed like it was throwing the dirt at you to get you to leave it alone. XD


I thought so to, but I could defenitly feel the impact of the dirt hitting me it was interesting to experience.


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## Ambly (May 21, 2013)

That was awesome.  I see your substrate is like a dense, moist humus.  The brand of peat I have is verrry milled and fine, and I cut it with vermiculite!  I think your substrate is more appropriate.  I have never seen this spider burrow nor have I been able to find any literature on how it does dig/excavate.  I can see that a substrate that is pliable to be made into little balls of dirt (peds? haha) may be much better.  If my spider resurfaces, I will consider a different substrate.  Absolutely awesome how it flicks the dirt away.  Sweet video - this is the kinda stuff I wanted to see shared.  I think videos, documentation - even in a rough, experimental way as mine posted in a thread - can be very helpful to those looking to keep these spiders healthy.  

Good to know for the incoming Cyclocosmia.  I have contacted some folks keeping them but received no response regarding substrate or specific living conditions.  My best bet would be to study the soils in their region.  In contrast with Gorgyrella and others, I believe there is some good literature publicly available regarding biology, distribution and soil types of the spider.  Probably because it is an interesting and potentially threatened species?

Intrigued to hear more of your experiences.  So far, I've had a lot more than pet dirt.  It's been a pretty cool thing to observe and learn about - exciting enough for someone who only spends a few short hours in the house awake to enjoy.


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## spiderengineer (May 22, 2013)

I used 100% sphagnum peat moss that I get at my local nursery. so nothing fancy I think its a commercial brand so you should be able to find it. the key to making it good for them and for  burrowers tarantula as well. Is to pack it down a lot and well and a saturate the soil. so that you that its like concrete before they are introduce into the enclosure. that's all I do and then just do what they naturally do.


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## Ambly (Oct 22, 2013)

to make this thread more useful for folks in the future:  

I bought a Ctenolophus/Gorgyrella/Black Trapdoor Spider that is common in the trade after doing some reading.  Take into account where you are getting your information, as little is available on trapdoors: where they are from, species, soil type, etc. and many folks just throw them into peat moss and their spider often rejects the hole or is a weak feeder.  My spider built a trapdoor, fed only occasionally and eventually rejected the hole.  After rehoming in a more soil like substrate, fit for digging, the spider built a hole and trapdoor.  It now feeds like an absolute beast - but taking occasional breaks that last up to several weeks.  It will show you when it is hungry by leaving the door cracked.  

My best advice:  find out what type of trapdoor spider you have, research as much as you can (google scholar/literature helps with locale/soil type if you can get genera on your spider), and find out what environment they live in.  Provide proper soil, slope if they use it, and leaf litter similar to native plants.

My spiders are active, making adjustments to their surroundings every few nights at least.  Some incorporate leaves into their lids, which they adjust frequently, and arrange them around the lid as feelers. 

While attempting to create realistic habitat can sometimes take away from the life of an animal in captivity, aiming for realistic habitat in trapdoors makes them much more enjoyable to keep.

I'll soon take some high def videos of my native Virginia trapdoor, Cyclocosmia torreya, and Ctenolophus sp.  Nothing like hearing the smack against the hard clay as the native one nails a cricket...

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