# Bothriocyrtum californicum enclosure WIP



## Smokehound714 (Jun 18, 2013)

The past few days of watching my trapdoor spider have given me more insight on them..

  At first I had her housed in a plastic container, however she started behaving abnormally, so now I'm emulating her habitat, and moved her into a 10 gallon aquarium.


   I've learned that a 100% vertical burrow makes these spiders uncomfortable, come to think of it, i dont think I've even seen a vertical burrow made by this species, so I'm making her enclosure more like a slope. 

 I'm working on the slope first, then I'll add the rest of the sub as i go.  She definitely appreciated it, went to webbing the sides of the hole immediately, even whilst tamping the sides of her slope.


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## vukic (Jun 18, 2013)

Is that just plain damp sand or did you "add" to it so it keeps its shape??

Tiger

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## stewstew8282 (Jun 18, 2013)

Very interesting, 1st trapdoor I've seen NOT housed in a round "won ton soup" type plastic container. It makes sense making a slope, nothing in nature is completely flat. And hey as long as its happy...nice work man.

Do you plan to "decorate" the rest of the tank? If for nothing else but aesthetics. That empty space would drive me nuts..lol.


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## Smokehound714 (Jun 18, 2013)

The substrate is a clay-dominant mix of sand and silt.

  This species highly favors clay, while they can still make burrows in compressed sand, they prefer clay.

  She reacted positively to the slope, immediately began feeling around, almost as if she were saying 'very nice!'.


 I'm going to recreate her habitat, I was thinking of adding dudleya, however that requires ample sunlight..

 It might be difficult finding native plants that tolerate indoor conditions..


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## josh_r (Jun 19, 2013)

it is really not that hard so set up a naturalistic vivarium with live plants.... even natives. The most important part will be air circulation and GOOD lighting. Using native substrate, a loamy clay/ sand mix would be best. Collect some from the site you collected her from. Native mosses and plants will sprout from the soil and you will get results very similar to one I made here http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/sho...-communal-setup&highlight=liphistius+communal

I lived in Arizona when I made this and the soil, plants, moss, wood was all native to Arizona. Socal stuff will do this same thing. Good luck man.

Josh


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## Smokehound714 (Jun 19, 2013)

The problem is the plants for her habitat (where I collected her) do not tolerate anything other than full sun.

  I can still make it look natural without plants, no biggie.

   I gotta get some of that awesome soil from her area


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## josh_r (Jun 20, 2013)

Smokehound714 said:


> The problem is the plants for her habitat (where I collected her) do not tolerate anything other than full sun.
> 
> I can still make it look natural without plants, no biggie.
> 
> I gotta get some of that awesome soil from her area


You would be surprised at what you can grow under a good set of lights. The plants in the vivarium I linked you to are sonoran desert species that are accustomed to FULL sun all day long.... They grew very very nicely under my lights. Just gotta get a good lumen output


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## Smokehound714 (Jun 20, 2013)

I'm actually seeking to emulate Xeric habitat.  The plants i want do not do well indoors at all, unless I use high-powered lights.  Compact fluoros are worthless for some of the species i wish to add, like Dudleya sp, which hate moisture, and require hot full sun, the only real moisture they rely on is fog during the morning.  I cannot place the tank near a window for obvious reasons.

  Bothriocyrtum doesn't like too much moisture, either, which is why i'm not using ferns or mosses.


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## josh_r (Jun 20, 2013)

Smokehound714 said:


> I'm actually seeking to emulate Xeric habitat.  The plants i want do not do well indoors at all, unless I use high-powered lights.  Compact fluoros are worthless for some of the species i wish to add, like Dudleya sp, which hate moisture, and require hot full sun, the only real moisture they rely on is fog during the morning.  I cannot place the tank near a window for obvious reasons.
> 
> Bothriocyrtum doesn't like too much moisture, either, which is why i'm not using ferns or mosses.


You is you can simulate the same xeric habitat and grow the same plants that are found there with great results in an aquarium.... I only say this because I have a LOT of experience doing it! 6 years spent in Arizona growing native plants in aquariums. I also took several trips a year to the San Diego area to herp. I have kept many B. californicum, even in communal setups and I have grown plants from that same xeric habitat in vivariums. You cannot tell me it won't work... because I have already done it my friend.  

As far as Bothriocyrtum not liking moisture... I have found them in a low, flat area next to a creek that regularly becomes saturated (not flooded) due to the rising creek every winter. They can handle more moisture than you think. Air flow is the key.

I looked at your pictures of the habitat. You should be able to find several species of moss, ferns, and other plants in that habitat that will do just fine in a vivarium. And if you are using the common compact fluorescents from any hardware store or grocery store... no wonder your plants are dying.... you need a high output system. 5000 to 6500k bulbs work just fine. You need high lumen output. Go to any hydroponic shop and they should have simple, single bulb HO-T5 lights for orchids and cacti around $50 or so. You can also find them on ebay for really cheap. These lights are nice and you can daisy chain them together. 

Anyway, whatever you end up doing, good luck! I am sure you will do just fine! 

---------- Post added 06-20-2013 at 11:09 AM ----------

Oh, there are pretty descent LED floodlights for sale on Ebay regularly that work well. There are 10w, 20w, 30w, 50w, 70w, 100w... and so on... a 70 or 100w unit would probably grow them very well. I have no personal experience with these lights (only T8 and T5 for me), but a good friend of mine does and he says they work great. Also, there is www.lightyourreptiles.com . They sell LED bulbs that screw into a regular socket and people claim to get  really good results from these bulbs. They also sell the single bulb HO-T5 fixtures for under $50. Worth looking into.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Smokehound714 (Jun 23, 2013)

Thank you for the advice.  I'll definitely keep that in mind for my next enclosure.


  I'm about half-way done, now.














 Looks more natural, now

Reactions: Like 1


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## josh_r (Jun 23, 2013)

That is a great looking foundation! I like the soil you used from the site. It looks very good. I look forward to seeing this finished!

JOsh


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## Ambly (Aug 23, 2013)

any updates here?


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## catfishrod69 (Aug 23, 2013)

You know what would be awesome? Is to add alot more burrowing space all over the enclosure, and add more spiders 1 at a time. Then you could have a communal, and you know they would never come in contact with eachother. Unless you happen to get a male that matures and goes wandering around looking for a mate, and then that would be really neat.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Ambly (Aug 25, 2013)

^^ that would be sweet.  Plan on doing it for the Ummidia sp.  Looks awesome, how did the spider take to it?


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## Smokehound714 (Aug 26, 2013)

I had to demolish this, the spider was not happy in that slope.  Im going to redo this, I actually DID plan on a communal, this time, I've going to wait for her to finish her new burrow, then I'm going to slide the entire contents out and into the tank, then I'm going to fill around it, and redo it again.


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## josh_r (Sep 9, 2013)

One word of advice.... Use a more loamy clay soil and moisten it just enough that it doesn't compact too much when squeezed. You want the soil to be light and airy. Give her a nice deep layer that slopes gently from back to front. Make a few starter burrows and put her in there... let her choose which burrow she wants and she will easily be able to modify it with this type of soil. The stuff you had before looks very thick and compacted.

Reactions: Like 1


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## dtknow (Sep 9, 2013)

Thats what there natural habitat looks like though Josh.

I do wonder if something is missing though. I have had a female for several months using natural soil-with a very high clay content. She has not constructed a door to her burrow-only walled off the top with silk which then completely seals her in under the dirt. I've re opened the hole several times to no avail.


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## Ambly (Sep 9, 2013)

I'd leave her alone, let her stay walled off.  Whatever she is doing, I doubt she is trying to kill herself - could be soon for a molt.  Mine will not feed until I see them with the door visibly cracked - they feed often and heavily for a few weeks, then stop for a few.

If you really think your setup for her is inappropriate and not suitable for her to be healthy, you may want to consider rehoming her... and once you do, leave her be.  Let her do whatever she needs to do and I hope she'll do what trapdoors do.  It took my black a while - I have a thread about my experience - mine wouldn't burrow for a while and came back up.

Keep her in something as big as you can, as deep as you can, and provide her native substrate and plenty of leaf litter if that is typical.  I water mine as well.  I mist, but also spray (pressure sprayer allows for fine, but not hard stream) around the edges.  Is the substrate the consistency as you find in the wild?  It is likely they build their burrows during the wetter parts of the season, when they can actually manipulate the substrate.  I believe this is why they choose soils with clay content.

I've considered keeping them with a very small drainage layer - hydroton, screen, substrate - and begin with a bit of water - pending I am using deep substrate.  The water level would not touch the substrate, but keep humidity.

Let us know what you do and your success.


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## josh_r (Sep 15, 2013)

dtknow said:


> Thats what there natural habitat looks like though Josh.
> 
> I do wonder if something is missing though. I have had a female for several months using natural soil-with a very high clay content. She has not constructed a door to her burrow-only walled off the top with silk which then completely seals her in under the dirt. I've re opened the hole several times to no avail.


I'm sorry, but your setup is not what their natural habitat looks like. And you may be using clay from their natural habitat, but the clay substrate will not act the same in your enclosure vs in nature. It will compact much more in your viv.  This is why i suggested that you mix other ingredients into your soil to lighten it up a little and make it a little more loamy. I have been keeping many trapdoor spiders for 12 years now, B. californicum included.. I only say this to you becuase I have noticed the same behavior when soil conditions are not accurate. Once this is fixed, I had noticed a serious improvement in behavior. Check out my old ass posts here...


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## Smokehound714 (Sep 24, 2013)

Here's a little update..

   I have been learning alot about this species.  If you want them to make a door, leave a generous amount of loose substrate around the hole you make for them.  


   I have since switched to the substrate formula I used for my solifugae, and she liked it just fine.  (a wee bit more clay, actually, but not so much that it becomes rock hard)


  Make a long, deep tunnel for her.  A normal steak knife is fine, just pack the sub down, then drill into it until you hit the bottom, then take the knife out, and put it back in handle-first (careful not to cut yourself!), all the way to the bottom, and give it a few twists, using a couple of fingers to hold down the substrate. Smoothly remove the knife, and try your hardest to get her into the burrow abdomen-first!

  If you want them more comfortable, make the longest tunnel you can.    Also, as stated above, leave a fair amount of loose substrate near the hole.  The spider will use this to make her door.

  I was having problems with mine making proper doors until I noticed her using the loose soil to make her door.  Without loose substrate available, she'll just make a pure silk door, doesn't have the same feel. lool   One word of caution-  once she makes the door, DO NOT OPEN IT.  Damaging it in any way will cause her to discard or make a second door underneath.


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