E.Variabilis building a lid (GIF)
@50centipede extremely. First up, hardly anyone owns these compared to other spiders. Secondly, they only do it once. And finally, they only do it in pitch black night. I've never witnessed any ofine do it until last night
 
Do you have any photos of the finished product by any chance?
My son bought one of these from the local pet store in Brisbane and it came in an old candle jar which i thought was far to small so I rehoused it in a deeper jar but it seems to have burrowed but webbed over it's hole and i haven't seen it for about a week and it wont take food.
 
Do you have any photos of the finished product by any chance?
My son bought one of these from the local pet store in Brisbane and it came in an old candle jar which i thought was far to small so I rehoused it in a deeper jar but it seems to have burrowed but webbed over it's hole and i haven't seen it for about a week and it wont take food.
Not on me right now, as ive just packed every single one of my specimens away for a house move. However, i believe i have another GIF somewhere in my gallery of this specific one capturing food from its burrow and lid.

This is an extremely shy species and a fussy eater too. Some individuals eat anything, others only take small crickets after 24 hours even as adults. Your best bet is drilling a hole in its container lid and carefully dropping the cricket in. Picking up the container and opening the lid is more than enough to scare them from eating for hours
 
This is the new container I have moved it to as the other one was half the size and the spider was constantly moving around so i assumed it was looking for a new home?
I am worried maybe this is also to small or do you think it is ok? Its roughly 100mmx100mm wide and 200mm deep.
It has webbed up alot of the surface but doesnt seem to have made a lid as you can see in the picture above.
Its such a beautiful spider I just want to make sure we're doing the right thing looking after it.

Thank you for your quick response its much appreciated
 
This is the new container I have moved it to as the other one was half the size and the spider was constantly moving around so i assumed it was looking for a new home?
I am worried maybe this is also to small or do you think it is ok? Its roughly 100mmx100mm wide and 200mm deep.
It has webbed up alot of the surface but doesnt seem to have made a lid as you can see in the picture above.
Its such a beautiful spider I just want to make sure we're doing the right thing looking after it.

Thank you for your quick response its much appreciated
Happy to help ;) this setup is still probably not ideal, Variabilis actually prefers to dig on a more horizontal/diagonal direction instead of vertically, if you ever visit Mt Tamborine you can see them on the side of slopes and hills next to bushwalks. My personal reccomendation is always the 2.5L SISTEMA cubic containers, they have a decent amount of space for the spider to burrow around. I compact rhe substrate and put it up to about 5cm below the lid, and angle it where possible to create a slope for the spider to dig into. Usually this and some decorations will serve the spider perfectly and you can expect a lid in weeks time
 
Ok cool thanks heaps for all the info. I have another container that might be more suitable to set up the angular slope for it then hopefully its a bit happier in there. I live not too far from tambourine so ill have to go check it out and see the habitats and try to recreate the new setup.

Thanks again,

Sam
 
Ok cool thanks heaps for all the info. I have another container that might be more suitable to set up the angular slope for it then hopefully its a bit happier in there. I live not too far from tambourine so ill have to go check it out and see the habitats and try to recreate the new setup.

Thanks again,

Sam
You can find them in the botanical gardens over the wooden bridge where the small rock retaining walls are, and a few of the less busy walking tracks. Theres one where they are almost every 2 metres but i forgot the name of the track. Best of luck! In the next few weeks im making an advanced trapdoor keeper guide on here so ill link that here once its done
 
Yeah cool my young fella will enjoy going out for a look. That would be handy having a look at that guide when you release it im keen to have a look. We only have the 2 trapdoors at the moment but theres plenty around where we live. The other trapdoor we have seems happy in it's current setup so I'm not too worried but a good guide will be really handy for future reference cheers
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