Appeal of Fossorial Ts & Trapdoor Spiders?

[NMTs]

A boatload of substrate but make sure it is safe for T's, a hide and some safe plants/safe fake plants for additional cover, starter burrow, water dish and you are set.

Placement of the starter burrow/hide is important - put it in a corner or at an angle to the side or corner, and your T will likely burrow right down the side of the enclosure where you can see them. Put a starter burrow smack in the middle, and you may not see your T until they hit the bottom and start going sideways. Also, remember that all the substrate they excavate will have to go somewhere, so use an enclosure that's deep enough to allow for deep sub but also more sub piled up on the surface. Some will stack it all the way up to the lid.

 

[l4nsky]

That would be a great addition - Ceratogyrus are awesome. Mine have grown fast, so getting a sling shouldn't really be a problem. My adult female C. darlingi doesn't really act fossorial, though - she's got plenty of sub to burrow in, but she prefers to stay in her web castle on the surface. She's got a shallow burrow that she'll retreat into if I'm really annoying her, but otherwise she's out and about.

0.1 Ceratogyrus darlingi - 4.25" DLS

• NMTs
• Mar 6, 2023
• baboon spider ceratogyrus ceratogyrus darlingi darlingi horned

Freshly molted and looking amazing. Her name is Saturn.

You could also check out the Chilobrachys species (C. natanicharum for example), and many other Asian genus are fossorial (Haplopelma, Cyriopagopus, Haploclastus, Citharognathus, etc.). Lots of the African genus tend to be fossorial, as well, like Pelinobius muticus, Augacephalus, Harpactira, Pterinochilus, and Hysterocrates. From the new world, there are things like Ephebopus, Cyriocosmus, Euthycaelus, and Megaphobema that all have fossorial tendencies. So, lots to choose from, it really just depends on what you like.

After finally getting a Chilobrachys spp myself, reading in the paper describing C. natanicharum how the type habitat was hollow trees in a mangrove forest, and knowing of at least one species adapted to living in stony cliffs, I'm not too convinced Chilobrachys can be lumped into the obligate fossorial category too easily anymore lol.

 

[NMTs]

After finally getting a Chilobrachys spp myself, reading in the paper describing C. natanicharum how the type habitat was hollow trees in a mangrove forest, and knowing of at least one species adapted to living in stony cliffs, I'm not too convinced Chilobrachys can be lumped into the obligate fossorial category too easily anymore lol.

We'll have to create another type - terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal, and dead-log-in-mangrove-forest. Just to prevent any confusion.

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

When you see them fully out of their burrow, it’s like being a kid that snuck out of bed and caught Santa Claus

 

[FlamingSwampert]

I absolutely love fossorial T's and I cannot be swayed. When they are out of their burrows it is a treat and there are quite a few that are really nice to look at. My OBT is one of my favourite T's to see.

OBTs are fossorials? I've heard people calling them semi-arboreal! I guess their behavior depends on the amount of substrate provided?

 

[FlamingSwampert]

Placement of the starter burrow/hide is important - put it in a corner or at an angle to the side or corner, and your T will likely burrow right down the side of the enclosure where you can see them. Put a starter burrow smack in the middle, and you may not see your T until they hit the bottom and start going sideways. Also, remember that all the substrate they excavate will have to go somewhere, so use an enclosure that's deep enough to allow for deep sub but also more sub piled up on the surface. Some will stack it all the way up to the lid.

I'm thinking of making the surface sloped and putting the starter burrow in the more elevated corner. I image as they excavate, the removed substrate will go to the other side and even out the top.

 

[kingshockey]

I'm thinking of making the surface sloped and putting the starter burrow in the more elevated corner. I image as they excavate, the removed substrate will go to the other side and even out the top.

nope it will pprobably dump the dirt right into the water dish causing you to clean it everyday atleast thats what my fossorials always did minus what is used to plug the burrow entrance up

 

[FlamingSwampert]

nope it will pprobably dump the dirt right into the water dish causing you to clean it everyday atleast thats what my fossorials always did minus what is used to plug the burrow entrance up

Lol my vinegaroon has packed so much dirt into int's water dish when I clean it the dirt looks like a compacted brick, so I know the feeling. It must be something to do with a concern with standing water being so close to their burrow (maybe they think it's a part of a stream, idk). Once I had an idea to elevate the water dish a bit off the floor like for an arboreal (only for ts though because vinegaroons can't climb enclosure walls), but with my luck it'll build a mound up to the water dish so it can more easily cover it in dirt.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Lol my vinegaroon has packed so much dirt into int's water dish when I clean it the dirt looks like a compacted brick, so I know the feeling. It must be something to do with a concern with standing water being so close to their burrow (maybe they think it's a part of a stream, idk). Once I had an idea to elevate the water dish a bit off the floor like for an arboreal (only for ts though because vinegaroons can't climb enclosure walls), but with my luck it'll build a mound up to the water dish so it can more easily cover it in dirt.

Aphonopelma seemanni buried it were I could not remove without collapsing the burrow.

 

[FlamingSwampert]

Aphonopelma seemanni buried it were I could not remove without collapsing the burrow. View attachment 463111

Don't worry, your t is now a civil engineer

 

[NMTs]

Here's a good example of what a fossorial spider can do in a short amount of time. This isn't a tarantula, it's my Liphistius cf yangae "Suwat" trapdoor spider, but it is as fossorial as they come.

You can see the burrow in the bottom right corner of the enclosure:


On the other end, you can see all the substrate it's piled up as it digs the burrow (the red line is the level of the substrate before I put the spider in there):


From the side - the trapdoor/burrow entrance is towards the top right:


From the top, trapdoor is in the circle:


And a bonus shot of the spider in its burrow:


Just thought this would be a good example of how you can set up an enclosure for a fossorial species that allows you to see it even when it's underground. It made it's burrow and trapdoor in the starter burrow I made, angled down to the corner - so it is right where I wanted it to be.

 

[CrazyOrnithoctonineGuy]

After finally getting a Chilobrachys spp myself, reading in the paper describing C. natanicharum how the type habitat was hollow trees in a mangrove forest, and knowing of at least one species adapted to living in stony cliffs, I'm not too convinced Chilobrachys can be lumped into the obligate fossorial category too easily anymore lol.

While Chilobrachys are pretty adaptable, all of mine (including three C. natanicharum) have consistently shown fossorial tendencies, with my recently rehoused "Kaeng Krachan" juveniles probably being the most persistently fossorial.

 

[Stu Macher]

Lol I agree 100%. I'm not even into brachys that much but I bought a B Boehmei sling. For 2 months (you read correctly) it was burrowed, entrance sealed. No feeding response. Nothing. I let them be but changed the water routinely. I thought they may have been in premolt initially, nonetheless I let them be, figuring they'd eventually be hungry and venture to the top. Recently I saw an opening at the top of the burrow. I placed a wax worm near the entrance. Checked an hour later and it was gone (Thank God)

My P irminia makes more appearances than that thing. Buying a species that does that for a living... That's a hard pass, but to each their own I guess.

 

[FlamingSwampert]

Here's a good example of what a fossorial spider can do in a short amount of time. This isn't a tarantula, it's my Liphistius cf yangae "Suwat" trapdoor spider, but it is as fossorial as they come.

You can see the burrow in the bottom right corner of the enclosure:
View attachment 463113

On the other end, you can see all the substrate it's piled up as it digs the burrow (the red line is the level of the substrate before I put the spider in there):
View attachment 463114

From the side - the trapdoor/burrow entrance is towards the top right:
View attachment 463115

From the top, trapdoor is in the circle:
View attachment 463116

And a bonus shot of the spider in its burrow:
View attachment 463117

Just thought this would be a good example of how you can set up an enclosure for a fossorial species that allows you to see it even when it's underground. It made it's burrow and trapdoor in the starter burrow I made, angled down to the corner - so it is right where I wanted it to be.

Are the air holes below the substrate critical? I was looking at some fossorial enclosures from tarantula cribs but they don't have holes there... is that a bad thing? I'd also be worried about substrate spilling out if the enclosure got bumped, but maybe they're important because it ensures proper airflow?

 

[SpookySpooder]

Proper airflow is necessary for all moisture dependent fossorial species, so I'd say vents at substrate and at chamber level are necessary to promote healthy airflow and discourage fungi and mold.

 

[NMTs]

Are the air holes below the substrate critical? I was looking at some fossorial enclosures from tarantula cribs but they don't have holes there... is that a bad thing? I'd also be worried about substrate spilling out if the enclosure got bumped, but maybe they're important because it ensures proper airflow?

It depends on what you're keeping. For my fossorials that don't require much moisture in the substrate, then I don't worry too much about vents down low, but as @SpookySpooder mentioned, the more moisture, the more important ventilation becomes. It serves 2 purposes for me - the air is allowed to flow through the moist substrate and therefore increases relative humidity (think of an evaporative humidifier), while also preventing the substrate from becoming stagnant and dank. The holes also allow me to inject water directly into the lower levels of the substrate without having to flood the top, which is also great for providing drinking water for a T that's down deep in a burrow.

A little substrate falls out, but it's not too bad. Honestly, my bulldozing terrestrial species spill more sub out of their enclosures than the fossorials.

 

[SpookySpooder]

Just to add to what NMTs said about substrate falling through the vents... in my limited experience, my fossorials tend to web up their main chamber anyway, and will often plug over the vents with a thin layer of silk, this will prevent substrate from falling out but also restrict airflow a bit. I poke through the silk lining to add water directly to the bottom levels, and nothing more than a few flecks of dirt have fallen through.

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

If mine are moist enough to need vents, soil isn’t falling out (except when injecting water with a blunt tip syringe)

 

[IntermittentSygnal]

Are the air holes below the substrate critical? I was looking at some fossorial enclosures from tarantula cribs but they don't have holes there... is that a bad thing? I'd also be worried about substrate spilling out if the enclosure got bumped, but maybe they're important because it ensures proper airflow?

I’ve added substrate level air holes to all the T cribs I’ve had. Not a fan of their hole size on larger enclosures nor lack of lower level vents.

 

[curtisgiganteus]

Because early in the morning, every once in a while, I see things like this.