Bothriocyrtum californicum (California Trapdoor Spider)

[Harmonicon]

Hey all, I recently won a Bothriocyrtum californicum sling from a raffle. I have not taken care of spiders (or tarantulas) before and I have a few questions on the care of this species.

1. What is an appropriate enclosure size? I have 8 oz, 16 oz, and 32 oz deli cups. They all have the same base diameter, just different heights.

2. What substrate should I use? I have Eco-Earth coconut fiber, excavator clay, and play sand. Would any of these work?

3. How moist should I keep the enclosure & substrate?

4. How often should I feed this species from sling to adult?

Thank you, and any other advice would be appreciated

 

[Scp682]

They like deep, damp, substrate of fine silt/mud, although coco fiber/reptisoil/any other sub will do. How big is it? Pics? Again they need deep sub so the 32oz would work until it's big enough for an adult enclosure. I'm guessing it's fairly small so a tall vial will do until it's big enough for the 32oz. Once a week is good, watch the abdomen size if you can but like any trapdoor they're pet holes, very reclusive.

 

[Harmonicon]

They like deep, damp, substrate of fine silt/mud, although coco fiber/reptisoil/any other sub will do. How big is it? Pics? Again they need deep sub so the 32oz would work until it's big enough for an adult enclosure. I'm guessing it's fairly small so a tall vial will do until it's big enough for the 32oz. Once a week is good, watch the abdomen size if you can but like any trapdoor they're pet holes, very reclusive.

Thanks for the response! I have not received the specimen yet so I cannot provide photos, sorry!

 

[RezonantVoid]

Id thoroughly recommend against using peat moss/cocofibre of any kind when housing trapdoors, especially this species. I have some tips for flat ground species, I'll share some soon when I'm on lunch break

 

[Scp682]

Thanks for the response! I have not received the specimen yet so I cannot provide photos, sorry!

Ok, definitely talk to rezonantvoid, very knowledgeable and experienced with mygos and sub and whatnot.

 

[Scorpiobsession]

I've heard that it's good to provide trapdoors with slanted substrate to mimic the wild environment.

 

[RezonantVoid]

First off, you have my commendation for getting a trapdoor! I'm not sure if this is your first one or not, but if so I can guarantee you will enjoy it. Now Bothriocyrtum californicum is to the best of my knowledge a dry zone species that seems to be pretty variable with burrow locations, some being on flat ground and others on a slope or clay/loam wall. To me this matches pretty closely with our native Idiopid genus Blakistonia, a predominantly arid zone group that is most commonly seen in the drier parts of South Australia.




They will construct relatively thick plug lids with silk and soil, sometimes decorating them with peculiar notches in the sides or adorning them with leaves.



For substrate, I highly suggest using something either clay or loam based for the best results. Clay mix can be purchased online in the form of clay clumping kitty litter, which can be moistened and then mixed with desert sand to achieve a suitable consistency (generally the texture I go for is a mix that is malleable when lightly squeezed, but that doesn't stick to your finger when poked. This will ensure the mix does not get stuck to the spiders fangs/chelicerae).

In my honest opinion and experience, the best base material you can use is just natural soil similar to what they live in. I regularly use wild clay/loam, never bake it, and havnt once had issues with mold or nematodes (baking as a precaution is always welcomed though). I get bucketloads of this sort of loamy soil from excess piles on the job sites I work on. I mix it with a bit of red desert sand in order to dry it out slightly, it holds its shape well and has great structural integrity compared to what most other people use.



Here's the end result of a few recent arid zone setups for Blakistonia and Anamidae, both of which use clay or loam. They are supposed to mimic the cluttered busy look of a dry bushland.



Here's some Blakistonia settled into such setups with functional burrows. They are clay ones, but with a 2mm layer of peat moss on top as decoration. For something like this, in a setup around 150-200mm tall and 120-150mm wide, I'd suggest adding a 20mm drainage layer of 50:50 peat and sand mix at the base to stop moisture building up at the bottom.




The main reason I recommend going the extra mile for these guys has to do with the above mentioned structural integrity. I've had alot of lid makers on peat setups, almost every time they end up constantly remaking the lids every few months and wandering around looking for a more ideal burrow location. They take weeks to settle in compared the hours or minutes it takes when using a substrate they naturally prefer. You can also build clay wall setups to house some of the more interesting species that normally just do not work with peat/cocofibre, and grow plants/moss way better in bioactive setups (provided a false bottom is installed) on clay.

For watering, in this kind of setup you should almost never have to water unless the clay starts to set hard which isn't very often unless there's too much ventilation.

For feeding, there's no real schedule to stick to, I spoil my slings and feed them up to twice a week initially to get them growing a bit quicker.

Hope this may help out a bit!

 

[Harmonicon]

First off, you have my commendation for getting a trapdoor! I'm not sure if this is your first one or not, but if so I can guarantee you will enjoy it. Now Bothriocyrtum californicum is to the best of my knowledge a dry zone species that seems to be pretty variable with burrow locations, some being on flat ground and others on a slope or clay/loam wall. To me this matches pretty closely with our native Idiopid genus Blakistonia, a predominantly arid zone group that is most commonly seen in the drier parts of South Australia.

View attachment 392138
View attachment 392139

They will construct relatively thick plug lids with silk and soil, sometimes decorating them with peculiar notches in the sides or adorning them with leaves.
View attachment 392136
View attachment 392137

For substrate, I highly suggest using something either clay or loam based for the best results. Clay mix can be purchased online in the form of clay clumping kitty litter, which can be moistened and then mixed with desert sand to achieve a suitable consistency (generally the texture I go for is a mix that is malleable when lightly squeezed, but that doesn't stick to your finger when poked. This will ensure the mix does not get stuck to the spiders fangs/chelicerae).

In my honest opinion and experience, the best base material you can use is just natural soil similar to what they live in. I regularly use wild clay/loam, never bake it, and havnt once had issues with mold or nematodes (baking as a precaution is always welcomed though). I get bucketloads of this sort of loamy soil from excess piles on the job sites I work on. I mix it with a bit of red desert sand in order to dry it out slightly, it holds its shape well and has great structural integrity compared to what most other people use.

View attachment 392140

Here's the end result of a few recent arid zone setups for Blakistonia and Anamidae, both of which use clay or loam. They are supposed to mimic the cluttered busy look of a dry bushland.
View attachment 392134
View attachment 392135

Here's some Blakistonia settled into such setups with functional burrows. They are clay ones, but with a 2mm layer of peat moss on top as decoration. For something like this, in a setup around 150-200mm tall and 120-150mm wide, I'd suggest adding a 20mm drainage layer of 50:50 peat and sand mix at the base to stop moisture building up at the bottom.
View attachment 392141
View attachment 392143
View attachment 392142

The main reason I recommend going the extra mile for these guys has to do with the above mentioned structural integrity. I've had alot of lid makers on peat setups, almost every time they end up constantly remaking the lids every few months and wandering around looking for a more ideal burrow location. They take weeks to settle in compared the hours or minutes it takes when using a substrate they naturally prefer. You can also build clay wall setups to house some of the more interesting species that normally just do not work with peat/cocofibre, and grow plants/moss way better in bioactive setups (provided a false bottom is installed) on clay.

For watering, in this kind of setup you should almost never have to water unless the clay starts to set hard which isn't very often unless there's too much ventilation.

For feeding, there's no real schedule to stick to, I spoil my slings and feed them up to twice a week initially to get them growing a bit quicker.

Hope this may help out a bit!

Wow, thank you RezonantVoid for such an in-depth care guide! This will help me a lot on setting up their enclosure

Oh wait, is it fine if I start feeding it right away, or do I wait until it makes its burrow? Will feeding before it makes its door stress it out?

 

[Buggylookslikeyou]

Hey all, I recently won a Bothriocyrtum californicum sling from a raffle. I have not taken care of spiders (or tarantulas) before and I have a few questions on the care of this species.

1. What is an appropriate enclosure size? I have 8 oz, 16 oz, and 32 oz deli cups. They all have the same base diameter, just different heights.

2. What substrate should I use? I have Eco-Earth coconut fiber, excavator clay, and play sand. Would any of these work?

3. How moist should I keep the enclosure & substrate?

4. How often should I feed this species from sling to adult?

Thank you, and any other advice would be appreciated

Use the smaller 8oz as they grow move them up in size. Nix the substrate for now but from personal experience the coconut molds my brother in law had to clean out two enclosures with severe mold. You can order real moss for cheap or grab yourself some wood shavings like they use in the wax worms. Or you can cut paper towel to fit in the cup wet and ring out that’s what I’m using in my Cinnabon enclosure while she’s on her second clutch. I even seen one woman use the tangle branch and cut it up small like that come in the Josh’s frogs fruit flies also check out Josh’s frogs if you do it through Amazon it comes quick anything you order and there’s a live feeder promise so you can’t get screwed. Feed every one to three days but as they get older they can last up to a month and the more you feed them the quicker they grow abs subsequently pass.

 

[RezonantVoid]

Wow, thank you RezonantVoid for such an in-depth care guide! This will help me a lot on setting up their enclosure

Oh wait, is it fine if I start feeding it right away, or do I wait until it makes its burrow? Will feeding before it makes its door stress it out?

Feed it once while it's still in its transport cup, then I'd wait until after it has setup the burrow. Slings set up pretty quickly and are often hunting within 24 hours of introduction

 

[Harmonicon]

Hey @RezonantVoid one more question about the kitty litter you mentioned; is there a specific type of clay clumping litter? Does Boxiecat's litter work on Amazon? Thanks

 

[RezonantVoid]

Hey @RezonantVoid one more question about the kitty litter you mentioned; is there a specific type of clay clumping litter? Does Boxiecat's litter work on Amazon? Thanks

Any type can work, the end consistency is the main thing that is important. Uploading a video for my YT channel tonight that shows how I prep loam for Anamids, but I'll be doing plenty of clay tutorials in the coming weeks. You could temporarily house it in peat moss and sand and experiment with clay a bit first before making a proper setup for it if you wish

 

[Harmonicon]

Any type can work, the end consistency is the main thing that is important. Uploading a video for my YT channel tonight that shows how I prep loam for Anamids, but I'll be doing plenty of clay tutorials in the coming weeks. You could temporarily house it in peat moss and sand and experiment with clay a bit first before making a proper setup for it if you wish

Oh, I didn't know you had a YouTube channel! What's the channel name? I would love to check out your videos for some info.

 

[RezonantVoid]

Oh, I didn't know you had a YouTube channel! What's the channel name? I would love to check out your videos for some info.

It's very new and I'm still pretty inexperienced with film and editing, but getting the hang of it one video at a time. Here it is

https://youtube.com/channel/UCAXpQbuEbDO9FVBfxBiVJtg