Bothriocyrtum californicum

[buthus]

Decided to try and coax my trap out of her burrow.
Few reasons ...one, I have not seen her eat for some time and I can see that she has no young, so I figured it was time for an inspection. Two, I want to know how to take care of this animal...that includes learning how to manipulate it out, how it handles and how it will react when reintroduced to her burrow...etc. Since collecting the little darling, I have only seen her a few times without prying and lighting ...and those were split second sightings.
Three, I of course am always interested in documenting my inverts ...inverts fun, photography fun ..double fun. ...and maybe useful. :thumbleft: This is a pet that one needs a photo taped to its enclosure just so you can say..."well , this is what it looks like." :cyclopsani:

I used an altered (bent) artist paintbrush to gently irritate the trap out of her hole. Took a few trys ...very stubborn.

Jacob (pulk) gave me some slings which was very cool. This gives me the opportunity to watch some grow to maturity, make traps, etc.. Super!
Heres one of the little ones hanging with her ...hmmm...maybe auntie.

OK ...trust me, if I could have captured the details of how a trapdoor spider opens her closed trap from the outside... There would be a b*ttload of sequential images showing just that. But, she walked over her trap a few times and mostly curled up in a corner of her the tank. I suppose eventually she would have entered her burrow on her own, but I had her out for a night and into the next day..too long..too much stress. So, I opened the trap and got her to walk up to it. She didn't react right away, but after a few minutes she climbed in and hopefully today she is happy/comfy again.

This is probably the most docile spider I have ever played with. Millipedes have given me more trouble. :? I tried to get it to bite (short of hurting it in any way) and I could barely provoke a threat display.
I was able to touch its fangs ...you could do dental work on this spider.

 

[Vietnamese510]

t

thats really cool i got 3 from him as well the little small ones and they are eating bits of smashed crickets
=]

Nice spider tho!

 

[bistrobob85]

I feel like i just saw someone putting his head in an alligator's mouth...

You seem to know what you're doing, but a mistake can be pretty bad. I'm no trapdoor spider specialist but isnt their venom very strong?

I'm very impressed with the handling session and the nice pics, but you should add a little comment so that kids don't try to do it at home .

phil.

 

[froggyman]

i dont belive b.californicum is that strong probably about simaler to a native tarantula or so

 

[buthus]

I feel like i just saw someone putting his head in an alligator's mouth...

You seem to know what you're doing, but a mistake can be pretty bad. I'm no trapdoor spider specialist but isnt their venom very strong?

I'm very impressed with the handling session and the nice pics, but you should add a little comment so that kids don't try to do it at home .

phil.

More like putting head within tongue reach of slightly sedated puppy.

but..yeah, Im with ya. ..so.. kids, if/when pondering grabbing some wild animal consult your mother first!

 

[Pulk]

Great pics!

 

[bistrobob85]

More like putting head within tongue reach of slightly sedated puppy.

but..yeah, Im with ya. ..so.. kids, if/when pondering grabbing some wild animal consult your mother first!

So i assume that their venom isnt that strong after all?

phil.

 

[buthus]

So i assume that their venom isnt that strong after all?

phil.

Im sure there is some legit info somewhere regarding their venom strength ...just cant find it atm ...but, from the fragmented info I have found, it looks like their venom doesn't pack much more punch than your average T.

I actually wish the thing showed at least a bit more "aggressive" behavior ...the thing is bordering on child's toy w/low batteries.

Side note: I love how fem traps like this specie look like they have 10 legs. You gotta figure those palps are trying really hard to become legs!

 

[syndicate]

great shots!awesome looking spiders

 

[Vietnamese510]

df

do you know when you should let the spiderlings start making there burrows?

thanks!!!


Derek

 

[Canth]

I made burrows for both of mine and they're using them. I think one made it's own though. The other one I know though, has a door.

 

[Rizzolo]

the calif trapdoor is definitely a world apart from the red trapdoors seen commonly in the trade. those fellas will nip you given half a chance.

I love trapdoors and I always marvel at their engineering. I only wish that i could watch them eat sometimes. I like the idea of pasting the photos to the enclosure!

 

[8+)]

I have two black African Idiopids and I am able to see them just about any feeding that I chose to stay and watch.

Of course they may be much less shy than these, but for me the key is to not feed too often. I feed about biweekly. I open the containers and go about other bug chores for a few minutes, before dropping the cricket in. Usually they get it on the first to third pass by their hole!

Those are some great shots!:clap: The dent in her right chelicera is very interesting!

 

[buthus]

Those are some great shots! The dent in her right chelicera is very interesting!

Funny...I just noticed that dent last night. Could be old damage that molting didnt take care of. Or maybe... it could be from when she flew out and hit the glass really hard ...she did that a couple times during the first few kills. THUMP! ...real loud!

 

[PhormictopusMan]

My wife brought one of these home from one of her hikes (or something similar). So far I can't get it to eat and it isn't burrowing. I'm thinking that it is perhaps a male and that this might be its mating season. She found it wandering about--But it had just rained so perhaps it was a female that escaped a flood.

--Chris

 

[froggyman]

why is the burrow so much lighter than the substrate??

 

[buthus]

why is the burrow so much lighter than the substrate??

Original dirt around the trap was light sandy/silty stuff ..CA moon dirt. I brought the trap home intact and planted it into dirt form my yard ...a little more of that CA reddish sandstone stuff. What you see in above pics is just a handful of spare coconut substrate I threw in there... going to add some more dirt to make up for the drying out and settling.
I think I posted these here already, but heres some setup/pre-transfer pics...

 

[froggyman]

very cool set-up