Concern about hide

[Kirsten]

I received the new 3.5" B. vagans I ordered for my son's Bday. I had made its enclosure and for the hide I used a cut in half clear plastic disposable cup. I left most of the bottom on the cup and just cut out one side so it would be a bit stronger . I dug it down pretty well into the substrate to anchor it sturdily and covered the top with substrate.
It all looked great but now my concern is the edge of the cup bottom. You see, this spider has excavated inside the hide and dug underneeth and beyond the bottom edge of the cup and made itself a chamber against the corner of the enclosure. This is great since we can see what's going on down there. I'm worried it might hurt itself on the bottom edge of the cup going up and down from the chamber. I don't want to ruin a good thing if it's fine. Since it made a nice little home for itself , ripping it up and changing hides could be good or bad. Should I rip up and find a new hide or do you think its fine and knows what it's doing?

 

[funguy@heart]

Why risk it. Especially if your toss n turning already.

 

[Lilmetalallyson]

it would probably be ok if you left it, but if you are that worried about it you might as well fix it, because you are probably better safe than sorry, it shouldn't stress it out too much.

 

[Avicularia Man]

After my water dish experience, I would just say be on the safe side and remove it and let him/her makes it's own hide by burrowing again.

 

[cobaltbrew]

I used a cut plastic party cup in my G. Rosea's enclosure and it was fine, however the spider never actually dug too far into the earth just more excavated the surface.

I'd say that you should do what gives you peace of mind. What a thoughtful gift!

I wish my parents had been cool about spiders.

 

[Kirsten]

I think I'm going to watch for a bit and first chance I get to renovate I'll use a different hide. I've got two pictures attatched, but since I'm not great at that I don't know if they'll show up:? YAY! They showed up. Go me

 

[Avicularia Man]

Why not just use a whole uncut cup? Just put it in with half above the substrate and half below, then fill it with substrate so that half is buried.

 

[Kirsten]

I used a cut cup instead of an uncut for this one because they like to burrow. An uncut would prevent burrowing under and making a chamber. I just wish I had used something different than a plastic party cup because the cut edges just seen like theywill be too sharp now.
Quick Q: How do you break one of those terra cotta pots in half and evenly somewhat? I want to use one of those, but of course they are all intact at the store
The second photo (bad quality-cell phone) shows the chamber made underneath and behind the cup against the corner of the enclosure.

 

[cobaltbrew]

You could glue some peat to a cardboard tubefrom paper towels or something of the like.

Also I use these little wooden huts readily available at an exotic pet store. I just put a little of it under substrate and angled it up to the surface and my H. Lividum wasted little time in making it his cave of evil.

 

[curiousme]

We had a bottle cap water dish that I worried about. I finally took it out and put a bead of hot glue around the edge, making it rounded/ smooth and no longer a concern.

If your hide is made out of a plastic cup though, I don't know that it would withstand the heat of the glue. We have melted a small deli cup trying such shenanigans. If you are really worried about it, then you can pull it out and replace it with something you find more suitable. The T will rebuild its burrow and be fine. If you like where it is burrowing now, you can start a new burrow in the same place for it. That will occasionally have the desired results.

 

[curiousme]

You could glue some peat to a cardboard tubefrom paper towels or something of the like.

This is not a great idea, because the cardboard can mold.

Since it is a small sling, then i would go with a bit of cork bark/ small flower pot/ anything that looks appropriate. Try to go with things that won't mold.

 

[Teal]

We had a bottle cap water dish that I worried about. I finally took it out and put a bead of hot glue around the edge, making it rounded/ smooth and no longer a concern.

If your hide is made out of a plastic cup though, I don't know that it would withstand the heat of the glue. We have melted a small deli cup trying such shenanigans. If you are really worried about it, then you can pull it out and replace it with something you find more suitable. The T will rebuild its burrow and be fine. If you like where it is burrowing now, you can start a new burrow in the same place for it. That will occasionally have the desired results.

I do the same.. if I am worried about any edges, I pull out the hot glue gun.

But, I've also never tried it on a plastic cup either... but you really have nothing to lose if you try!

 

[Xian]

Quick Q: How do you break one of those terra cotta pots in half and evenly somewhat? I want to use one of those, but of course they are all intact at the store.

First you knock the bottom of it out with a hammer or some other tool.
Then you need to score the sides with any sharp object, just be careful not to slip and cut yourself. You make have to make several passes along the score line.
Next you gently tap below the score line. This works about half of the time, it's a trial and error process. The deeper you can score the pot, the better results you will have.
Afterwards, you will still have sharp edges that need to be files off.
Hope this helps.

edit, on a side note, if you have a dremmel, That would do the trick as well!!!!

 

[Moltar]

I've found that the best hides are gnarled pieces of grapewood. I just use hot glue to anchor it inside the container and add substrate around it. They will often burrow along the underside of the wood like it was a root or buried log. There can be mold problems with buried wood in moister containers but this works quite well for dry loving species like Brachy's, Aphono's, etc.

I only use clay pots for the bigger specimens that don't seem to be interested in digging anymore.