I plan to get a 0.25” Cyclocosmia torreya sling, but I’ve heard that they like more space to wander around and need deep substrate (my plan is half peat + sand mix and half clay from the hardware store, since they apparently make their burrows in clay soil on sloped riverbanks) so I was thinking about using a 20 oz smoothie cup I got while, well, ordering a smoothie. Should I try and look for something smaller? I also heard that rehousing is much more stressful for trapdoor spiders than tarantulas, so I’m wondering it I should start out with that enclosure (around 2-3” diameter with like 6 inch depth) or something smaller. Thanks for your help!
Cyclocosmia torreya sling enclosure
- Thread starter pandaking
- Start date
Tarantuland
Arachnoprince
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2020
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.25” is small…I’d go smaller to start with. I’d probably do a 5.5 oz deli cup
RezonantVoid
Hollow Knight
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- Jan 7, 2018
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Awesome to hear you want trapdoors! Let me address some stuff real quick though.
If you're able to get clay, don't bother adding any peat or coir to it, it's completely unnecessary, a waste of materials and can make the clay set rock hard sometimes. Clay/soil and sand in varying quantities is the only mix I'd ever recommend for robust lid building trapdoors unless they are specialised species that need specific substrate types. I'd recommend checking out some riverbanks and trying to recreate the soil consistency found there. Peat moss/cocofibre/coir and sand is a horrible mix for most trapdoor species that inhibits their ability to construct proper lids or triplines, and a huge part of where I'm assuming the next rumour comes from, that rehousing is extra stressful for them.
There is no bigger lie than "trapdoors will always take forever to settle into an enclosure, it's perfectly normal for them to spend weeks on the surface". Using the same logic as above, matching their enclosure soil consistency to that of their wild habitat, I can get just about any Aussie trapdoor species to be fully burrowed and lidded in less than 8 hours after rehousing. The reason keepers find their ones wandering on the surface for great lengths of time is the same as above; they do not like loose substrate materials like peat or cocofibre with low structural integrity. Lidless species aren't usually as fussy and lid builders will eventually settle in after some time, but I at least don't like recommending forcing something to live in substrate it doesn't like.
For any trapdoor, I recommend at the absolute bare minimum a container 6" deep, but preferably 8" or taller. For vertical wall/embankment dwellers, you need additional space for them to burrow horizontally, so something with around 5-7" of width/length should allow adequate space.
This is how I set up my Euoplos thynnearum, which as far as I understand chooses to live in similar locations; steep embankments or riverbanks close to bodies of water.
i add a layer of sand at the very base and up along one corner to act as a less efficient drainage layer, basically just stops the clay getting very soggy at the bottom over time due to moisture build-up.
Bringing the substrate height almost all the way to the top allows for the greatest possible digging room, and the height is lowered on one diagonal half to allow a short but steep slope for the spider to burrow diagonally downwards. I'd normally prefer to have a larger high section than in this setup, but thankfully it seems to work out for the spider. The plants grow much better on clay than peat or coir, and allow the trapdoor to camoflauge it's lid with mosses as this species does in the wild.
It may seem excessive, but if it means you get a naturalistic tank that never needs to be remade and a happy spider, I think it's well worth the effort.
If you're able to get clay, don't bother adding any peat or coir to it, it's completely unnecessary, a waste of materials and can make the clay set rock hard sometimes. Clay/soil and sand in varying quantities is the only mix I'd ever recommend for robust lid building trapdoors unless they are specialised species that need specific substrate types. I'd recommend checking out some riverbanks and trying to recreate the soil consistency found there. Peat moss/cocofibre/coir and sand is a horrible mix for most trapdoor species that inhibits their ability to construct proper lids or triplines, and a huge part of where I'm assuming the next rumour comes from, that rehousing is extra stressful for them.
There is no bigger lie than "trapdoors will always take forever to settle into an enclosure, it's perfectly normal for them to spend weeks on the surface". Using the same logic as above, matching their enclosure soil consistency to that of their wild habitat, I can get just about any Aussie trapdoor species to be fully burrowed and lidded in less than 8 hours after rehousing. The reason keepers find their ones wandering on the surface for great lengths of time is the same as above; they do not like loose substrate materials like peat or cocofibre with low structural integrity. Lidless species aren't usually as fussy and lid builders will eventually settle in after some time, but I at least don't like recommending forcing something to live in substrate it doesn't like.
For any trapdoor, I recommend at the absolute bare minimum a container 6" deep, but preferably 8" or taller. For vertical wall/embankment dwellers, you need additional space for them to burrow horizontally, so something with around 5-7" of width/length should allow adequate space.
This is how I set up my Euoplos thynnearum, which as far as I understand chooses to live in similar locations; steep embankments or riverbanks close to bodies of water.
i add a layer of sand at the very base and up along one corner to act as a less efficient drainage layer, basically just stops the clay getting very soggy at the bottom over time due to moisture build-up.
Bringing the substrate height almost all the way to the top allows for the greatest possible digging room, and the height is lowered on one diagonal half to allow a short but steep slope for the spider to burrow diagonally downwards. I'd normally prefer to have a larger high section than in this setup, but thankfully it seems to work out for the spider. The plants grow much better on clay than peat or coir, and allow the trapdoor to camoflauge it's lid with mosses as this species does in the wild.
It may seem excessive, but if it means you get a naturalistic tank that never needs to be remade and a happy spider, I think it's well worth the effort.
Thank you so much! I meant I was going to add peat/sand as a drainage layer (sorry for being unclear), but I think I’ll stick with sand, instead, and use your advice about the vertical column. Your enclosures are so beautiful! Since I live in Appalachia, but not exactly in the spider’s native range, I think I’m going to go out and investigate some nearby riverbanks and try to see what the dirt is like out there and pick up some ferns/moss. That was incredibly helpful!!! Thank you
I’ve gone and watched a couple of videos on your youtube channel, and I think it would be awesome if you showed some more enclosure building to help those of us who don’t know quite as much about soil
Thank you for being one of the best info sources about trapdoors!
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