Euthycaelus colonica notes / personal experience?

[drusila]

Hello,

I recently picked up a female Euthycaelus colonica and I was curious if anyone here keeps this species and could share their personal setup specs and whatnot. I've got her in deep moist substrate with some moss and cork bark clutter, also a water dish of course. She's buried down inside the starter burrow and webbed quite a bit around the entrance, and she sealed it off shortly after eating several crickets last week. Anyone have some notes on their care methods they could share? There isn't a whole lot of info available online for keeping these guys, and although I believe I've set her up well so far, I'd like any input I could get. She is very skittish and somewhat defensive; I got a threat pose when I was unboxing her but otherwise she just runs and hides in her burrow. Here's a picture of her too!



Thanks :3

 

[gabrieldezzi]

I've never owned any personally. However, most of the information I can find is basically what you're doing now..

1. Generally skittish/defensive spiders
2. Keep them on moist substrate, especially towards the bottom
3. Give ample substrate to burrow

Hope that helps!

 

[viper69]

Skittish and fossorial- reminds me of blue fangs and that’s why I passed. They are pretty if you ever see them

 

[NMTs]

I had a female that ultimately died of old age, and I can count the number of times I saw her fully out of the burrow by her own choosing on my 2 hands - and then it was only when I happened to sneak up on her in the middle of the night. One of the most fossorial species I've kept, and that's saying a lot because I keep a lot of fossorial species. When I would see her out, the second I shone a light on her to try to get a pic she would dive back into the burrow. Your setup sounds fine - I always had the substrate 2x-3x as deep as her leg span, and I would keep the bottom layers moist and let the top dry out in between watering, constantly full water dish. She was hit or miss as far as feeding went - half the time when I thought she'd eaten I would find the dead feeder hidden in her enclosure a week later untouched. Skittish species don't often have real strong feeding response, and that held true with her.

They're cool because they're different, and when you have to rehouse and can get a good look at it, they're beautiful, but you'll mostly be keeping a box of dirt once she really settles in.

0.1 Euthycaelus colonica - Gemma

• NMTs
• Jun 20, 2022
• euthycaelus rehousing

Love that copper/bronze coloration on the abdomen. Also got a new camera for father's day, so...

0.1 Euthycaelus colonica - Gemma

• NMTs
• Jun 20, 2022
• euthycaelus rehousing

Time to rehouse this little lady, so I got to say "look kids, there is a live animal in dad's...

0.1 Euthycaelus colonica - Gemma

• NMTs
• Jun 20, 2022
• euthycaelus rehousing

She's almost adult at just over 3" DLS. Gold and bronze beauty!

I've got several other species from the Euthycaelus genus, and they all behave very similarly.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I had a female that ultimately died of old age, and I can count the number of times I saw her fully out of the burrow by her own choosing on my 2 hands - and then it was only when I happened to sneak up on her in the middle of the night. One of the most fossorial species I've kept, and that's saying a lot because I keep a lot of fossorial species. When I would see her out, the second I shone a light on her to try to get a pic she would dive back into the burrow. Your setup sounds fine - I always had the substrate 2x-3x as deep as her leg span, and I would keep the bottom layers moist and let the top dry out in between watering, constantly full water dish. She was hit or miss as far as feeding went - half the time when I thought she'd eaten I would find the dead feeder hidden in her enclosure a week later untouched. Skittish species don't often have real strong feeding response, and that held true with her.

They're cool because they're different, and when you have to rehouse and can get a good look at it, they're beautiful, but you'll mostly be keeping a box of dirt once she really settles in.

0.1 Euthycaelus colonica - Gemma

• NMTs
• Jun 20, 2022
• euthycaelus rehousing

Love that copper/bronze coloration on the abdomen. Also got a new camera for father's day, so...

0.1 Euthycaelus colonica - Gemma

• NMTs
• Jun 20, 2022
• euthycaelus rehousing

Time to rehouse this little lady, so I got to say "look kids, there is a live animal in dad's...

0.1 Euthycaelus colonica - Gemma

• NMTs
• Jun 20, 2022
• euthycaelus rehousing

She's almost adult at just over 3" DLS. Gold and bronze beauty!

I've got several other species from the Euthycaelus genus, and they all behave very similarly.

Do they live shorter like obt? I see it’s a dwarf.

 

[drusila]

I've never owned any personally. However, most of the information I can find is basically what you're doing now..

1. Generally skittish/defensive spiders
2. Keep them on moist substrate, especially towards the bottom
3. Give ample substrate to burrow

Hope that helps!

Thanks! I just wanted some affirmation that I'm doing okay with her so far. She seems content; I actually put her in a different acrylic enclosure but after 1 day she still hadn't settled into the starter burrow and seemed to be roaming a lot, so I switched to a different enclosure and tweaked the setup a bit and she's nestled in quite nicely. She hasn't done much digging like my Ephebopus who has been like a little bulldozer, but I made a nice deep starter burrow and she seems happy with that. She webbed around the entrance and covered it with moss so I'm assuming she likes it. She has been out and about a bit because I can see that things have moved but I haven't seen her since I fed her last week. Oh well! As long as she's happy I'm happy. Thanks again~

Skittish and fossorial- reminds me of blue fangs and that’s why I passed. They are pretty if you ever see them

Yep, I have an E. uatuman and she's actually often visible because she decided to make her burrow right in the front corner of the enclosure so I can see into it through the acrylic and she spends most of her time sitting slightly below the entrance, occasionally coming up to the surface and peeking out. I pretty much only keep terrestrial / fossorial NW's so I'm used to the box of dirt but it is nice to see your spiders occasionally...

I had a female that ultimately died of old age, and I can count the number of times I saw her fully out of the burrow by her own choosing on my 2 hands - and then it was only when I happened to sneak up on her in the middle of the night. One of the most fossorial species I've kept, and that's saying a lot because I keep a lot of fossorial species. When I would see her out, the second I shone a light on her to try to get a pic she would dive back into the burrow. Your setup sounds fine - I always had the substrate 2x-3x as deep as her leg span, and I would keep the bottom layers moist and let the top dry out in between watering, constantly full water dish. She was hit or miss as far as feeding went - half the time when I thought she'd eaten I would find the dead feeder hidden in her enclosure a week later untouched. Skittish species don't often have real strong feeding response, and that held true with her.

They're cool because they're different, and when you have to rehouse and can get a good look at it, they're beautiful, but you'll mostly be keeping a box of dirt once she really settles in.

0.1 Euthycaelus colonica - Gemma

• NMTs
• Jun 20, 2022
• euthycaelus rehousing

Love that copper/bronze coloration on the abdomen. Also got a new camera for father's day, so...

0.1 Euthycaelus colonica - Gemma

• NMTs
• Jun 20, 2022
• euthycaelus rehousing

Time to rehouse this little lady, so I got to say "look kids, there is a live animal in dad's...

0.1 Euthycaelus colonica - Gemma

• NMTs
• Jun 20, 2022
• euthycaelus rehousing

She's almost adult at just over 3" DLS. Gold and bronze beauty!

I've got several other species from the Euthycaelus genus, and they all behave very similarly.

I also have a lot of burrowing terrestrials / fossorials, so I was surprised at how reclusive she is, but as long as she's happy I'm happy. I actually changed her setup not long after getting her, because I had provided a deep, tall enclosure with lots of substrate but noticed she was out pacing the perimeter a lot even after 24 hours and figured she wanted more horizontal space in addition to the vertical depth of substrate so I switched her to a different enclosure I had sitting in my closet, and she's settled in nicely and I haven't seen her since lol. I got plenty of good pictures before she disappeared at least, lol.

Do you remember or have any idea how old yours was when she passed or about how big she was? I purchased her as 2" DLS so I was wondering about lifespan. I've also had the same issue with feeding lol. I know she took prey right after rehousing last week, because she hadn't fully sealed off her starter burrow so I could still see her and knew she'd gotten the crickets, but I fed yesterday and just dropped in a few small crickets and I'm not sure if she got them or not. I don't see any still moving around / alive on the surface, but I also can't tell if the entrance to her burrow has been disturbed. So oh well. I plan to check more thoroughly later today to be sure there aren't any live crickets still visible, but yeah. I'll have to get used to it for sure, pretty much all my other T's are still visible in their burrows through the side of the acrylic or through the opening.

Thanks for the info!

 

[viper69]

Yep, I have an E. uatuman and she's actually often visible because she decided to make her burrow right in the front corner of the enclosure so I can see into it through the acrylic and she spends most of her time sitting slightly below the entrance, occasionally coming up to the surface and peeking out. I pretty much only keep terrestrial / fossorial NW's so I'm used to the box of dirt but it is nice to see your spiders occasionally...

I did as well, grew tired of seeing beauty for only 1 second

 

[klawfran3]

I haven't seen mine in almost two years, she has been burrowed down below the substrate the whole time. I can shine a flashlight and maybe catch a glimpse of a leg through the bottom or feel her move when I lift the tank up, but for all intents and purposes I have a box of damp dirt that I toss crickets into sometimes. That being said, that's what I expected when I bought it and I wanted it because I still think it's a beautiful spider despite not being visible. My SE asian fossorials are more visible than this one. At least I know she's happy.

 

[NMTs]

I also have a lot of burrowing terrestrials / fossorials, so I was surprised at how reclusive she is, but as long as she's happy I'm happy. I actually changed her setup not long after getting her, because I had provided a deep, tall enclosure with lots of substrate but noticed she was out pacing the perimeter a lot even after 24 hours and figured she wanted more horizontal space in addition to the vertical depth of substrate so I switched her to a different enclosure I had sitting in my closet, and she's settled in nicely and I haven't seen her since lol. I got plenty of good pictures before she disappeared at least, lol.

Do you remember or have any idea how old yours was when she passed or about how big she was? I purchased her as 2" DLS so I was wondering about lifespan. I've also had the same issue with feeding lol. I know she took prey right after rehousing last week, because she hadn't fully sealed off her starter burrow so I could still see her and knew she'd gotten the crickets, but I fed yesterday and just dropped in a few small crickets and I'm not sure if she got them or not. I don't see any still moving around / alive on the surface, but I also can't tell if the entrance to her burrow has been disturbed. So oh well. I plan to check more thoroughly later today to be sure there aren't any live crickets still visible, but yeah. I'll have to get used to it for sure, pretty much all my other T's are still visible in their burrows through the side of the acrylic or through the opening.

Thanks for the info!

Mine was mostly adult when I bought her - she was barely over 3" then and molted once in the 3-ish years that I had her. Was just about 3.25" when she died. I'd expect to have a 2" specimen for around 5-7 years, but that's just an estimate.