Fortifying burrowers and orange baboon question

Matinnoori

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Jun 15, 2022
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Hi everyone i got few recommendation for burrowing Ts that make cool tunnels and web alot unfortunatly non of them are available right now so i appreciate more recommendations and also i finally got topsoil from a empty land its a bit hard i also have peatmoss cocofiber clay and sand what mix would you recommend with what percentage?
I really like obt and C.Marshalli from this two which one web alot and make deeper tunnels and fortify them with its web?
Also is Vermicompost dangerous for them?
 

DomGom TheFather

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Straight topsoil, peat or coco will work fine.
I think you'll find marshalli fitting. They're fun.
No need for vermicompost or compost of any kind. Spiders will not benefit from worm castings.
 

Metallattorney

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Ceratogyrus is probably more likely to burrow more. My obt does quite a bit as well, but that is not always the case.
 

spideyspinneret78

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For burrowing and webbing tarantulas, C. marshalli is an excellent choice! Mine has burrowed deep into the bottom of the enclosure, and webbed up everything! Really impressive how intricate their burrows are and how much webbing they create. They're always working on some sort of construction project. And even though they're fossorial, I wouldn't necessarily consider them pet holes. Unless she's in premolt, my female is almost always out and visible at night.
 

YungRasputin

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i keep my C. marshalli in a mixture of pure peat, cocofiber, and sand - my OBT-UMV is just straight peat + cocofiber with a dash of sand to stave off mold growth - with the C. marshalli i mixed each substrate in equal parts (mix well in a separate container or you’ll get sand pockets) and for my OBT it was a 50/50 mixture with just a pinch of sand thrown in

personally, and I am biased because C. marshalli is my favorite tarantulas, but they truly are the best of borrowers - both as a sling, juvie and adult they always create the most elaborate and amazing of tunnel systems
 

Matt Man

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My OBT webbed and dug a little
My 2 Ceratogyrus (Female marshalli, female Darlingi) Webbed and dug. My marshalli webbed more, my darlingi dug more, but I think it is because she had a deeper enclosure.
So if digging and webbing are key, as others have said go ceratogyrus. If you want pretty, go OBT or H. pulchripes, so far mine has dug a little, but webbed a bunch
 

cold blood

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It can be kept on any of the subs you have or any combination of them you like. Ts fortify their burrows with webbing, its not something they need help with.
 

YungRasputin

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It can be kept on any of the subs you have or any combination of them you like. Ts fortify their burrows with webbing, its not something they need help with.
they do, overtime, fortify tunnels with webbing however they’re also not the best at this and some substrate mixtures provide more secure tunnels than others - particularly when you factor in the weight of the substrate which is on top of the tunnel itself - that’s what i like about the mixture mentioned above as it can hold its shape even without webbing much like a sandcastle does
 

cold blood

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they do, overtime, fortify tunnels with webbing however they’re also not the best at this and some substrate mixtures provide more secure tunnels than others - particularly when you factor in the weight of the substrate which is on top of the tunnel itself - that’s what i like about the mixture mentioned above as it can hold its shape even without webbing much like a sandcastle does
That has not remotely been my experience. I have kept fossorials on pretty much every kind of sub, and the results don't change, the t does just fine. Sure, you need to tamp down coco fiber, and you don't with dirt, but to say one is more capable just hasn't proven to ever be true in my experiences.
 

YungRasputin

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That has not remotely been my experience. I have kept fossorials on pretty much every kind of sub, and the results don't change, the t does just fine. Sure, you need to tamp down coco fiber, and you don't with dirt, but to say one is more capable just hasn't proven to ever be true in my experiences.
are you really claiming that substrates, both in and of themselves, and, mixtures - do not have unique properties, functions and can be tailored to specific lifeways/niches based upon this? if so why exactly?

that just seems like common sense - i don’t see how it could be claimed that clay, ochre, sand, etc based mixtures would not be sturdier than packed cocofiber, particularly when you consider that the burrowing itself is going to displace and disrupt said packing
 
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