Giving burrowers less substrate to encourage webbing?

[antinous]

I was perusing some older threads and I saw that some people give less substrate to some genera like Chilobrachys, Pterinochilus, Haplopelma (?), etc. to encourage them to create intricate web hides. My question is, does anyone do this? Do you do this with any other species?

I'm not going to dive into the whole 'is it morally right to do so' thing as I'm sure everyone will have their own opinions.

 

[REEFSPIDER]

I offer deep substrate to all of my T's except aboreals.

 

[antinous]

I offer deep substrate to all of my T's except aboreals.

I'm not saying that I don't, I'm just curious to see if anyone does, and if so, if the behavior has changed dramatically.

 

[Venom1080]

my 2" murinus has about 1/2" of substrate, its made quite the web. im giving it more sub next rehouse to burrow as its not a spider i want restless without its preferred hide.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

Never.

 

[WeightedAbyss75]

I'm not saying that I don't, I'm just curious to see if anyone does, and if so, if the behavior has changed dramatically.

I do keep my OBT on slightly less than it probably needs, but it still created it's own burrow chambr behind her bark and stays there. Never really seen a massive difference, besides a more nervous and ready to bolt spider I usually see that some of thise species will vary, anywhere from extreme burrower to extreme webber. Think it depends on the individual.

 

[viper69]

Never

 

[cold blood]

Doing so often leads to a situation where the t webs the bejesus out of the enclosure to create a hide, so any time the cage is opened, the t takes it as a direct invasion to the burrow, as the whole cage is now its burrow. It leads to a much more "confrontational" t, as a t with a proper burrow, has a place to go to...if given the choice of fight or flight, and spiders generally choose flight if they've got a place to flee to....without the proper sub, they have nowhere to flee to, so its really just a "fight" option.

 

[REEFSPIDER]

Well said @cold blood my OW fossorial Cyriopagopas sp. always runs to the burrow and I can picture the negative outcome from your description.

 

[antinous]

Thanks for the responses guys!

I don't keep any of the Ts mentioned (other than OBTs but they have a 32 oz deli cup) and I don't plan on getting anymore OW regardless or giving any burrowing T less substrate to encourage this. I was just curious after reading through some old threads.

Thanks again!

 

[Pociemon]

I was perusing some older threads and I saw that some people give less substrate to some genera like Chilobrachys, Pterinochilus, Haplopelma (?), etc. to encourage them to create intricate web hides. My question is, does anyone do this? Do you do this with any other species?

I'm not going to dive into the whole 'is it morally right to do so' thing as I'm sure everyone will have their own opinions.

You can do it, but you have to give them a more deep and dark hole than terrestrials. They will web the entrance, but they are more sensitive to disturbance, so place them where there is not much disturbance. I have done this with many kind of haplopelma with succes, and i have had offspring this way.
You can also try and give terrestrial T´s possibility to burrow, they do burrow in nature also, so they are actually not terrestrial T´s, they are burrowers aswell! It is just that they can thrive in a terrestrial setup better than the socalled "burrowers".

 

[EulersK]

The only genus I would do this with is Chilobrachys. All of my species from that genus get plenty of substrate, but they simply don't use it when I provide an abundance of anchor points. None of my Chilobrachys burrow, they're all just very heavy webbers.

You always want to give them the option to burrow if they so choose.

This thread got derailed into oblivion, but I replied early on with a more in-depth explanation (within the first two pages):
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/chilobrachys-electric-blue.286316/

 

[Misty Day]

Doing so often leads to a situation where the t webs the bejesus out of the enclosure to create a hide, so any time the cage is opened, the t takes it as a direct invasion to the burrow, as the whole cage is now its burrow. It leads to a much more "confrontational" t, as a t with a proper burrow, has a place to go to...if given the choice of fight or flight, and spiders generally choose flight if they've got a place to flee to....without the proper sub, they have nowhere to flee to, so its really just a "fight" option.

My 4" C.Marshalli has done this. Even though it has 6 inches of substrate. Created an intricate and beautiful burrow, then one day surfaced, covered the holes up, and has webbed the entire cage up and became the Devil itself.

 

[Haksilence]

the reason these burrowing species pursue deep hides burrowed into substrate is they are either seeking the security, or the climate differences between the surface and the hide. p muticus for example make deep hides to escape the dry heat. providing the substrate to allow them to burrow gives them the freedom to be flexible on the climate conditions. if you take that away they are forced to make their own hides from webbing, these hides dont provide the same security nor the climate differences they are naturally seeking.

its for these reasons its best to give your species everything they would possibly need/have access too in the wild and if they choose to web as opposed to burrowing take it as a plus, but you dont want to force them to web if they would prefer to burrow

 

[KezyGLA]

I let the holes be the hole they want to be

 

[Napier19]

I was told the C. Fasciam needed sub to burrow so that's what I give it. Of course being a T it done what it wanted and webbed the freaking enclosure from top to bottom!!! So I vote give it sub to burrow and anchor points to web. Itll do as it pleases lol.