Haven't seen your fossorial in awhile?

[l4nsky]

So let me preface this with I had an epiphany that I probably should have had years ago. It's kind of stupidly simple and obvious when you think about it. I haven't seen anyone else talk about or recommend it on the boards, so I might as well put it out there and look like the idiot.

Haven't seen your fossorial or secretive tarantula in awhile? Don't have a burrow window and you're getting worried but you don't want to dig them up to find out?

The answer is leaf litter. Just place some safely sourced and appropriately sized dry leaves over the tarantula's burrow in such a way that they're stable and won't fall over of their own accord. Give the enclosure a good soak (for the species mind you, don't drench a desert species for instance), place the leaf litter over the mouth of the burrow, and check if it's been moved the next day. A good soak mimics a rainfall which can bring tarantulas to the surface. They'll easily be able to move the leaf litter out of the way, just like if their burrow entrance were covered by fallen leaves from a rain storm in the wild. Odds are, they'll be moved fairly far away as tarantulas are rather tidy animals and that will give you a little bit of peace of mind.

I tried this method last night as I have an Akcaya I haven't seen in a few weeks after an emergency rehousing. She was premolt and I was rather worried after all this time. I have a stockpile of leaf litter as I dry the leaves of my pothos plants (aka tropical weeds) for such a purpose. Woke up to find a pile of leaves unceremoniously dumped in the water bowl lol.

Thanks,
--Matt

 

[AlbaArachnids92]

Great idea! And a well timed post from my perspective!

Got a SAF C. sp Kaeng Krachan back in October that for whatever reason decided not to burrow down, very little digging at all, just webbed up a dark back corner using the fake plant to make some web covering.
Now things are getting a little warmer here in Scotland, I noticed her getting more active which has included some vertical exploration. Unfortunately, up not down.
Taken this to mean 'I don't want to dig this stuff up' and changed substrate mixture......low and behold, some digging has started!

I'll most likely need this trick in a month or two's time

 

[Wolfram1]

Great tip, thank you. I will try this once mine have gained some more size and the times between feedings and molts grows longer. I imagine this is when they start coming up less and less.

If you actually want to see them i recommend placing them in a cabinet or dark room. That way they feel secure during the day as well and i see them almost every time sitting in or just outside the mouth of their burrow.

Just took these the other day. Ofc it was impossible to take the lids of for the pictures.

0.0.1 Phormingochilus arboricola ~2,5" Specimen 1

• Wolfram1
• May 23, 2022
• arboricola lampropelma nigerrimum arboricola lampropelma sp. "borneo black" phormingochilus phormingochilus arboricola sp. "borneo black"

the gold-brown-black tones of spiderlings opisthosoma remind me of a chatoiant "tiger's eye"...

0.0.1 Phormingochilus arboricola ~2,5" Specimen 2

• Wolfram1
• May 23, 2022
• arboricola lampropelma nigerrimum arboricola lampropelma sp. "borneo black" phormingochilus phormingochilus arboricola sp. "borneo black"

as pretty as they are now, i do hope to have some gorgeous black spiders soon :)

right now a proper leaf would cover the entire enclosure

 

[l4nsky]

Great tip, thank you. I will try this once mine have gained some more size and the times between feedings and molts grows longer. I imagine this is when they start coming up less and less.

If you actually want to see them i recommend placing them in a cabinet or dark room. That way they feel secure during the day as well and i see them almost every time sitting in or just outside the mouth of their burrow.

Just took these the other day. Ofc it was impossible to take the lids of for the pictures.

0.0.1 Phormingochilus arboricola ~2,5" Specimen 1

• Wolfram1
• May 23, 2022
• arboricola lampropelma nigerrimum arboricola lampropelma sp. "borneo black" phormingochilus phormingochilus arboricola sp. "borneo black"

the gold-brown-black tones of spiderlings opisthosoma remind me of a chatoiant "tiger's eye"...

0.0.1 Phormingochilus arboricola ~2,5" Specimen 2

• Wolfram1
• May 23, 2022
• arboricola lampropelma nigerrimum arboricola lampropelma sp. "borneo black" phormingochilus phormingochilus arboricola sp. "borneo black"

as pretty as they are now, i do hope to have some gorgeous black spiders soon :)

right now a proper leaf would cover the entire enclosure

So I used to see that Akcaya female atleast every other night, but when I had to rehouse her, her sister, and a female Sabah Blue due to ants, they were moved into enclosures with cork slabs, not rounds. So they don't feel as secure IMO in these temporary enclosures and it takes a loooong time for them to get settled in. The other Akcaya and the Sabah Blue have all made appearances, although rather sporadically. This girl only made one appearance maybe 3 weeks ago and I was kind of concerned. The original female that produced my two females died about this size and she was eggbound when dissected. This girl hasn't been paired and I didn't see a recent molt in her burrow when I rehoused her, so I believe her size is due to premolt, but I can't rule out any potential problems from a phantom sack.

Oh, and the key words are "appropriately sized leaf litter" lol. You could use pieces to acheive the same effect in a sling enclosure .

 

[Wolfram1]

So I used to see that Akcaya female atleast every other night, but when I had to rehouse her, her sister, and a female Sabah Blue due to ants, they were moved into enclosures with cork slabs, not rounds. So they don't feel as secure IMO in these temporary enclosures and it takes a loooong time for them to get settled in. The other Akcaya and the Sabah Blue have all made appearances, although rather sporadically. This girl only made one appearance maybe 3 weeks ago and I was kind of concerned.

i see that makes sense, its funny really because the one in the first picture has an actual cork round and built its den around the side of it while i just used to pieces of bark to mimic a cork-round in the second one and her burrow makes it look like a complete one.

The original female that produced my two females died about this size and she was eggbound when dissected. This girl hasn't been paired and I didn't see a recent molt in her burrow when I rehoused her, so I believe her size is due to premolt, but I can't rule out any potential problems from a phantom sack.

sad it died prematurely, but at least she has left a legacy

Oh, and the key words are "appropriately sized leaf litter" lol. You could use pieces to acheive the same effect in a sling enclosure .

i know
maybe i will try it just for fun at some point

 

[Marcostaco]

My P. muticus females used to have really deep burrows with blocked entrances. I would have to dig the blocked entrances in order to drop prey and feed them, if I didn't do that they would literally never surface and would have starved themselves to death. That routine dragged on for about 2 years or so.

Until I spoke to Andrew Smith, he told me that in the wild; heavy rains and a drop in temperature is their trigger to surface and feed. So last year, I tried to mimic that in their enclosures. During the cold winter months, I would pour water in their enclosures to give the substrate a good soak, lo and behold both of the females started opening their burrows' entrances and started to actively wait for prey. I would feed them regularly during these cold months and when the temperatures start get warmer I would stop keeping their substrate moist and would let it get bone dry. This would then trigger them to once again block their burrows and during this period some of them will even molt. I will refrain from feeding them until the temperatures get drop again and I will repeat the process

 

[l4nsky]

My P. muticus females used to have really deep burrows with blocked entrances. I would have to dig the blocked entrances in order to drop prey and feed them, if I didn't do that they would literally never surface and would have starved themselves to death. That routine dragged on for about 2 years or so.

Until I spoke to Andrew Smith, he told me that in the wild; heavy rains and a drop in temperature is their trigger to surface and feed. So last year, I tried to mimic that in their enclosures. During the cold winter months, I would pour water in their enclosures to give the substrate a good soak, lo and behold both of the females started opening their burrows' entrances and started to actively wait for prey. I would feed them regularly during these cold months and when the temperatures start get warmer I would stop keeping their substrate moist and would let it get bone dry. This would then trigger them to once again block their burrows and during this period some of them will even molt. I will refrain from feeding them until the temperatures get drop again and I will repeat the process

Agreed. Myself and others came to a similar realization awhile back and altered the way we care for our KBB's accordingly. Mine is kept on relatively shallow substrate that is never dry, but is never saturated either. I haven't heard about a temperature correlation though so that's really interesting. I'm going to have to pay closer attention to that variable going forward. For instance, my T room is hovering around 80°F at the moment and she does have a mound of substrate over her burrow entrance. I thought it was because of a pending molt as she is due for one, but it could be a temperature response as well. Very interesting.

 

[Jonathan6303]

I haven’t seen my 1 inch M. balfouri in 2-3 months. I might try this

 

[Marcostaco]

Agreed. Myself and others came to a similar realization awhile back and altered the way we care for our KBB's accordingly. Mine is kept on relatively shallow substrate that is never dry, but is never saturated either. I haven't heard about a temperature correlation though so that's really interesting. I'm going to have to pay closer attention to that variable going forward. For instance, my T room is hovering around 80°F at the moment and she does have a mound of substrate over her burrow entrance. I thought it was because of a pending molt as she is due for one, but it could be a temperature response as well. Very interesting.

80°F is also my warmer tempts, when the temperatures hit lower 70s that's where I would start adding moisture to its enclosure. Slowly, they would clear the entrances and would surface to wait for prey.

I dug up some pictures of the progression, my OCD demands that I document these things lol

This is the pictures of its enclosure during warmer temps. Bone dry substrate, no sign of a burrow whatsoever and literally just looks like a tub of dirt.



This is when the colder months approach and I start to add moisture to the enclosures.

 

[viper69]

I haven’t seen my 1 inch M. balfouri in 2-3 months. I might try this

Never had that issue with mine- but that doesn’t matter- they have some interesting weather.

 

[Craig73]

I‘ve been fortunate with my 1” king. It provided me with a stellar view into it’s hide on one side and a nice entrance at the surface. I’ve heard of the water method to entice burrowers to the surface, but never needed to go that route.

It’s fascinating to be able to observe mine. It spends a majority of the time in the tunnel near the surface, still can’t see it when looking at it from the surface pic I’ve attached. Rarely see it in the deeper parts of the burrow.

 

[Jonathan6303]

Never had that issue with mine- but that doesn’t matter- they have some interesting weather.

It’s vey reclusive for some reason. Could be my colder temps