Heterothele gabonensis, substrate with an angle?

[jay444]

Hey everyone,

I found this youtube video of H. Villosella in their natural habitat (I do not encourage the handling, but seeing how they live in the wild is super interesting).

As you can see, it looks like they prefer to dig their burrow on vertical surface (and web around debris and roots) to horizontal surface with the same conditions. I've read that they are semi-arboreal on certain threads, but also that they are obligate burrowers on others.

I'm picking up a 1.5'' H. gabonensis this week and since the husbandry is pretty much the same to H. Villosella, I'm thinking about making an enclosure with an exo-terra 8x8x8 cube and to give the substrate a strong 45 degree angle (bottom front to rear top) with alot of branches and leaves on the surface in the substrate to replicate their natural habitat.

Have any of tried a configuration of this type for this genus, or at all? Let me know what you think

 

[viper69]

Hey everyone,

I found this youtube video of H. Villosella in their natural habitat (I do not encourage the handling, but seeing how they live in the wild is super interesting).

As you can see, it looks like they prefer to dig their burrow on vertical surface (and web around debris and roots) to horizontal surface with the same conditions. I've read that they are semi-arboreal on certain threads, but also that they are obligate burrowers on others.

I'm picking up a 1.5'' H. gabonensis this week and since the husbandry is pretty much the same to H. Villosella, I'm thinking about making an enclosure with an exo-terra 8x8x8 cube and to give the substrate a strong 45 degree angle (bottom front to rear top) with alot of branches and leaves on the surface in the substrate to replicate their natural habitat.

Have any of tried a configuration of this type for this genus, or at all? Let me know what you think

I use flat, but I’m sure that will work.

You should read the web article by the guy who observed them in Gabon. He used to be an AB member if I recall too, back when the forum was more scientific.

 

[jay444]

I use flat, but I’m sure that will work.

You should read the web article by the guy who observed them in Gabon. He used to be an AB member if I recall too, back when the forum was more scientific.

Thank you for the head up, found it! Very interesting.

Here is the link if anybody else is looking for it. http://bushdrums.com/index.php/wildlife/item/3345-heterothele-gabonensis---research-report

 

[jay444]

Here is some pics of the enclosure I made. Most of the wood piece is buried to mimic roots. I'll keep the thread updated on how she uses it.

 

[jay444]

Update: She completely ignored the setup and webbed all over the place. Absolutely no burrowing behavior observed.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Update: She completely ignored the setup and webbed all over the place. Absolutely no burrowing behavior observed.

Any pictures dang 3-4 years since your last update. Heavy webbing species are cool !