I am getting (2) 1/4" Fufius sp Gold Trapdoor Spiders. Advice on setup?

[Pennywise]

As title says 2 Fufius Lanicius sp Gold Trap doors. Very Small 1/4 I have a couple of Vials but how do I do the substrate for these and I need to create a burrow? I am using coconut fiber for my T's does it need to be damp or wet? What to feed?

 

[Andrew Clayton]

For a trapdoor try use something a bit more firm than coco fibre, I've seen people even use clay for them put a straw or twig or anything similar down one side then you're substrate in and pull the straw out and you should be left with a visible burrow. Then just add some leaf litter to let it make a trap door with. As for feeding just use something small enough for it I've never tried using pre killed don't really know if they would take it anyway

 

[RezonantVoid]

With a few unusual exceptions, most trapdoors globally across almost all genus have very similar care. Damp, but not quite soaking wet substrate packed down firmly and slightly angled, a few ventilation holes and some decoration. I keep quite a few Aussie trapdoors from a range of environments but the above normally works fine regardless. They don't need a water dish because they get their hydration needs from the substrate they burrow in. For a 6mm sling (1/4") only about 50-60mm of substrate should be needed, but there's no harm in making it deeper. For feeding, I prefer crickets because they don't dig into the substrate like mealworms and can't climb the plastic like some roaches can. And they are just an easier shape for most trapdoors to capture. I have a more detailed guide with images called A Quick Guide To Keeping Trapdoors you can search on here if you need extra info, but I think I covered everything. Hope this helps!

 

[Pennywise]

Many thanks to both Andrew Clayton and RezonantVoid for their detailed
posts. I did find Excavator Clay Substrate at a local shop that sells reptiles.
The spiders are coming tomorrow also including a curtain web spider and
one of my all time favorites a Versicolor.

 

[RezonantVoid]

Many thanks to both Andrew Clayton and RezonantVoid for their detailed
posts. I did find Excavator Clay Substrate at a local shop that sells reptiles.
The spiders are coming tomorrow also including a curtain web spider and
one of my all time favorites a Versicolor.

Now curtain webs show you are a very smart person because nobody appreciates how amazing they are. I have a few different ones and they are a bit different to trapdoors, they don't often dig themselves but utilise existing holes and scrapes under things. Best setup is a curved piece of bark on top of about 50mm of damp soil just to hold some moisture, and put lots of anchor points in each corner. This is my Austrlothele Nambucca

Just damp soil, a hide and sticks is all you need, you can provide a small water dish if you want but they will probably web over it. They will web over EVERYTHING

 

[Smokehound714]

To my understanding fufius behave similarly to aptostichus and prefer compressed sand

 

[Pennywise]

To my understanding fufius behave similarly to aptostichus and prefer compressed sand

This excavator clay is workable by adding several sprays of water, if you have an artist brush with a fine handle you can make a starter hole that won't collapse.
The spiders seem OK with it, but time will tell.

 

[STLN8]

How do you all sex mature males on these, do they hook out or get emboli? Or females for that matter. I can never get a molt back

 

[Pennywise]

I lost both my Fufius slings, a tragedy but it happens. I was optimistic about one lasted a lot longer
than the other about 3 months and had doubled in size but I found him dead one morning. If you
can find Tom Patterson's email address he might be able to answer your questions. After years and
years of good luck with my spiders, I can't explain some of the losses I have had lately. But things
have gotten better now. Also a lot of mygalomorphs like trapdoors a harmonicons etc. can be
wild caught. A percentage of wild caught spiders have parasites and can be short lived.