Liphistius malayanus female

[ophidia]

Hello all,

I just received this girl last week, and she's set up shop and started feeding. From what little I've been able to dig up on these, their care appears to be very straightforward. They're a super cool looking group very little changed since the carboniferous and I was super stoked to unpack this one! I'm lucky that her burrow is up against the glass, too! Here's an unboxing photo and a photo from when she set up her trapdoor. She's since eaten once.

 

[RezonantVoid]

Most care guides for these rely on the incorrect assumption that they behave the same as tarantulas, which they absolutely don't. Liphistius are by nature clay wall/steep embankment dwellers that build lids, not something that wants to be stuck on 4" or so of flat coir. As someone that specialises in trapdoors I would highly recommend looking into giving it a sub mix of excavator clay and sand, and housing it in a clay wall setup

 

[ophidia]

Most care guides for these rely on the incorrect assumption that they behave the same as tarantulas, which they absolutely don't. Liphistius are by nature clay wall/steep embankment dwellers that build lids, not something that wants to be stuck on 4" or so of flat coir. As someone that specialises in trapdoors I would highly recommend looking into giving it a sub mix of excavator clay and sand, and housing it in a clay wall setup

Would it build up it's own clay tube up the wall from the substrate, or what would you recommend for a setup? I'd read that some of them were cave dwelling, but it also appeared that others behaved in a more traditional trapdoor way. The information on these is so mixed. About what percentage excavator clay/sand have you had luck with?