Liphistius ornatus care

thebronzedragon

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 31, 2018
Messages
61
There is a Liphistius ornatus for sale on Tarantula Canada and I can't for the of me find info on care. If anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated. The main info i'm looking for is:
- Habitat set up
- Size
- Venom Potency
- Skittishness
- Any special/ unusual info.
 

dangerforceidle

Arachnoangel
Joined
Aug 4, 2017
Messages
780
@basin79 keeps at least one. They are very fast and obligate burrowers, and you'll likely rarely see them like most trapdoor spiders. Feeding times are a blur.

Lots of substrate depth, not sure on moisture requirements.
 

basin79

ArachnoGod
Active Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2013
Messages
5,893
There is a Liphistius ornatus for sale on Tarantula Canada and I can't for the of me find info on care. If anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated. The main info i'm looking for is:
- Habitat set up
- Size
- Venom Potency
- Skittishness
- Any special/ unusual info.
I bought a tiny sling last year. So small it was kept in a sling pot for a few moults. They don't require a lot of room as being trapdoors they live in their burrows. Obviously they need a good depth of sub. Mine is probably about 2.5-3cm leg span now and I use about 4 inches of sub.

Skittishness is N/A as they live in their burrows only coming out for a fraction of a second to snatch prey.

Here's a video of mine so you get the idea.

 

thebronzedragon

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 31, 2018
Messages
61
I bought a tiny sling last year. So small it was kept in a sling pot for a few moults. They don't require a lot of room as being trapdoors they live in their burrows. Obviously they need a good depth of sub. Mine is probably about 2.5-3cm leg span now and I use about 4 inches of sub.

Skittishness is N/A as they live in their burrows only coming out for a fraction of a second to snatch prey.

Here's a video of mine so you get the idea.

Wow, thanks for the info! Do you know how big they can get? On Tarantula Canada it says that they are about 1/6" right know. I was thinking a pill vial would be a could enclosure for a while until it outgrows it but what do you think would be a good sized enclosure after that?
 

basin79

ArachnoGod
Active Member
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Sep 14, 2013
Messages
5,893
Wow, thanks for the info! Do you know how big they can get? On Tarantula Canada it says that they are about 1/6" right know. I was thinking a pill vial would be a could enclosure for a while until it outgrows it but what do you think would be a good sized enclosure after that?
Unsure on their adult size. I had mine set up in a sling pot feeding on the smallest hatchling crickets.

I'm now using a tub about 4 inches in diameter.
 

basin79

ArachnoGod
Active Member
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Sep 14, 2013
Messages
5,893
Sorry, I don't know what a "sling pot" is.
They're what tarantula slings are posted out in and used for small slings as temporary enclosures. They're 3cm in diameter. So in the video below you get an idea at just how small mine was. That's a 3cm sling pot.

 

schmiggle

Arachnoking
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
Messages
2,220
Wikipedia says female body lengths are 9-29mm for the genus as a whole, so I would guess not more than 50-60mm legspan for the largest species? I think they're extremely slow growing.
 

thebronzedragon

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 31, 2018
Messages
61
Wikipedia says female body lengths are 9-29mm for the genus as a whole, so I would guess not more than 50-60mm legspan for the largest species? I think they're extremely slow growing.
Yeah, I messaged TC and they said they didn't know the adult size but the female they had a couple of years ago was abot 2" in leg span.
 

arachnodad93

Arachnosquire
Joined
Sep 2, 2018
Messages
60
I'm getting two 1/2" liphistius ornatus slings Wednesday from Fear Not Tarantulas, any advice for a trapdoor spider noob would be appreciated. I was planning on using two modified Parmesan cheese containers to house them.
 

Mr Tom

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 30, 2019
Messages
1
Basin79 I have one on order and I have seen your video before some great slow motion shots... But what king of substrate do you use if you could answer this that would be massive help thank you. because I know there are a few things out there and a few mixes people use and with them borrowing you need something that's going to stick and keep shape...
I was planning on using a mixture of soil and coconut husk or is there something else I could use...
Thank you....
 

basin79

ArachnoGod
Active Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2013
Messages
5,893
Basin79 I have one on order and I have seen your video before some great slow motion shots... But what king of substrate do you use if you could answer this that would be massive help thank you. because I know there are a few things out there and a few mixes people use and with them borrowing you need something that's going to stick and keep shape...
I was planning on using a mixture of soil and coconut husk or is there something else I could use...
Thank you....
I just use moss peat.
 

RezonantVoid

Hollow Knight
Joined
Jan 7, 2018
Messages
1,354
loam soil is the best, cocopeat is poor choice for them
I now have to agree with you after doing more research and retract my abkve statement. Im remaking alot of my rainforest trapdoor enclosures with clay now as they struggle to make proper lids in loose soil
 

letranger

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 20, 2016
Messages
6
yeah, loam/clay fit the best for them

i still cannot get hold of some quality loam/clay so i am currently using a 40/60 mix of cocopeat and top soil similar to clay/loam i collected from nearby forest, not perfect but thankfully all of my grown on slings settled pretty well, i will attach some pics below
prepared for rehousing:
prepared for rehousing.jpg
next morning:
next morning.jpg
next morning..jpg
2 days after the rehousing:
2 days after rehousing.jpg
 

woodie

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 25, 2019
Messages
118
I keep mine fairly moist on a mix of clay(excavator clay), sand, coir and some leaf litter mixed in. and in deep vials I found in a craft store.
There were reports of some with up to 4" legspan, From a keeper on here a decade ago that had an amazing communal set up with 8 adults on a clay/soil backwall covered with live mosses and ferns
 

woodie

Arachnosquire
Joined
Aug 25, 2019
Messages
118
Use tall containers for Liphistius and Apomastus sp. Front short are for Aptostichus and Antrodiaetus sp.
 
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