Hi All,
I am chameleon breeder who is quite intrigued with trapdoor spiders. Despite the fact that I am not really a “big fan” of spiders, I ended up getting an African Red TD and its my first spider.
I got it yesterday and when I opened the box it looked dead. So I opened up the container and gave it slight poke with a plastic spoon. If I only knew … that thing scared the crap out of me! I COULD NOT get the lid back on fast enough! My hands were actually trembling a bit afterwards. I read that they are nervous/aggressive … somewhat of an understatement IMO.
I scoured this forum quite a bit looking for care tips but didn’t see too much regarding temps. So I will lay out how I am keeping her. Please chime in if you have any thoughts/suggestions. It would be greatly appreciated.
5.5G Tank / Screen Top w/ clips (may put a brick over it too!!)
Organic soil / sand substrate / Sloped / 6.5” at high end and 2” at low
Under tank heat pad – doesn’t create very much heat
The soil is moist but not nearly sopping and I do have a drainage layer of hydroton at the bottom.
Plenty of debris covering substrate (see pic)
100W ceramic heat emitter angled far off to the side
Temps are high 70’s/80F
Room humidity is anywhere from 55-75
I keep it in my chameleon room which is kept in the low 70’s and even cooler at night. So I thought the heat emitter/pad would be helpful. I also have an oscillating fan in the room for air circulation.
From the pic, can anyone positively ID the species? I AM NOT taking any more pics of it – I took 4 pics and that’s all I could handle at the time. Having it lunge at the lens is pretty stressful for me and the spider so I need to leave it be.
I did start a hole for it but this morning it hadn’t done anything with it. Due to the fact it’s a pretty nervous critter, I plan on totally leaving alone for the next few days only to mist it’s enclosure in the morning
Thanks All!!!
-roo
I am chameleon breeder who is quite intrigued with trapdoor spiders. Despite the fact that I am not really a “big fan” of spiders, I ended up getting an African Red TD and its my first spider.
I got it yesterday and when I opened the box it looked dead. So I opened up the container and gave it slight poke with a plastic spoon. If I only knew … that thing scared the crap out of me! I COULD NOT get the lid back on fast enough! My hands were actually trembling a bit afterwards. I read that they are nervous/aggressive … somewhat of an understatement IMO.
I scoured this forum quite a bit looking for care tips but didn’t see too much regarding temps. So I will lay out how I am keeping her. Please chime in if you have any thoughts/suggestions. It would be greatly appreciated.
5.5G Tank / Screen Top w/ clips (may put a brick over it too!!)
Organic soil / sand substrate / Sloped / 6.5” at high end and 2” at low
Under tank heat pad – doesn’t create very much heat
The soil is moist but not nearly sopping and I do have a drainage layer of hydroton at the bottom.
Plenty of debris covering substrate (see pic)
100W ceramic heat emitter angled far off to the side
Temps are high 70’s/80F
Room humidity is anywhere from 55-75
I keep it in my chameleon room which is kept in the low 70’s and even cooler at night. So I thought the heat emitter/pad would be helpful. I also have an oscillating fan in the room for air circulation.
From the pic, can anyone positively ID the species? I AM NOT taking any more pics of it – I took 4 pics and that’s all I could handle at the time. Having it lunge at the lens is pretty stressful for me and the spider so I need to leave it be.
I did start a hole for it but this morning it hadn’t done anything with it. Due to the fact it’s a pretty nervous critter, I plan on totally leaving alone for the next few days only to mist it’s enclosure in the morning
Thanks All!!!
-roo
They're so cute when they're angry
