Thought about possible way to keep trapdoor spiders...

[schmiggle]

...so that you can actually see them . I've never actually tried, but everyone seems to agree that at best they're pet holes that you rarely, if ever, see out in the open.

Allow me to digress for a bit. People keeping ants have a problem because they would like to see their ants inside the nest, rather than just foraging for food. Most people will premake a burrow (which the ants are perfectly happy to use), but another solution is to put two glass or plastic sheets very close together, seal them with wood, tape, etc., and then just put in some dirt. If done right, the set-up is thin enough that the ants are forced to tunnel near the glass, where they can be seen.

Could a similar set up be used for trapdoor spiders? I assume they would be unhappy with a pre-built burrow for the most part, but I have seen at least one that made its burrow partly near glass. With some careful planning, I think that kind of terrarium would make a much more visible trapdoor spider.

 

[Biollantefan54]

Many people use a pre-made burrow so they can choose where there trapdoors will be but it doesn't work well for seeing them. Once they start digging and settling in, they usually put a thick layer of webbing around the entire burrow making it where you can't see them, even if they burrow against the side of the enclosure.

 

[sschind]

Many people use a pre-made burrow so they can choose where there trapdoors will be but it doesn't work well for seeing them. Once they start digging and settling in, they usually put a thick layer of webbing around the entire burrow making it where you can't see them, even if they burrow against the side of the enclosure.

Exactly. Like I said in another thread when I sold mine the webbing I pulled out was like a tube sock. No way to see through it.

Its a good thought though and I have had some luck with other Spiders doing something similar. I had a huge L parahybana that I gave a large tank with a narrow space to burrow by the front glass and then covered the glass with black paper and only opened it occasionally and it lasted almost a year before it got to the point where I couldn't see her anymore. I also had an adult female P. regalis that was content to hang out on the back of a piece of cork without webbing too much as long as I kept the back three sides of her hex tank covered.