Very odd trapdoor spider behaviour!

[Nacnac]

Also even that burrow he ate from the first one it was very shallow like he really did not want to dig threw it at all

 

[Nacnac]

Update… I was going to wait since it’s only been one day but a lot already happened liphistus sp sling took to a drain pre tunnel I made in a corner and in one day has the trap door in place and waiting at door for food. Also to ad to this when I ordered my liphistus sling I ordered 5 T slings and put them on straight jungle mix I had this substrate left over from Pac-Man frog and figured be ok but when I did a check up on t slings to not a single one is on the substrate every single one is on the wall of container and there all terrestrial but two of them this behavior is not new since I used the jungle mix my b.Hamorri has stayed on top of his cork wood burrow. Way more than has spent inside the substrate under the cork wood burrow. Again I am not bashing any thing I am just sharing my experience with what this post title is. At least I can fix it and thanks to a lot of you also noticed. Please feel free to put your thoughts or your feelings of this substrate jungle mix hell it could be something else but so far looking like culprit. I won’t say jungle mix is the problem I will be changing two sling substrate to reptisoil and 2 will stay in jungle mix and will keep posting thank god as of today my beautiful trap door looks happy for his first time in 9 days

 

[Nacnac]

Update… I was going to wait since it’s only been one day but a lot already happened liphistus sp sling took to a drain pre tunnel I made in a corner and in one day has the trap door in place and waiting at door for food. Also to ad to this when I ordered my liphistus sling I ordered 5 T slings and put them on straight jungle mix I had this substrate left over from Pac-Man frog and figured be ok but when I did a check up on t slings to not a single one is on the substrate every single one is on the wall of container and there all terrestrial but two of them this behavior is not new since I used the jungle mix my b.Hamorri has stayed on top of his cork wood burrow. Way more than has spent inside the substrate under the cork wood burrow. Again I am not bashing any thing I am just sharing my experience with what this post title is. At least I can fix it and thanks to a lot of you also noticed. Please feel free to put your thoughts or your feelings of this substrate jungle mix hell it could be something else but so far looking like culprit. I won’t say jungle mix is the problem I will be changing two sling substrate to reptisoil and 2 will stay in jungle mix and will keep posting thank god as of today my beautiful trap door looks happy for his first time in 9 days

Also for the b.hamorri he has a tiny cap water dish and the substrate moist level is really just perfect I moist just half the substrate and he still does not prefer either side just off of the substrate temp in room is 75 and my aboreal species there doing amazing I mean but there not on substrate to so ya all I am doing is just logging what’s going on is all thank you for your time in reading.

 

[Edan bandoot]

Update… I was going to wait since it’s only been one day but a lot already happened liphistus sp sling took to a drain pre tunnel I made in a corner and in one day has the trap door in place and waiting at door for food. Also to ad to this when I ordered my liphistus sling I ordered 5 T slings and put them on straight jungle mix I had this substrate left over from Pac-Man frog and figured be ok but when I did a check up on t slings to not a single one is on the substrate every single one is on the wall of container and there all terrestrial but two of them this behavior is not new since I used the jungle mix my b.Hamorri has stayed on top of his cork wood burrow. Way more than has spent inside the substrate under the cork wood burrow. Again I am not bashing any thing I am just sharing my experience with what this post title is. At least I can fix it and thanks to a lot of you also noticed. Please feel free to put your thoughts or your feelings of this substrate jungle mix hell it could be something else but so far looking like culprit. I won’t say jungle mix is the problem I will be changing two sling substrate to reptisoil and 2 will stay in jungle mix and will keep posting thank god as of today my beautiful trap door looks happy for his first time in 9 days

Pack the substrate down, spiders don't like loose substrate

 

[Nacnac]

Pack the substrate down, spiders don't like loose substrate

Yes thank you for mentioning that, that is something I as well did even more than the previous time setting up. I just finished the b.hamorii rehouse with reptisoil like I did trapdoor and I read this and I packed even more than before the b hamorii ran straight under cork bark and has stayed in burrow for hour that is improvement already. To soon to tell but tomarow will send another update and than I’ll do one ever my week unless any thing changes. So that’s the update on b.hamorii liphistus update is as follows this is second day for him in the new substrate since weird behaviors he has not come out of burrow so cross fingers good sign so today I felt confident putting in a wax worm by his burrow and will see tonight if he eats if not I’ll pull it out and let him continue building with out feeders in tank or I’ll pre kill it and set it at distance of his door. But to summarize he seems happy but still really to soon to tell. To and this time every two inches of substrate I would spray a little water moist pack down with spoon I don not put all my weight on it but I mean I used spoon and packed soil and did that every two inches with 8 inches of substrate. I left a corner open down to bottom so I can water lower levels and this spider decides to pick that burrow to live in thought that was funny. Ty for posting that it’s a good reminder. And added a little buffer later at bottom so water does not well make mud on bottom and able to evaporate well. He looks happy

 

[Nacnac]

It’s weird all my adults I cant even remember what the substrate was but this was the first time ever using jungle mix I know that. But kind of why blogging this. Sorry if long read. Just I know this is where to go to figure out problems and get the best info cause I tell you what trapdoors I am very very green and some smart people on here lol

 

[Nacnac]

So update with substrate of my liphistus it has been 3 days now off jungle mix and on reptisoil my spider has not ventured out nor abandoned burrow like before and also has finally taken a feeder all looking good. Also the b Hamorii that I also change substrate like my trapdoor has burrowed and made its own burrow instead of previously never going below ground. Also Tuesday Iberesia sp. Spain will be arriving another rare trapdoor will keep updates

 

[Nacnac]

Question since liphistus is considered a moist condition spider thought of throwing in some spring tales would it agitate them or is it good idea since well won’t be rehousing for years. Thanks

 

[Edan bandoot]

Question since liphistus is considered a moist condition spider thought of throwing in some spring tales would it agitate them or is it good idea since well won’t be rehousing for years. Thanks

springtails are fine

 

[Nacnac]

Thank you ya cause it looks like he she is bearing the bolis to where I’ll never be able to get them so dpring tales will help a ton thank you

 

[Nacnac]

Ok this will be my last update. Well a conclusion for the topic of this post since the original guy had the same problem as me but never posted end result but I had the exact same problem and here is conclusion it has been about three weeks since the beginning of post of weird trapdoor behavior and they are so happy. Liphistus has not left burrow in fact has made a bad ass burrow and lid. He she is on a feeding schedule of twice a week and has not missed one feeding day eating like a beast and has not abandoned same burrow since new substrate. Also during this I bought a Ibe. Sp Spain trapdoor and also has made a door and burrow and ate for first time yesterday. All my sling t.s have also burrowed and eating so ya all in all winning.

 

[charles007]

I would say the behaviour likely continued and the spider died, cocofibre is a poor substrate choice for most trapdoors. This is especially the case with Barychelidae, which have extra specialised feet with claw tufts like tarantulas, and that are way more sensitive to their environment than most over families I've kept. Never generalise trapdoor husbandry

What kind of substrate is good then? My California trap door is doing the same exact behavior as the one described
I found it outside on its back after it rained but it looked as if it were dying not molting
Now it just sits in the premade burrow and as soon as I try to feed it it gets scared

 

[RezonantVoid]

What kind of substrate is good then? My California trap door is doing the same exact behavior as the one described
I found it outside on its back after it rained but it looked as if it were dying not molting
Now it just sits in the premade burrow and as soon as I try to feed it it gets scared

Sure it isn't a wandering mature male? They do not live long once matured and won't burrow even if housed correctly as all they want to do is find a female in the short time they have left.

But I would house them on soft crumbly sandy clay, a mix that isn't sticky and wet but that still holds its shape well when compacted. The best way to achieve this is literally using wild soil, and it's all the easier if they live around your area

 

[Nacnac]

Sure it isn't a wandering mature male? They do not live long once matured and won't burrow even if housed correctly as all they want to do is find a female in the short time they have left.

But I would house them on soft crumbly sandy clay, a mix that isn't sticky and wet but that still holds its shape well when compacted. The best way to achieve this is literally using wild soil, and it's all the easier if they live around your area

Ya exactly what RezonantVoid said if it’s not a male and is doing what mine was same thing your saying I did find a mix that is called reptisoil it is basically exactly what RezonantVoid said just expensive but ya if you have any more questions post and updates a lot of smart people on here.

 

[charles007]

Sure it isn't a wandering mature male? They do not live long once matured and won't burrow even if housed correctly as all they want to do is find a female in the short time they have left.

But I would house them on soft crumbly sandy clay, a mix that isn't sticky and wet but that still holds its shape well when compacted. The best way to achieve this is literally using wild soil, and it's all the easier if they live around your area

Yeah actually it is a male, that explains a lot
I guess it’s why he won’t eat anything. For future reference though, where can I get a sandy clay mix ?

 

[Edan bandoot]

Yeah actually it is a male, that explains a lot
I guess it’s why he won’t eat anything. For future reference though, where can I get a sandy clay mix ?

Let it go if it's a male

 

[RezonantVoid]

Yeah actually it is a male, that explains a lot
I guess it’s why he won’t eat anything. For future reference though, where can I get a sandy clay mix ?

No worries at all, probably best to release him so he can find a female.

Once again, the best bet with trapdoors is using wild soil local to them where possible. Some hobbyists tend to look negatively upon wild materials for fear of contamination/parasites, I never have issues doing this and if the area you harvest from is fairly clean and unpolluted I don't think there'd be much of a risk. You cannot get any better response to an enclosure from a spider than when using natural soil. If you found the spider near your house that means you could probably just go besides a road nearby and dig up a small plastic tub worth of top soil, I do this for most of my trapdoors but due to the variety I keep I have to get different soils from a few different locations.

If you're unable to gather it personally, some others have had success using various brands of clay clumping kitty litter, and combining it with desert sand. As long as the clay kitty litter isn't scented and doesn't have additives, it should be fine, but it may be tricky to get the consistency right

 

[charles007]

No worries at all, probably best to release him so he can find a female.

Once again, the best bet with trapdoors is using wild soil local to them where possible. Some hobbyists tend to look negatively upon wild materials for fear of contamination/parasites, I never have issues doing this and if the area you harvest from is fairly clean and unpolluted I don't think there'd be much of a risk. You cannot get any better response to an enclosure from a spider than when using natural soil. If you found the spider near your house that means you could probably just go besides a road nearby and dig up a small plastic tub worth of top soil, I do this for most of my trapdoors but due to the variety I keep I have to get different soils from a few different locations.

If you're unable to gather it personally, some others have had success using various brands of clay clumping kitty litter, and combining it with desert sand. As long as the clay kitty litter isn't scented and has additives, it should be fine, but it may be tricky to get the consistency right

Damn yeah I will release him then it makes sense, although it’s starting to rain pretty hard I’m gonna wait til it’s sunny for a couple of days