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burrows or hides?

laurarfl

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3 Year Member
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38
Location
Central Fl
My birdeater and curly hair like to burrow, but as they grow larger, the burrows collapse. I am currently using coco. Someone suggested giving them a half coconut hide instead. Any suggestions?
 

jetfire

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3 Year Member
Messages
81
Location
chucktown,sc
No matter what you put in the enclosure, the spider's gonna do what it wants to. My fireleg has never tried to burrow, but my Suntiger had built a wicked elaborate tube that runs up one corner of the cage and goes way under the substrate. I've got a decent sized half log cork slab in each enclosure, with the Suntiger's decor oriented vertically, and the fireleg's stuff oriented horizontally. The fireleg barely webs the enclosure at all, just a bit on the underside on the cork slab; the Suntiger has webbed damn near every square inch of tank it seems.
 

Josh

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Laura, what if you could compact the substrate a bit more or maybe add a small amount of soil to help with compaction?
 

Nada

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Arizona USA
I use half (plastic) Flower pots as hides for my large terrestrials. but if you want to assist in burrow integrity, I find a small piece of PVC pipe works well. It's just a start to a burrow, but works well for my burrowers.
 

spider62

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3 Year Member
Messages
23
I like to use the cork/bark rounds and cut them to size. You can partially bury them or place on the substrate wherever you like.
 

spider62

New Member
3 Year Member
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23
Peat is a good choice as it compacsts easier than coco. I like cork bark but plastic containers like plant pots are great for hides/burrows. You can find plastic containers in dollar stores and Walmart.
 

laMort

Member
3 Year Member
Messages
68
Location
Estonia
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I built my future tarantula a 'cave' myself. It needs abrading though.
 

Morgana123

New Member
3 Year Member
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4
Definately need some support for the opening, whether if its coco or peat moss. I use peat. Holds up to any burrow an A. hentzie can make and easily re-designable, as they do eveytime I try to help them. Kenny made an excellent point. I use new black ABS plastic 4" soft sweep 90 degree elbows and split them like a banana, for starter burrow. T's love it, and you don't see the white PVC stuff. And painted white pvc is not my option.
 

Sabeth

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3 Year Member
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816
Location
USA
I've read that you can sink a PVC pipe into the substrate at an angle and the T can use that.
 

ipreventdeath

Active Member
3 Year Member
Messages
242
I like the idea of giving a burrowing species the beginnings of a burrow and let them go off with it. Eventually I'm sure they'll get the idea. From what i understand, most desert species who burrow will prefer a more vertically oriented burrow versus a horizontal one and vica versa with a tropical species. Im not entirely sure on the validity of the argument, but it makes sense to me.
I'm sure plant pot hides are just fine, but I prefer to use large leafy cover that will give them enough space to crawl around underneath. I'm quite positive this is purely a "to each his own" idea, but I think it has aesthetic appeal. The T most likely doesn't care either way. It's just looking a shaded secure spot.
 

DalilahBlue

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For the most part my T's make their own burrows under the pots I give them...only my Rosie has yet to do this.
 

ipreventdeath

Active Member
3 Year Member
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242
For the most part my T's make their own burrows under the pots I give them...only my Rosie has yet to do this.

I've had a lot of luck with my roses burrowing. In fact my female Athena, who has recently mated, is going crazy--excavating out her prestarted burrow making it go much further back in her enclosure. Both of them use their burrow more than anything else.

If you want it to burrow, I would try starting a vertical burrow for the rose and see if it takes to it. I've read that this is what they would do in the wild so it's what I tried.
 

DalilahBlue

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That's what I did when I rehomed her into her current enclosure. She has filled it, and the pot I gave her....
 

pennpets

New Member
3 Year Member
Messages
24
Location
Dover, Pennsylavania
I mix 30% play sand (well cleaned) with 70% coco fiber, and found this works well, especially for my T. stirmi. I also use this for several of my scorpion enclosures. After it is packed down it holds its integrity better than coco mulch alone. Just an idea I thought I would throw out there.
 

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