Fossorial Enclosure advice please

[ellie1600]

I have 2 fossorial species that are relatively new to my collection- a Chilobrachys sp. Vietnam Blue and a Cerotogyrus Darlingi. Both are small juvies and only one is (supposedly) sexed as a female. When I got them, I moved them into small plasic 4" square x 3" high containers with plenty of ventilation. I put plenty of substrate into the Chilobrachys container (appx 2") and for some reason, I THOUGHT I put plenty of sub into C. Darlingi's enclosure, but after it settled and after "she" moved over and over and over it, it has settled down a LOT- so, only appx. 1.5" deep. I have had them appx. 2 months. Darlingi had a little webbing at the beginning, but in the last week, she is webbing like CRAAZZZYY!! She is webbing day and night. My understanding is that this happens when fossorial species dont have enough burrowing space and it is stressful for them. I ache when my hairy babies are hurting in ANY way, so if I need to get more substrate or rehouse, I just need to know. My gut says yes, but Im new to fossorials- so I need a second opinion here. I just bought some new 4" square x 8" high clear amex boxes and drilled the holes...so I could use those....if you guys think that would be better. OR, I can order something different. She is appx. 1.5-2" at this moment. She never lets me get a good measurement...shes shy. When shes out & still, her legs are pulled in & shes 1.25", so, im going off of that....lol! Any advice would be great. If I can get a better measurement today, Ill post below. Thank you!!!

 

[ellie1600]

That measurement is accurate. She is at least 1.5" without being totally stretched

 

[menavodi]

If your tarantula is 2” your container is much too small. I would use a plastic container 12” x 8” at least. They love to dig so more soil is always better.

 

[ellie1600]

Ok. Thank you so much!!!!!

 

[menavodi]

This is one of my Chilobrachys and she has about 6” of soil.

 

[WolfSpider]

Darlingi's are often the exception to the rule. Though fossorial, they sometimes like to be out in the open a lot--no matter how much substrate you have.

 

[Kennystaranrulas]

I have 2 fossorial species that are relatively new to my collection- a Chilobrachys sp. Vietnam Blue and a Cerotogyrus Darlingi. Both are small juvies and only one is (supposedly) sexed as a female. When I got them, I moved them into small plasic 4" square x 3" high containers with plenty of ventilation. I put plenty of substrate into the Chilobrachys container (appx 2") and for some reason, I THOUGHT I put plenty of sub into C. Darlingi's enclosure, but after it settled and after "she" moved over and over and over it, it has settled down a LOT- so, only appx. 1.5" deep. I have had them appx. 2 months. Darlingi had a little webbing at the beginning, but in the last week, she is webbing like CRAAZZZYY!! She is webbing day and night. My understanding is that this happens when fossorial species dont have enough burrowing space and it is stressful for them. I ache when my hairy babies are hurting in ANY way, so if I need to get more substrate or rehouse, I just need to know. My gut says yes, but Im new to fossorials- so I need a second opinion here. I just bought some new 4" square x 8" high clear amex boxes and drilled the holes...so I could use those....if you guys think that would be better. OR, I can order something different. She is appx. 1.5-2" at this moment. She never lets me get a good measurement...shes shy. When shes out & still, her legs are pulled in & shes 1.25", so, im going off of that....lol! Any advice would be great. If I can get a better measurement today, Ill post below. Thank you!!!

Id say as long as the substrait is 3 to 4 times their legspan they are gonna thrive. Don't stress as long as you are doing everything you can to accommodate their needs they are very hardy creatures! You can always message me if you have any questions i will be glad to answer within my ability.

 

[Kennystaranrulas]

I have 2 fossorial species that are relatively new to my collection- a Chilobrachys sp. Vietnam Blue and a Cerotogyrus Darlingi. Both are small juvies and only one is (supposedly) sexed as a female. When I got them, I moved them into small plasic 4" square x 3" high containers with plenty of ventilation. I put plenty of substrate into the Chilobrachys container (appx 2") and for some reason, I THOUGHT I put plenty of sub into C. Darlingi's enclosure, but after it settled and after "she" moved over and over and over it, it has settled down a LOT- so, only appx. 1.5" deep. I have had them appx. 2 months. Darlingi had a little webbing at the beginning, but in the last week, she is webbing like CRAAZZZYY!! She is webbing day and night. My understanding is that this happens when fossorial species dont have enough burrowing space and it is stressful for them. I ache when my hairy babies are hurting in ANY way, so if I need to get more substrate or rehouse, I just need to know. My gut says yes, but Im new to fossorials- so I need a second opinion here. I just bought some new 4" square x 8" high clear amex boxes and drilled the holes...so I could use those....if you guys think that would be better. OR, I can order something different. She is appx. 1.5-2" at this moment. She never lets me get a good measurement...shes shy. When shes out & still, her legs are pulled in & shes 1.25", so, im going off of that....lol! Any advice would be great. If I can get a better measurement today, Ill post below. Thank you!!!

Id say as long as the substrait is 3 to 4 times their legspan they are gonna thrive. Don't stress as long

This is one of my Chilobrachys and she has about 6” of soil.
View attachment 58245

looks great!
as you are doing everything you can to accommodate their needs they are very hardy creatures! You can always message me if you have any questions i will be glad to answer within my

 

[Tarantulafeets]

Next time you rehouse them, I would press down and make the substrate compact so that you know exactly how much you put in there. For fossorials, I use used coffee cups, as they provide plenty of height to dig.

 

[octanejunkie]

For young fossorial, sub 2", 4x4x8 amac boxes work well. Something like this

Made these

I'm sure these will come in handy someday. The first enclosure was previously occupied by our first A. avicularia sling and was drilled on all 4 sides at the time. The bottom row of holes is 4" from the bottom. The holes are 3/32" in size and are spaced 0.4" apart. The second enclosure is a...

www.tarantulaforum.com

Once they pass the 2-3" mark I'd move them to Zilla or similar top opening 8x8x12 with 8" of packed substrate. Always pack the substrate down, it holds shape, tunnels, and moisture better when packed down.

If you want to see them, bury an inverted 32oz deli cup, hot-glued to the bottom of the enclosure. This will force the spider to the perimeter of the enclosure, allowing you to see them in the burrow untill they web the tunnels up. This is called a tank within a tank and is explained in the Tarantula Keepers Guide.

 

[ellie1600]

Next time you rehouse them, I would press down and make the substrate compact so that you know exactly how much you put in there. For fossorials, I use used coffee cups, as they provide plenty of height to dig.

Height to dig? Coffee cups? Can you explain what you mean?

 

[ellie1600]

For young fossorial, sub 2", 4x4x8 amac boxes work well. Something like this
View attachment 58251

Made these

I'm sure these will come in handy someday. The first enclosure was previously occupied by our first A. avicularia sling and was drilled on all 4 sides at the time. The bottom row of holes is 4" from the bottom. The holes are 3/32" in size and are spaced 0.4" apart. The second enclosure is a...

www.tarantulaforum.com

Once they pass the 2-3" mark I'd move them to Zilla or similar top opening 8x8x12 with 8" of packed substrate. Always pack the substrate down, it holds shape, tunnels, and moisture better when packed down.

If you want to see them, bury an inverted 32oz deli cup, hot-glued to the bottom of the enclosure. This will force the spider to the perimeter of the enclosure, allowing you to see them in the burrow untill they web the tunnels up. This is called a tank within a tank and is explained in the Tarantula Keepers Guide.

This is awesome! I JUST bought 6 new 4" squared x 8" H amac boxes online and drilled the holes yesterday. I set up 3; rehousing my P. Ornata, P. Irminia and Ummidia- "Cork-Lid Trapdoor". I have 3 extras, so if you think I can get by a few more months (financially, that would be amazing!!) before buying a 12x12x15 or so, then, I would much prefer to use these. I also hate to rehouse too often....

 

[Tarantulafeets]

Height to dig? Coffee cups? Can you explain what you mean?

Here's my H gigas enclosure:

 

[ellie1600]

Here's my H gigas enclosure:
View attachment 58280

Gotcha! For some reason, I thought you meant a glass cup...inside the enclosure. I was totally confused....
My son wants an H. Gigas so badly. I'm just dying to design the enclosure when he does finally get one (and it gets big enough to have a cool terrarium with h2o and possibly fish). Thanks for explaining this to me