H. gigas Rehousing

[Tortoise Tom]

This was my surprise freebie from Casey, and I love her, but I didn't like the way I originally had her housed:

This enclosure was too short to put enough substrate in for burrowing, and the main problem was that I put the cave opening directly under the little door flap on the top of the cage. I just knew that one day, I'd open that little flap to drop a roach in and she'd fly out of the tunnel and tag my finger. No thanks.

I like the new enclosure much better, but I'm not sure she does yet:

Its a 5 gallon cube. I put the water up top because I know she's going to excavate and it would just fill up with coir if I'd left it at the bottom of the slope.

Please point out any glaring errors and tips for improvement are welcome.

 

[Dave Jay]

It looks good to me. Baboons are supposed to be similar to Australian species so perhaps the only suggestion I could pass on would be to have a few anchor points closer to the entrance of the hide. Advice I was given when I set up enclosures, some of my spiders used the anchor points, some didn't, they varied a lot even within a species.

 

[Tortoise Tom]

It looks good to me. Baboons are supposed to be similar to Australian species so perhaps the only suggestion I could pass on would be to have a few anchor points closer to the entrance of the hide. Advice I was given when I set up enclosures, some of my spiders used the anchor points, some didn't, they varied a lot even within a species.

Anchor points? I don't know what you mean Dave. Like twigs to attach web to? Please explain. I'm eager to learn.

 

[Dave Jay]

Anchor points? I don't know what you mean Dave. Like twigs to attach web to? Please explain. I'm eager to learn.

Yeah, I scratched my head over that at first, as you worked out it means plants or other structure to anchor their web to. It was advice I was given although I found they'll use the sides of the tank just as much. With 5 of the same species I'm keeping 3 used them , 2 just made burrows with very little webbing.
I have to point out that I've only been keeping tarantulas since February, and I live in Australia so will never have experience with the species you keep. I have however read that "Baboon" species are similar to Australian species so I thought I'd pass on the advice given to me when setting up enclosures for burrowing Australian species, at worst you spent a little time adding extra plant pieces that the spider doesn't use but make your enclosure look slightly better, best case your spider has more than just a hole in the ground.
To me your enclosure looks very much like other terrestrial enclosures I've seen on forums so I don't think there's any crucial changes to be made, I was just passing on advice that I was given that benefitted some of my spiders at least.

 

[Tortoise Tom]

Yeah, I scratched my head over that at first, as you worked out it means plants or other structure to anchor their web to. It was advice I was given although I found they'll use the sides of the tank just as much. With 5 of the same species I'm keeping 3 used them , 2 just made burrows with very little webbing.
I have to point out that I've only been keeping tarantulas since February, and I live in Australia so will never have experience with the species you keep. I have however read that "Baboon" species are similar to Australian species so I thought I'd pass on the advice given to me when setting up enclosures for burrowing Australian species, at worst you spent a little time adding extra plant pieces that the spider doesn't use but make your enclosure look slightly better, best case your spider has more than just a hole in the ground.
To me your enclosure looks very much like other terrestrial enclosures I've seen on forums so I don't think there's any crucial changes to be made, I was just passing on advice that I was given that benefitted some of my spiders at least.

Thank you Dave.

 

[Tortoise Tom]

She has settled in nicely and dug all the way to the back corner of the enclosure and all the way to the bottom. Lucky for me, she's dug all the substrate away from the back glass and I have a perfect view into her secret lair. Here she is munching on a roach tonight:

I've now leaned a piece of cardboard up against this area to keep it dark and block her view of any movement in the room. Hopefully, she'll keep it clear and I'll be able to sneak a peak now and then.

 

[Whitelightning777]

Nicely done!!

Who makes that 5 gallon cube & how much? How does it open and close?

The clarity is amazing. You can also vary the amount of substrate to prevent fall hazards if it hangs around on the glass all the time.

 

[Tortoise Tom]

Nicely done!!

Who makes that 5 gallon cube & how much? How does it open and close?

The clarity is amazing. You can also vary the amount of substrate to prevent fall hazards if it hangs around on the glass all the time.

I've had this cube for decades. I can't remember the maker and it doesn't say it anywhere. Half the top is fixed heavy duty 1/4" mesh hardware cloth and then there is a plastic hinge that allows the glass half to be opened. A little swinging plastic latch holds the glass half of the lid shut. I have another old 5 gallon cube sitting right next to this one that houses my OBT, but that one has "oak" colored trim and the whole lid is one sliding piece of plastic framed 1/4" hardware cloth. I'll snap a pic for you today. Each of these cubes has been home to a number of tarantulas over the years. Rose hairs, B. smithi, G. pulchra, G. aureostriata… At least these were the names in use at the time they lived in my cubes.

So far she hasn't left terra firma in either enclosure.