my pet dirt :)

[kormath]

So i have 2 enclosures of pet dirt I keep the water dishes full on. I also drop in a roach and let it roam and explore for a week then remove it to feed it to something else.

This pet dirt also houses my B. albos. I know they'll become more visible as they grow up. and I can lift the enclosure and see them both sitting on the acrylic bottom, so I know they're alive.

I'm guessing they're in premolt as they've been hidden for a few weeks now with their hide and burrow all covered in the tailing from their digging. And that's why the roaches have been left alive, I was hoping Moe and Missingno would come out during the night when i'm asleep and feed, but they seem to be content staying hidden 24/7.

I know they're not starving as their abdomens are still plump, and the sub they're in is moist due to their size and to hold shape. It's a 50/50 ish mix of eco earth and top soil.

So should i keep leaving a roach in there to roam around if they want to eat? Will they come up to feed? I keep imagining something like the sand worms from Tremors as the roach walks (or sprints rather) by. lol Lateralis won't dig so i'm not worried about them interrupting them during molting.

Just wish there was a way to tell they're healthy other than their fat little butt as the run up the burrow when you look at them from the bottom of the enclosure.

 

[MassExodus]

That's all that helps me find my tiny campbridgei, they have web and dirt curtains up now, so I have to look in their tunnels for bloated little butts when I check on them. They're .5 inches and should be molting any time now. One is a great eater, the other is a little timid so far, but it has eaten.

 

[Enn49]

I hate it when I can't see them at all, it's such a relief when they burrow to the side of the container or suddenly a little hole appears in the substrate and you know then they are still alive.

 

[kormath]

yeah no holes in the sub for these guys. I was hoping there was that i couldn't see and the roach would find but so far there is none. Both of these are good eaters, I've watched them bulldog the roaches before when they'd run down the tunnels.

Guess all i can do is wait and till they molt or make holes for food to explore down right?

 

[Enn49]

yeah no holes in the sub for these guys. I was hoping there was that i couldn't see and the roach would find but so far there is none. Both of these are good eaters, I've watched them bulldog the roaches before when they'd run down the tunnels.

Guess all i can do is wait and till they molt or make holes for food to explore down right?

I'm afraid that's all you can do, wait. They will appear, they're tough little Ts. My 3 albos all hid away to begin with but soon their burrows appeared at the sides of their containers and I could watch them scurrying around in their tunnels. at around 1 -1.5" the began to spend more and more time on the surface.

 

[MassExodus]

yeah no holes in the sub for these guys. I was hoping there was that i couldn't see and the roach would find but so far there is none. Both of these are good eaters, I've watched them bulldog the roaches before when they'd run down the tunnels.

Guess all i can do is wait and till they molt or make holes for food to explore down right?

I wouldn't make holes, personally. They may be in premolt. I've always assumed if they web up the entrance tight, they don't want prey wandering down there. If they get hungry, they'll break the dirt curtain entrance and be sitting half out of it, or come out completely. That's been my experience. I hate it when they disappear too but i don't sweat it with slings.

 

[kormath]

I wouldn't make holes, personally. They may be in premolt. I've always assumed if they web up the entrance tight, they don't want prey wandering down there. If they get hungry, they'll break the dirt curtain entrance and be sitting half out of it, or come out completely. That's been my experience. I hate it when they disappear too but i don't sweat it with slings.

I don't make any holes I was just hoping there were some i couldn't see.

I'm pretty sure as fat and dark as they look they're in premolt and should molt soon. So i'm waiting It just made this last feeding day go by way to fast. I only fed 2 of the 9. 3 are buried in premolt now, 3 are too small to eat the roaches i have currently so i'm ordering pinheads tomorrow and a bunch of sub adults to start a colony again. The GBB is really fat and my son doesn't want her fed for a week or 2, so all i got to feed is the genic and the vagans. At least they're ferocious eaters

 

[swimbait]

Just leave them be and take the roaches out.

Side note, instead of feeding your Ts an uneaten roach that has been in a cage with no food for a week, you should just put the roach back in your colony and feed your T's a more gutloaded prey source! Just a suggestion

 

[kormath]

Just leave them be and take the roaches out.

Side note, instead of feeding your Ts an uneaten roach that has been in a cage with no food for a week, you should just put the roach back in your colony and feed your T's a more gutloaded prey source! Just a suggestion

I usually do, or i'll take it's head off and let one of the tiny slings munch on it. It's a 2 day meal for them lol.

 

[swimbait]

I usually do, or i'll take it's head off and let one of the tiny slings munch on it. It's a 2 day meal for them lol.

I would still personally feed slings a more fresh roach, but them being so small it probably doesn't matter much

 

[kormath]

2 of my boxes of dirt are now pet holes. I've been upgraded by the B. albos lol. Both of them now have an opening and the larger one molted recently. I've search everywhere i can see without taking the hide out and messing up the burrow but see no molt for the little one yet. He did snatch up a roach pretty damn fast this evening so maybe he was just hiding out and got hungry

So now i have 3 boxes of dirt and 2 dirt holes

 

[swimbait]

What is the difference between boxes full of dirt and dirt holes

 

[Enn49]

What is the difference between boxes full of dirt and dirt holes

As I see it a box of dirt is usually a sling that has burrowed down and left no sign of its presence whereas a pet hole is a sling that has burrowed leaving a hole on the surface. The very tiny slings tend to disappear but as they grow a hole will become visible on the surface letting you know they are doing ok, always a big relief

 

[swimbait]

As I see it a box of dirt is usually a sling that has burrowed down and left no sign of its presence whereas a pet hole is a sling that has burrowed leaving a hole on the surface. The very tiny slings tend to disappear but as they grow a hole will become visible on the surface letting you know they are doing ok, always a big relief

lol so essentially they had spiders in pre molt and now they don't

 

[Enn49]

lol so essentially they had spiders in pre molt and now they don't

Not necessarily in premoult. I have 1 at the moment that I got 3 months ago and the only time I've seen it was when I rehoused it. When it first arrived it burrowed down covering the entrance behind it. The only clue to it being alive is that food disappears overnight and twice I have found its moult left on the substrate. It lives entirely below ground although I'm sure one day a tiny hole will appear and I'll begin to see it occasionally.

 

[kormath]

As I see it a box of dirt is usually a sling that has burrowed down and left no sign of its presence whereas a pet hole is a sling that has burrowed leaving a hole on the surface. The very tiny slings tend to disappear but as they grow a hole will become visible on the surface letting you know they are doing ok, always a big relief

Exactly! I hate not being able to see a sling and knowing if it's ok or not.

lol so essentially they had spiders in pre molt and now they don't

I assumed they were in pre-molt. The larger B. albo molted and then pushed his molt to the surface, becoming a dirt hole. the smaller albo didn't molt, guess he just got hungry, or else he molted and buried the molt. I can see his tunnel against the side and all the way through from start to finish.

the 2 new ones, G. pulchripes and H. triseriatus are pet dirt now, and the LP is trying but he burrowed down along the corner of the enclosure and hasn't covered the opening yet. Plus he's in full view so i'm not worried about him. He hasn't eaten in a week or 2 but is still plump so maybe he's in pre-molt also. Does the LP show signs of premolt like the Brachys with the dark abdomen?

 

[MassExodus]

Yup, very much so.

 

[swimbait]

Exactly! I hate not being able to see a sling and knowing if it's ok or not.


I assumed they were in pre-molt. The larger B. albo molted and then pushed his molt to the surface, becoming a dirt hole. the smaller albo didn't molt, guess he just got hungry, or else he molted and buried the molt. I can see his tunnel against the side and all the way through from start to finish.

the 2 new ones, G. pulchripes and H. triseriatus are pet dirt now, and the LP is trying but he burrowed down along the corner of the enclosure and hasn't covered the opening yet. Plus he's in full view so i'm not worried about him. He hasn't eaten in a week or 2 but is still plump so maybe he's in pre-molt also. Does the LP show signs of premolt like the Brachys with the dark abdomen?

Your albos were in pre-molt, the other one just decided to keep its molt inside. I can pretty much gurantee your other 2 are also in pre molt. Yes LP show noticeable darkening, especially as slings.

 

[kormath]

Your albos were in pre-molt, the other one just decided to keep its molt inside. I can pretty much gurantee your other 2 are also in pre molt. Yes LP show noticeable darkening, especially as slings.

Hmmm. Guess i'll have to find food he likes then. He's ignoring the pinhead roaches and his color is a light grey still, no change from when he arrived. Maybe i can find a tiny beetle larvae in the cleaning crew and try that.

 

[swimbait]

Hmmm. Guess i'll have to find food he likes then. He's ignoring the pinhead roaches and his color is a light grey still, no change from when he arrived. Maybe i can find a tiny beetle larvae in the cleaning crew and try that.

By this response I assumed, after being buried for some time it came up and ate?

the smaller albo didn't molt, guess he just got hungry, or else he molted and buried the molt.

Did he come up the same size? Chances are they are sac mates and sac mates fed on the same schedule and/or shipped together usually molt on the same schedules. It's very unlikely they both buried themselves and fasted, for one to molt and on to not and just start eating again. However, it is possible, I know brachys can be weird and I don't keep many