Just got a c.crawshayi

[Mike Mosdell]

I just brought this C.Crawshayi from the reptile centre near to where I live. He came with the enclosure he was originally in but considering I thought they were burrowing species, this enclosure looks slightly unsuitable for her. There is a big mound of substrate in the middle but hardly any one side which she stays at, you can see the bottom of the enclosure due to lack of substrate.

She is still a juvenile, at about 2 inches big and am slightly worried about how I could transport her to a bigger enclosure or IF i even need to.

Advice please? ;x

Sorry for the dodgy pics!








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[Peter Lacey]

You're correct, these are burrowing species, and will burrow as deep as you could provide, easily over 24". Ideally you'd want a vertical tank rather than a horizontal one but using your existing tank will suffice. Shops often provide tanks that show off the spider rather than mimic their natural habitat which explains why the substrate isn't too deep.
I suggest you get yourself a cricket tub and either place it over the spider to capture it or attempt to coerce it into the tub using the lid. I'd then suggest you provide substrate filled to the top on one side gradiating to at least 4". Pack it down hard, they are equipped with shovels! Create a starter burrow at the deepest side and the spider will do the rest. Just make sure you leave a gap at the top of the tank for access/cleaning.

I'd suggest you use a substrate with vermiculite and chopped sphagnum moss mixed into either peat or coir and don't let it dry out completely.

[Mike Mosdell]

Well, she has webbed up a large amount of the enclosure so once I've got her in a cricket tub, would it be better to clean up the tank and just redo it? The tank didnt come with any water dish, heat mat..etc but I've placed a heat mat on the side and got a thermometer to keep it around 80F.

I was thinking of cleaning out the current tank, adding the substrate like you said with 4-5" on one side and slowly going down to the other and then adding the water dish, maybe a bit of cork bark..etc.

She seems fine at the moment though, I took the lid off to put a cricket in and she started hissing and gave me a defensive pose!

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Mike, Peter has pretty well covered it all, and I'd say it would be fine to redo the tank it's currently in. Put the cricket tub over her QUICKLY, slide something thin and stiff underneath and lift her out, clean it all out and start again, as she's obviously been unsuitably housed. We have three different sized King Baboons, our big one has taken to a man made hide burried in the substrate, so you could bury a plant pot, make the surface level and deep, make a hole so that it can then dig out the burrow into the pot, that safeguards dissappointing cave-ins. Hissing and defensive pose is normal, but I will warn you they deliver a nasty bite, so be careful. Good luck

[Mike Mosdell]

Also, today she had 3 crickets put into her enclosure by the person who sold it to me. And now they are all gone, I am wondering if perhaps she was under fed by the reptile centre that kept her or if thats normal for her to eat 3 in one day?

Also, she has been sitting into the same position for the past 9 hours and hasnt moved an inch, apart from moving around now and then.

[julie butcher]

we got one of those and shes like a statue havent seen her move still she arrived and was housed.

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Mike, nothing out of the ordinary, if she had a burrow you would'nt see her at all during the day, ours doesn't come out at all until around 11pm. Eating three would be normal, try her with that amount every 5 days, and see what she will settle on. One of our crawyshai will eat 3-4 large crix. and a couple of roaches a week. Get the burrow sorted for her, she'll feel more secure, and see how she goes.

[gary spencer]

mavis

hey there i have a juvenille c.crawshayi about 3inches now she also doesnt come out of her burrow alot shes recently stopped eating so hopefully shes in premolt and maybe grow some as they are really slow growers it seems like they dont grow at all, but its worth the wait when they are,
fingers crossed premolt,

[Mike Mosdell]

My KB never seems to eat, her enclosure has been completely changed and she has around 9 inches of sub to use. Her burrow is about 5 inches down and she always closes the entrance up. She ate like one cricket all of last week and thats only because it fell down her whole :P

Major difference to the Chile Rose I have, now she's a greedy little bugger and will eat anything that comes into her enclosure within seconds. I even accidently put two in at the same time before and she killed one, got it into her mouth and then went and killed the other one

[Mrs Linda Street]

Hi Mike & Gary, please bare in mind that the C. Crawshayi are not a terrestial T, they will spend weeks and weeks in their burrow, webbed up and without eating, it's nothing unusual, they will never act like Chile's or Brachy's it's the way they are. As long as water is always available and their abdomen is not shrivelled they should be fine. Our large female hasn't eaten since early January