Trapdoor spider

[Robert Martin]

Hi peeps,

I've bought a trapdoor spider today and i can't find any good sites or information on care and housing.
I bought it off the internet so i want to get everything ready for it before it arrives.
Can anyone point me in the direction of any good sites or if anyone else keeps them and got any advice it'll be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Rob

[James Box]

what's the species and where is it from?
should give you a starting point for a google search...
i think the main thing they have in common is the obvious need for several inches of deep soil to burrow into.

[wesley flower]

hi rob i have had a few spp all i have found tricky to keep, i found that a tall sweet over 3/4 filled with a compressed slightly moist substrate worked for me and the spp that i had. i did not keep them to hot prob a high of 75 degrees F and a low of 65 degrees F and i offered food sparingly prob once a fortnight, i also kept the substraight a little damp not wet but not dry as a bone.
hope this helps

cheers

wes

[Robert Martin]

Thanks for your replies.

James, it's a Gordyrella sp from the spider shop (orange trapdoor spider),i've tried googling it and it just comes up with forum discussions mainly. I was after some good sites with perhaps pictures of enclosures.

Thanks for your advice Wes. I was thinking of making my own enclosure, tall and thin so when it burrows i'd hopefully see it. When you say you found them difficult to keep, what made them difficult and how long did they live for?

Cheers both,

Rob

[wesley flower]

i was unsure of the spp and jumped in thinking that they needed care the same as a Theraphosid, well they do but not the care i was giving, as at first i kept the quite dry. i did not at first add a hide to the enclosure and the spider was sat exposed and seemed stressed, when i added a hide it immediatly borrowed, i removed the hide and it started eating like a horse (yes loads of nuts and hay lol). what i found was that with unsuitable conditions the spiders would not settle, as soon as the conditions were suitable i noticed more natural settled behaviour and the fast ended.

[Stanley A. Schultz]

... I've bought a trapdoor spider today and i can't find any good sites or information on care and housing. ...

Go to any of the various message boards/forums and perform a search for trapdoor. Put on another pot of coffee. You're going to be up all night reading!

Here are a few good places to start:

This forum. Click the Search link in the black banner above.

http://atshq.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=1

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/index.php

There are lots more. Maybe others on this board can suggest other good message boards.

[Robert Martin]

Hello again,

Thanks for those links Stanley, I found some good info in some of the discussions. I'm confident that i can set up a good environment for it now.

It arrived today and it is fierce. I only have to pick the tub up and its biting continuously till i put it down. I think you've got to give them alot of respect.

I'll post up some pics of the spider and the set up i've made soon. Hopefully other people starting out with their first trapdoor will get ideas like i've been searching for.

Thanks for your help everyone.

Rob

[Robert Martin]

Right people. Here's some pics...

This is the tank i made using wood and perspex. I glued aquarium background on the wood and sealed around it with sylicone.

Here's a view of the perspex lid.

Here she is moved in. I used a mixture of peat and cactus compost for substrate with scattered moss and cork on top.

Here's the little girl.

Here she is in threat display. You can see her eyes quite well.!!

Isn't she lovely!

She hadn't burrowed since i housed her which was beginning of last week and i was getting worried but much to my joy i found she's finally buried herself today...

Hope you all like the pics.

Rob

[Grant Brown]

Thats a really nice set up there. How much did that cost to assemble? (if you don't mind me asking).

[Matthew Baines]

When i had my silver trapdoor i gave him a helping hand by making a hole in the soil with my finger . The trapdoor spider should do the rest from there on in.

[steven_law]

Right people. Here's some pics...

This is the tank i made using wood and perspex. I glued aquarium background on the wood and sealed around it with sylicone.

Here's a view of the perspex lid.

Here she is moved in. I used a mixture of peat and cactus compost for substrate with scattered moss and cork on top.

Here's the little girl.

Here she is in threat display. You can see her eyes quite well.!!

Isn't she lovely!

She hadn't burrowed since i housed her which was beginning of last week and i was getting worried but much to my joy i found she's finally buried herself today...

Hope you all like the pics.

Rob

does the lid just sit ontop??