Haplopelma lividum or not????

[Stephen jordan]

I have it in a large faunarium filled two thirds with substrate its probably 4 -5 inches and have half the tank covered in a small heat mat, temperature flucuates between 26/28 in day and 20/22 at night depending mostly on the air temp in the room, theres a always a hotspot of around 28 degrees constant and the humidity has levelled off around 80%. I do provide a small water bowl too.

[wayne balcombe]

ok, as long as the heat mat is on the side of the tank and not the bottom you have nothing to worry about.

the difficult thing to do is keep the humidity up without growing mould in the tank.

the surface of the substrata will always dry out a little quicker than the rest due to air circulation but if you think about it, your H.Lividum will spend a majority of the time in its burrow where the humidity will be at its highest level so again nothing to worry about.

these spiders are constantly making home improvements so you will notice the turret at the entrance of it burrow getting bigger untill it looks like a little ant hill. to start mine of with a burrow all i did was place a piece of cork bark in the tank and poked a hole in the substrata with my thumb, my lividum found it and continued work on it. she dug straight down vertically to the bottom of the tank then started builting chambers off the main burrow. there quite inpressive little miners.

as i say the only problem you might have with the current levels of humidity is mould but if you do start seeing spots of mould apearing chuck a few woodlice in the tank and let them do there job though be sure to quarantine them for a week first to ensure they arent carrying pesticides.

wayne.

[Stephen jordan]

Thanks Wayne, yes the heat mat is on the side of the tank. It hasnt started to dig yet but it did eat thismorning and i'll keep an eye out for mould. I dont think that poor cricket knew what hit it.

[Matthew Bagley]

I dont think that poor cricket knew what hit it.

Yeah , crickets are notoriously bad at taxonomy .

Glad to here it's happy enough to feed .

[Stephen jordan]

H lividum is doing well

Well after two weeks and a couple of good feeds my Haplopelma lividum has explained to me why it wasnt burrowing or doing a lot in general, it moulted last night. Lucky me managed to catch it at it (thats twice now I've been fortunate enough to witness a moult) I doubt it'll move from it hide now for a while but I guess it explains a few things and with it being a little more active now I'll try and get a few pictures and post them asap I'm just hoping it will eject the moult from the hide as I really dont want to disturb anything to remove it. I cant wait to see my shiny new lividum.

[wayne balcombe]

congratulations mate, look forward to seeing the pics when you upload them and keep us updated.

[Stephen jordan]

Thanks Wayne, I still havent seen it yet, little so and so is still sealed in under its piece of bark.

[wayne balcombe]

leave it for about a week after its moult and then pop in a cricket if its still there the next day take it out and try again a couple of days later, you will probably catch it out late at night hunting.

[Stephen jordan]

The cricket i put in disapeared but what suprised me more was the attack that happened when i lifted the lid to spray the tank lol it werent happy! Atleast i know its ok the earth literally moved as it flew up under the bark and launched itself at me, if im feeling brave tomorrow i'll try and get the exuvium out and get a few pictures!

[gary spencer]

i had an adult female haplopelma lividuim and she was quite the speedy lady and quite unpredictable at times but as long as you treat it with the respect they deserve they shouldnt be a problem. mine often ventured out at nigt but as soon as it felt your foot steps thats it off she went.
as cage maintenance went when i had to dig her out every 6months or so sometimes she would be still even when i scooped her up in to container and other times she would just go pshyco and i mean nutty its like she just turned into a raging bag of hormoanes but i expected that reaction everytime i did maintenance but she often supprised me with calm and motionlessness. I would recomend you get this t as its a really nice and unpridictable and an amazing site when mature female when you get the chance to see it ithat is. just be always alert and give it the repect it needs and there should be no reason why not.

[Stephen jordan]

At last

Finally got the Exuvium out and managed to get a picture

[Stephen jordan]

H Lividum

There it is!

[gary spencer]

nice pic

Absolutley stunning spider to look at when you get the chances

[Mrs Linda Street]

She looks great Stephen

[Stephen jordan]

Thanks Linda, Yes she does great spider and most of the time very shy and calm but she doesnt like it much when I mist the tank. Very proud owner