Soil conditions for a burrowing King Baboon (Pelinobius Muticus)

Hello all,
I recently acquired a lovely King Baboon sling (~2") and I'm a little concerned about his substrate. Posts I've found here suggest keeping their substrate dry, which I did in preparation for his arrival, but I can't help but feel that dry coconut fiber (Eco Earth) has very little structural value. For example, as he was scampering about after fleeing the shipping container, him simply running over the starter burrow I made caused it to partially/mostly collapse. I have packed this substrate down about as hard as I could, going as far as to put the enclosure on the ground and put my bodyweight into it. I've searched posts all over AB, but I'm still a little concerned. Am I overreacting?

Was it dry when you were packing it down? If you moisten it, pack it down, then dry it out it will hold shape much better. Also T's use their webbing to reinforce their burrows so that will help it keep its shape

Dry substrate is perfectly fine for tarantula burrowing, if they want to make a burrow, they will use their silk to hold it together.

Awesome. I moistened it and packed it down, but my logic was that it wouldn't dry out enough by the time the package arrived and he'd refuse to burrow in damp substrate. That and the evaporation was making the dirt kind of cold. So I nuked it for a bit to dry it out.

lacrosse5001 said:

Awesome. I moistened it and packed it down, but my logic was that it wouldn't dry out enough by the time the package arrived and he'd refuse to burrow in damp substrate. That and the evaporation was making the dirt kind of cold. So I nuked it for a bit to dry it out.

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If there is no moisture, it won't pack down nearly as tightly. I think you are exhibiting yet another classic "overthinking" of the situation so common with newer t owners. Like said, they use silk to line their burrows, making them surprisingly stable.

I'm envious, P. muticus is currently #1 on my wish list.

To be honest, I was shocked to see a two inch sling for $36. <edit>

Doesn't matter how tight you pack it. Your King Baboon is going to rearrange things to its liking. Then it is going to rearrange the substrate again and again, it's what they do

I used peat moss for mine as it holds its shape well enough for my sling to do whatever it wants. A simple water dish will keep it happy or you can drip a little water down the burrow too; either will work. The tunnel complex that mine has is very impressive and you wouldn't think it would hold but it does. They will arrange their cage constantly so don't be too surprised.

cold blood said:

If there is no moisture, it won't pack down nearly as tightly. I think you are exhibiting yet another classic "overthinking" of the situation so common with newer t owners. Like said, they use silk to line their burrows, making them surprisingly stable.

I'm envious, P. muticus is currently #1 on my wish list.

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They were number one on my wish list as well, and I recently picked up 3 half inchers at $23 a piece….PM me if you are interested in details! Praying for a female! These little guys are nervous and they are decent eaters so far…mostly night time although one is bolder than the others and will eat early in the day. They run around a lot if I open their lids, even though they have burrows. They do not however, run over hill and dale the way OBT does.