Keeping Aussie T's in the future

For those who are keeping Australian T species and other OW T's:
I'll be acquiring three T's, B. emilia, G. pulchripes and P. canceridies. I'm hoping that once I'm more comfortable with all of them I'll feel confident to move up to the Phlogius and Selenocosmia species mainly. Mainly with the P. canceridies I'm hoping to gain experience with defensive T's and hopefully that'll prepare me for the Aussie T's.

For those who keep Phlogius and Selencosmia species, how are they kept and their defensiveness? Would a P. canceridies prove to be similar in temperaments? I know individuals vary, but I was just curious.

I have a phlogius sp. black... It's a sling so I keep it like all my other slings; on damp substrate.
It completely webbed the whole enclosure and created a volcano shaped burrow.
It's very secretive and I hardly ever see it. I really haven't had it very long, so I can't say a lot about it yet. But I didn't have any issues with it when I unpacked it. It seems similar to my C. Fimbriatus in the sense that it's stubborn and doesn't like to take direction... But it's never shown any aggression to me in the time I've had it .

I have 3 species of Phlogius. They love to dig and construct impressive tunnels. I keep them in moist substrate (not wet) with moderate ventilation, basically like any other Asian terrestrial. I start them in 32 oz deli cups, then shoeboxes, and finally sweater boxes. They're not confrontational yet as juveniles, but are very fast. They'll be out when they're hungry, especially at night.

You should definitely get more experience with other fast, feisty species before owning Phlogius. For an intermediary stage, Phormictopus, Pamphobeteus, Psalmopeous are good NW's, and Ceratogyrus and Hysterocrates are good OW's.

Poec54 said:

I have 3 species of Phlogius. They love to dig and construct impressive tunnels. I keep them in moist substrate (not wet) with moderate ventilation, basically like any other Asian terrestrial. I start them in 32 oz deli cups, then shoeboxes, and finally sweater boxes. They're not confrontational yet as juveniles, but are very fast. They'll be out when they're hungry, especially at night.

You should definitely get more experience with other fast, feisty species before owning Phlogius. For an intermediary stage, Phormictopus, Pamphobeteus, Psalmopeous are good NW's, and Ceratogyrus and Hysterocrates are good OW's.

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I'll actually be getting my first T's today, Phormictopus included in the trio. Not to jump ahead or anything, but for my next set of T's after I feel comforable with the ones I have are probably going to be M. balfouri, I. mira and H. gigas. Then I'd like to get into Phlogius (I'd like to acquire all of this genus) and Selencosmia (all of this genus as well). Haven't heard too much on the behavior of the Selencosmia genus but I'll look into it more.

Don't mean to double post but I still had some questions for the future:
I've heard for the species Chilobrachys, Selenocosmia and Phlogius species saturated substrate is a must. By that, it just means it has to be moist and not wet right? If so, how do you keep it moist without having condensation? I remember having that problem with what I thought was pretty dry sub, but is having condensation with those species fine or? I understand it needs to be well ventilated and I plan on getting isopods since I've heard that it's almost a must for such an environment.

Pampho85 said:

Don't mean to double post but I still had some questions for the future:
I've heard for the species Chilobrachys, Selenocosmia and Phlogius species saturated substrate is a must. By that, it just means it has to be moist and not wet right? If so, how do you keep it moist without having condensation? I remember having that problem with what I thought was pretty dry sub, but is having condensation with those species fine or? I understand it needs to be well ventilated and I plan on getting isopods since I've heard that it's almost a must for such an environment.

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Moist, not wet. You don't have condensation when there's adequate ventilation, which also keeps mites under control. I don't have issues with condensation or mites.

So you don't keep Isopods?
Should I also wet all of the sub before putting it in the container then? Or should I use a syringe to put water in?


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I have a lot of species that require high humidity and are moisture dependent. I typically dampen the substrate completely (moist but not to the point that water comes out when you squeeze it.) and then I inject water Into the bottom layers of the enclosure when needed and keep the top layer dryer and provide a water dish for my juveniles on up. If you have a decent amount of substrate the humidity will rise and the spider will burrow to the amount of moisture it needs . The top layer being dry eliminates the issue of mites.
Although for my Stirmi I keep it moist at all times and just make sure I have good cross ventilation.

LadyofSpiders said:

I have a lot of species that require high humidity and are moisture dependent. I typically dampen the substrate completely (moist but not to the point that water comes out when you squeeze it.) and then I inject water Into the bottom layers of the enclosure when needed and keep the top layer dryer and provide a water dish for my juveniles on up. If you have a decent amount of substrate the humidity will rise and the spider will burrow to the amount of moisture it needs . The top layer being dry eliminates the issue of mites.
Although for my Stirmi I keep it moist at all times and just make sure I have good cross ventilation.

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So you put the sub in damp or do you put it in dry and then inject water? I'll be keeping burrowing species mainly so I'm just a bit overly cautious about injecting water in for the fear of either stabbing the spider or adding water directly into the burrow.

That's a good idea though, keeping the top layer dry but the rest moist. Thanks!

I put the sub in damp initially. Mix it all up with a spoon until I feel it's perfect. I find that a mix of cocoa fiber, peat moss and vermiculite work best in the long run without molding issues. After that I play it by ear... You can dampen the Lower levels by either using a syringe or just by pouring water around the sides. I find that the dryer substrate on top acts to insulate the moisture underneath so you really don't have to worry about it that much.
If you create a premade burrow (use a pen or spoon) most burrowers will use it. That way you will always see the spider if you make it at the side of the container

LadyofSpiders said:

I put the sub in damp initially. Mix it all up with a spoon until I feel it's perfect. I find that a mix of cocoa fiber, peat moss and vermiculite work best in the long run without molding issues. After that I play it by ear... You can dampen the Lower levels by either using a syringe or just by pouring water around the sides. I find that the dryer substrate on top acts to insulate the moisture underneath so you really don't have to worry about it that much.
If you create a premade burrow (use a pen or spoon) most burrowers will use it. That way you will always see the spider if you make it at the side of the container

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What percentage of each? And where do you get your vermiculite from if I may ask? Do you use isopods at all How often do you add water into it? And do you need a lot of ventilation?
That's a good idea, I'll probably do that, thanks and sorry for the questions!

Equal parts of each. Most garden shops have vermiculite but you can order it online too. Just make sure it's chemical free. There's a lot of organic brands now.
I've actually gone 3 months without needing to remoisten my fossorial cages. With my opportunistic burrowers (like my pampho and xenesthis) I have to remoisten every other to every week but Mostly Becuase the substrate isn't quite so deep so It doesn't retain moisture as well.
For ventilation I have my sub adults in kritter keepers and it works fine, for my opportunistic burrowers I have the lower but longer Exo terra faunariums. My juveniles are in 32 or 64 oz deli dishes depending on size and I just have air holes on the sides of the enclosure. Slings are in vials...when they are little it can be tricky to make sure the moisture is there without it getting swampy, with slings it's best to err on the side of caution and avoid over doing the moisture. You can always add a bit more water ( I would recommend a syringe for slings and just add it drop by drop) but drying it out is a lot harder.
I don't use isopods as I really haven't had any issues.. Most of my spiders bring their leftovers to the top when they are done eating... But I do Have a robustum that is a bit challenging, I've always been able to get to it's prey remains by using 18 inch tweezers.

Okay once I get fossorial T's, I'll look into that mixture!
How much substrate do you use with fossorial T's in relation to their DLS?

Thanks for the info and putting up with all my questioning!

Well my general rule is to only leave about it's leg length from the top of the lid. But, I always make sure they have at least 8 inches of substrate to work with once they hit the 3 inch mark. With deli dishes and vials you'll want to fill it up but leave yourself a little room at the top to allow space for feeding. Especially with chilobrachys species as they like to web the lids shut.