Transferring a burrower

Alright, so I only have one burrower that is larger than a sling, so I've never done this before. She is a 2.5-3" juvie C. darlingi, and she has built an extensive burrow in her current enclosure... which has recently become too small for her. So obviously, it's time for a rehousing, but I'm sure you know where I'm going with this.

How can I get her out of the burrow? I only really have two ideas: (i) Pour it out into a cookie sheet and catch her, or (ii) Flood the burrow, forcing her to come out. As it stands, I'd much rather do the second one, but before I do that I'd like to know if anyone else knows of a better method. As always, thanks for any help.

If you absolutely need to then take the container on its side and using a soft brush, remove material from around it until you get to the spider. You want to make small moves. Get archeological on its' ) ). Flooding never worked for me in this situation and I've tried that more than a few times.

Just dig it out.

Get another container, dump all the contents in there. have a catch cup nearby since those things are fast. I don't do flooding brcause it causes everythig to grt messy.

Don't use a cookie sheet. Preferably something tall to lessen the chance of it escaping.

Good to know. I have two of these coming up & I can't get my hands in the enclosures w/ any spare room to move. Slings or not, those fangs are long!

If you have any bath tub.. You can rehouse a darlingi there.. If nothing, go to an open area and transfer the whole substrate into a new container. Then you will dig out the substrate make that darlingi dash to its new enclosure, beside on it.

A lot of people recommend flooding them out but every time I've tried this, the T just determinedly stays in it's burrow and I have to dump it for fear of drowning the poor thing. So I've taken to just dumping it from the get-go as others suggested. Mine tend to huddle up at the bottom and this gives me easy access--from there I can usually usher them into a catch up no problem. Or if the new container is large enough, just set the old inside the new and they'll eventually make the move on their own.

I have kept burrowers for many years and i have never had succes with flooding them out. Dig them out is the best way to go.

telepatella said:

If you absolutely need to then take the container on its side and using a soft brush, remove material from around it until you get to the spider. You want to make small moves. Get archeological on its' ) ). Flooding never worked for me in this situation and I've tried that more than a few times.

Click to expand...

haha thanks for making me laugh today.
I totally agree. When I have to rehouse one of my burrowers (most recently of which a very ticked off C. Darlingi) I always get a lot of long sticks(popsicle or otherwise) and a brush. I use a paintbrush to pull away dirt and webbing, and use the sticks to block off the tarantulas retreat by pushing them in to the dirt behind it. It seems to work very well, as once they realize they can't retreat back in to their dirty labyrinth they shoot out in to a catch cup waiting above.

Considering I can see where the specimen sits, I usually used my flashlight to keep track of it, then used a chopstick / straw to poke a hole through the substrate carefully down to the burrow and which point the bendable edge of the straw was used to gently prod the spider out. Some will come out of their burrow, others like my Chilobrachys spp. will simply slap / bite the hell out of the straw and pull it in (happened on the second rehousing lol).

I prefer to dig them out carefully, or lure them out and black the entrance to their burrow behind them. With nowhere to hide, you can usually get them into a catchcup if the cage is big enough. Otherwise: Bathroom, bathtub - place both enclosures next to each other, gently direct T over into new enclosure. Have catchcup, tongs and everything else ready