first H. lividum breeding attempt (12-16-14)

ArachnoFreak666 · Dec 19, 2014

this was my first breeding attempt with my H. lividums and also my first breeding attempt ever. the video is cut out short because my girlfriend stopped the video way too early and also because it made me shorten the video before emailing it to myself to be able to post it here. anyways gonna be trying again on 12-23-14.

H. lividum breeding attempt 1:

[video=youtube;GS-wqDOcgFI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS-wqDOcgFI[/video]

14pokies · Dec 19, 2014

What is the sub you are using and how deep? Has she established a burrow yet? It looked a little dry..It looked like she was standing on a piece of wood that was elevating her slightly above the male giving her a perfect angle of attack..

ArachnoFreak666 · Dec 20, 2014

14pokies said:
What is the sub you are using and how deep? Has she established a burrow yet? It looked a little dry..It looked like she was standing on a piece of wood that was elevating her slightly above the male giving her a perfect angle of attack..

no she is not on a piece of wood, she is on a thing of web that she built the first day I got her. im using coco-fiber (not the brick). and yes the sub is lightly misted every couple of days. also there is about 5" of substrate. I know that there should be more, but I didn't have any more at the time and there is a cork bark hide in the enclosure that she uses from time to time. but most of the time she spends her days building and tearing down her webs that she makes in the corner.

pyro fiend · Dec 20, 2014

I di agree it looks pretty dry i hear they like ir prettt moist. Buddy in town has his on topsoil helps them to burrow. Also if u didnt use a brick nor soak the sub b4 adding it and praying.. that may be why she hasnt dug its too loose. Just food for thought.. but i dint know much on breeding so cant open my mouh there ;p

14pokies · Dec 20, 2014

O ok lol,my vision isn't the best.I don't work with haps in my own collection at the moment but I have worked with a few lividum and minax over the years..I would deffinately suggest adding some topsoil and shredded sphagnum to your coco...I think if you get a sac from her in that current setup she will just feel insecure and destroy it.haplos are not occasional burrowers they are obligate burrowers..as far as sub moisture once you add the topsoil and slightly damp shredded sphagnum,you should be on the money..pure coco sucks for those guys,it doesn't hold a burrow and will eventually mold.I would go to sub depth of 8 - 10 inches if you can manage it..

ArachnoFreak666 · Dec 20, 2014

14pokies said:
O ok lol,my vision isn't the best.I don't work with haps in my own collection at the moment but I have worked with a few lividum and minax over the years..I would deffinately suggest adding some topsoil and shredded sphagnum to your coco...I think if you get a sac from her in that current setup she will just feel insecure and destroy it.haplos are not occasional burrowers they are obligate burrowers..as far as sub moisture once you add the topsoil and slightly damp shredded sphagnum,you should be on the money..pure coco sucks for those guys,it doesn't hold a burrow and will eventually mold.I would go to sub depth of 8 - 10 inches if you can manage it..

i deffinitly could, lol will just have to wait until my next paycheck. as far as top soil, what do you mean by that? and i could try to find some sphagnum. im thinking of just changing the soil entirely to vermeculite??

14pokies · Dec 20, 2014

ArachnoFreak666 said:
i deffinitly could, lol will just have to wait until my next paycheck. as far as top soil, what do you mean by that? and i could try to find some sphagnum. im thinking of just changing the soil entirely to vermeculite??

NO!!!! Vermiculite is rubbish IMO! Its not going to support a burrow well at all..it can work well as a moisture retainer in your soil mixture but that is one reason I use the sphagnum moss.I shred it to about 1/2 inch and mix it with coco and topsoil..topsoil is used for gardening and is sold at home depot and nursery's. Get the stuff that is fertilizer and pesticide free..search potting soil in the forums and you find a ton of info..I like to mix a third of expanded sphagnum with a third of topsail and a third of coco...you can deffinately skip the coco if you want and the sphagnum and use just topsoil if you want..I add moss to everything tho..I love it for many reasons..whatever soil or soil mix you choose compress it super tight in he cage so she can make a sturdy burrow..

awiec · Dec 20, 2014

ArachnoFreak666 said:
i deffinitly could, lol will just have to wait until my next paycheck. as far as top soil, what do you mean by that? and i could try to find some sphagnum. im thinking of just changing the soil entirely to vermeculite??

Topsoil as in dirt with no fertilizers or additives to it, you can pick up cheap bags of it from your local store and vermiculite is complete garbage, it can't support a burrow and may irritate the T; keep that stuff for house plants. You don't even have to get sphagnum, the dirt will do a good job of keeping the humidity and is good for burrow construction.

ArachnoFreak666 · Dec 20, 2014

14pokies said:
NO!!!! Vermiculite is rubbish IMO! Its not going to support a burrow well at all..it can work well as a moisture retainer in your soil mixture but that is one reason I use the sphagnum moss.I shred it to about 1/2 inch and mix it with coco and topsoil..topsoil is used for gardening and is sold at home depot and nursery's. Get the stuff that is fertilizer and pesticide free..search potting soil in the forums and you find a ton of info..I like to mix a third of expanded sphagnum with a third of topsail and a third of coco...you can deffinately skip the coco if you want and the sphagnum and use just topsoil if you want..I add moss to everything tho..I love it for many reasons..whatever soil or soil mix you choose compress it super tight in he cage so she can make a sturdy burrow..

wouldnt the sphagnum moss start to mold over time though? and i use the coco fiber bricks for my slings and my vagans slings burrow just fine. their burrows hold up too... one of my slings made a tunnel around the container and all the way down to the bottom and is doing just fine. but the again, the bricks of coco fiber is a alot different then the bags of coco fiber, from what ive noticed.

14pokies · Dec 20, 2014

The burrows hold up in the small containers because its less weight and surface area and a small t making small tunnels...the sphagnum inhibits mold growth because of it high acidity...if t keepers only took one piece of my advice I wish it was adding sphagnum to there substrate...use the stuff made for reptiles not the peat made for gardening.

ArachnoFreak666 · Dec 20, 2014

14pokies said:
The burrows hold up in the small containers because its less weight and surface area and a small t making small tunnels...the sphagnum inhibits mold growth because of it high acidity...if t keepers only took one piece of my advice I wish it was adding sphagnum to there substrate...use the stuff made for reptiles not the peat made for gardening.

okay well ill look into getting it. unfortunately ill have to wait until my next paycheck, which wont be until the 26th. thanks for the advice though, i appreciate it!

---------- Post added 12-20-2014 at 10:59 PM ----------

on a side note though, i walked into my T room a little bit ago and saw that my female is actually using her cork bark burrow!

first H. lividum breeding attempt (12-16-14)

ArachnoFreak666

Arachnopeon

14pokies

Arachnoprince

ArachnoFreak666

Arachnopeon

pyro fiend

Arachnoprince

14pokies

Arachnoprince

ArachnoFreak666

Arachnopeon

14pokies

Arachnoprince

awiec

Arachnoprince

ArachnoFreak666

Arachnopeon

14pokies

Arachnoprince

ArachnoFreak666

Arachnopeon