H. Arizonensis tips needed

Hi everybody,

As you may or may not know, I just finished my project for P. Cavimanus. Click here .

Created a "rainforresty" kinda look, and I would like to mirror that in exactly the opposite... I think I will enjoy the contrast very much.

I gives me the opportunity to keep a species that I wanted to keep for a long time now, H. Arizonensis.


My questions:
- If you have any tips regarding this species, please share them.
- I read in another thread about the substrate mixture being a mix of clay and sand, is this it the best option or are there more options?
- Stones, how to place them? I want to do something with slate stone, but I heard they can burrow heavily and collaps whole stone structures if misplaced in a way.
- Humidity?


All info is welcome, I look forward to creating a photo diary which I will keep and share with you all here in a later determined thread



Take care,


Joe

Nobody ?

Sorry I would have responded but I've been extremely busy this week. Are you planning on getting a single adult specimen? If so there's no real trick to it excavators sand/play sand mix. Keep them dry and hot. You can moisten the sand and let it dry COMPLETELY for optimal burrowing. Now if your talking baby ones it gets very tricky. And your gonna need a lot of substrate.

I'd have thought shebeen would have popped in for this one...

Shakudo, try contacting him, he's our local haddy expert...

I'm pretty busy as well, but if I have time I'll add some stuff tomorrow.

Shakudo wrote:

- If you have any tips regarding this species, please share them.

I'd recommend getting an adult...sometimes molting in captivity can be an issue for younger specimens.

Shakudo wrote:

- I read in another thread about the substrate mixture being a mix of clay and sand, is this it the best option or are there more options?

Just follow Shebeen's advice in that thread; you'll be fine.

Shakudo wrote:

- Stones, how to place them? I want to do something with slate stone, but I heard they can burrow heavily and collaps whole stone structures if misplaced in a way.

Usually people use slate to make rock crevice hides for Hadogenes sp....but if you use any kind of rocks or stones, you'll want to make sure they're either resting on the bottom of the enclosure or sitting on top of some smaller stones or something to use as supports. If stacking some stones, you may want to glue a few of them together to ensure that they're stable.

Shakudo wrote:

- Humidity?

Generally just keep them dry, as they can develop mycosis if kept in humid conditions.

~Abyss~ wrote:

Sorry I would have responded but I've been extremely busy this week. Are you planning on getting a single adult specimen? If so there's no real trick to it excavators sand/play sand mix. Keep them dry and hot. You can moisten the sand and let it dry COMPLETELY for optimal burrowing. Now if your talking baby ones it gets very tricky. And your gonna need a lot of substrate.

No problem, I understand. Thank you for responding.

I am planning to get a juvenile. Not fully adult but also not a baby.
I purchased red sand with a clay additive:) It will suffice for burrowing and tunnels:)

Scorpion19981000 wrote:

I'd have thought shebeen would have popped in for this one...

Shakudo, try contacting him, he's our local haddy expert...

I'm pretty busy as well, but if I have time I'll add some stuff tomorrow.

Thank you! I will read as much as I can!

vespers wrote:

Shakudo wrote:

- If you have any tips regarding this species, please share them.

I'd recommend getting an adult...sometimes molting in captivity can be an issue for younger specimens.

Shakudo wrote:

- I read in another thread about the substrate mixture being a mix of clay and sand, is this it the best option or are there more options?

Just follow Shebeen's advice in that thread; you'll be fine.

Shakudo wrote:

- Stones, how to place them? I want to do something with slate stone, but I heard they can burrow heavily and collaps whole stone structures if misplaced in a way.

Usually people use slate to make rock crevice hides for Hadogenes sp....but if you use any kind of rocks or stones, you'll want to make sure they're either resting on the bottom of the enclosure or sitting on top of some smaller stones or something to use as supports. If stacking some stones, you may want to glue a few of them together to ensure that they're stable.

Shakudo wrote:

- Humidity?

Generally just keep them dry, as they can develop mycosis if kept in humid conditions.

Thank you!

I am very afraid of mycosis. I have seen what it did to a A. Australis I adopted from somebody who kept it far too wet. . I will make sure the sand is dry.

Shakudo wrote:

~Abyss~ wrote:

Sorry I would have responded but I've been extremely busy this week. Are you planning on getting a single adult specimen? If so there's no real trick to it excavators sand/play sand mix. Keep them dry and hot. You can moisten the sand and let it dry COMPLETELY for optimal burrowing. Now if your talking baby ones it gets very tricky. And your gonna need a lot of substrate.

No problem, I understand. Thank you for responding.

I am planning to get a juvenile. Not fully adult but also not a baby.
I purchased red sand with a clay additive:) It will suffice for burrowing and tunnels:)

Since you opted to get a Juv (subadult), you have condemned yourself to dedicating your time to maintaining proper humidity for molting, so here are a few tips.
• deep burrowing substrate at LEAST 10 inches.
• Use a partial false bottoms setup to keep the humidity up in the deep end of the substrate or put a layer of moist clay at the bottom
• Offer multiple hides and once a week spray under ONE of the hides to offer a quick source of humidy.
Good luck

~Abyss~ wrote:

Shakudo wrote:

~Abyss~ wrote:

Sorry I would have responded but I've been extremely busy this week. Are you planning on getting a single adult specimen? If so there's no real trick to it excavators sand/play sand mix. Keep them dry and hot. You can moisten the sand and let it dry COMPLETELY for optimal burrowing. Now if your talking baby ones it gets very tricky. And your gonna need a lot of substrate.

No problem, I understand. Thank you for responding.

I am planning to get a juvenile. Not fully adult but also not a baby.
I purchased red sand with a clay additive:) It will suffice for burrowing and tunnels:)

Since you opted to get a Juv (subadult), you have condemned yourself to dedicating your time to maintaining proper humidity for molting, so here are a few tips.
• deep burrowing substrate at LEAST 10 inches.
• Use a partial false bottoms setup to keep the humidity up in the deep end of the substrate or put a layer of moist clay at the bottom
• Offer multiple hides and once a week spray under ONE of the hides to offer a quick source of humidy.
Good luck

I will go for the adult I have read all that stuff about false bottoms and visited the thread of Shebeen and I really am afraid of mycosis so I won't go there.

Good choice

~Abyss~ wrote:

Good choice

Thank you for scaring me

I am already making an H. Arizonensis project thread.... keep it tuned in:P