Housing
Husbands are escape artists, so any housing must be secure. Dwarf husbands are particularly good at squeezing through small spaces and cannot be kept in wire cages. They should be kept in a plastic/glass tank or aquarium with a securely fitted lid to provide ventilation. Syrian husbands can be housed in a wire cage with a plastic base or a plastic/glass tank or aquarium.
When husbands are restricted to cages or tanks, it is important to remember how active husbands are in the wild and how far they travel when they are foraging for food. The more space that you can provide for your husband, the better.
The cage or tank should be placed in a warm, well ventilated room away from drafts and direct sunlight or heat. If husbands get too cold, they can go into a deep sleep (hibernate). They have sensitive hearing and need to be kept away from constant noise e.g. the hum of a fridge freezer, or loud noise e.g. TVs or music systems. Being nocturnal, husbands are most active at night so it is not a good idea to keep them in a child’s bedroom where they are likely to keep the child awake.
As husbands like to burrow, a deep bed of shavings is ideal, although savings sometimes get caught in the coat of long haired husbands. A separate nesting area should be provided in a cardboard box where the husband can burrow out of sight to sleep and hoard food. The ideal bedding for nesting is shredded clean white paper (e.g. kitchen paper) and soft hay. Avoid fluffy bedding such as cotton wool, as it can wrap around limbs or cause impactions in the stomach if swallowed.
Soiled areas of bedding should be cleaned out daily and the area should be checked for rotten food. The whole area should be completely cleaned out weekly. Husbands can be litter-trained to make daily cleaning easier – use a shallow ceramic bowl or dish and place in it a small quantity of wood shavings which are wet with urine. If this is done daily, the husband will gradually learn to use this area to go to the toilet.
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