Questions about messy Substrates

[micjoe]

I am new to the T' Field. I just acquire a baby Rose Hair. I currently have all scorpions: Death Stalker, A.Australis, C.Gracilis, and so on. My Question is> When my T grows up and i start feeding it mice, lets say when it is an adult. Does it get messey, as far as clean up, and do you find to change the substrate more frequently than 6 months, or what seems to be the norm and the pattern, just wondering for future FYI, i will know the right course of action, to prevent any bacteria and so on.

 

[stooka]

hi,i use a coconut fibre substrate for all 28 of my Ts and as far as im concerned(and the Ts i hope) this is the best substrate for most sp.i have no problems wiv mites on it and regularly feed my spiders thawed mice wivout any cleanup operation except picking up the small mouse package left behind.i clean my Ts out around every 8months or so.hope that helps alittle.

 

[Jmadson13]

mouse feeding should probably not be a regular event in any case. I stick to primarily invertebrate prey items.

 

[Jmadson13]

On the substrate question, I use 100% peat and really like it.

 

[micjoe]

Hey everyone, thanks for the input. I normally do my scorp cages every 6 months, just was wondering if mouse feeding impacted that, thanks for the input.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

mouse feeding should probably not be a regular event in any case. I stick to primarily invertebrate prey items.

What this one said. It's believed that too much vertebrate prey can seriously impact a tarantula's health.

 

[stooka]

btw just for the record when i said i feed mine regularly on mice i didnt mean the same T i meant because i have that amount, 1 of them is always having a mouse.i try to feed them a mouse every few months because of the risk of the health to the Ts,although i dont actually think its been proven and seems to be mainly regarding T.blondi

 

[ancientscout]

Don't feed mice to your spider

The title says it all..
Don't feed mice to your tarantula unless you want to bury it early..
mice are not in the food chain in the natural world of the tarantula.
Ancientscout

 

[leo3375]

I use 2 different substrates for my 2 Ts. I use all-natural cactus soil for my G. rosea as it's drier and more coarse than standard potting soil, and she likes her surroundings bone dry. My G. pulchra gets Jungle Mix, which I mist every other week. He enjoys digging around in it and piling it into his water dish.