Screamingreenmachine
Arachnosquire
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2016
- Messages
- 65
I currently have 8 tarantulas (slings and juvies) that are all housed on eco earth substrate and I'm planning on switching them over the a mix with peatmoss. Right now 7 of them are in nothing fancy and they all have water bowls, hides, and the substrate. The enclosures all are so boring (not that the tarantulas really need anything else, but I sure do!)to me and as the tarantulas grow larger I want to give them less boring enclosures and I have found that some simple ground cover can go a long way in spicing things up. So I have a few questions to run by anyone on here!
1) At my local Home Depot I found some sphagnum moss bricks labeled as premium grade orchid moss by a company called Better-Gro. I spent some time looking around on here and dendroboards and found that people use this exact type so I went ahead and grabbed some. Today I was working on a new enclosure for my small juvie A. Genic and before I put any of this moss in it, I rinsed it off in the sink with hot water for a couple of minutes. My question is, is there anything else I need to do to prepare it, or should it be safe to go?
Also a while back, I bought some Flukers green sphagnum moss without thinking, but I'm a little uneasy about using it. Seems to be dyed even though the bit I've tested through soaking and rinsing maintained that dark green color and the water stayed clear. Anyone have any experience with this moss? Is it worth it to keep or should I just pitch it? I haven't seen too many positive comments about it.
2) I have a yard full of oak, cherry, and maple trees and every year these things decide to give me a thousand+ pounds of dried leaves (twice a year for my 200+ year old live oak). I've seen some absolutely gorgeous enclosures on here and around the internet with leaves from the trees I have and I was wondering, if I use the leaves from my yard, do I need to do anything to "prep" them, or will a nice rinsing do the job of getting them ready to be used? I do know that once every few years my town sprays for mosquitoes but its been a while since the last time they sprayed.
3)I bought some fake plants from the local Hobby Lobby and I let them soak for about a week to clean any possible oils and gunk off of them (saw people on here advising to do that). Should I do anything else, or are they fine?
I can tell I'm overthinking this, but I would rather try to ask people who have some experience with this than possibly risk losing my little monsters.
Also the enclosure for my genic that I was working on! 9in x 5in x 5in to give it some room to grow for a good while. No top holes due to stacking but it has 56 1/8in holes for some good airflow. Probably will remove that one random leaf. Not liking the look of it too much.
Edit: Sorry for the massive pictures!
1) At my local Home Depot I found some sphagnum moss bricks labeled as premium grade orchid moss by a company called Better-Gro. I spent some time looking around on here and dendroboards and found that people use this exact type so I went ahead and grabbed some. Today I was working on a new enclosure for my small juvie A. Genic and before I put any of this moss in it, I rinsed it off in the sink with hot water for a couple of minutes. My question is, is there anything else I need to do to prepare it, or should it be safe to go?
Also a while back, I bought some Flukers green sphagnum moss without thinking, but I'm a little uneasy about using it. Seems to be dyed even though the bit I've tested through soaking and rinsing maintained that dark green color and the water stayed clear. Anyone have any experience with this moss? Is it worth it to keep or should I just pitch it? I haven't seen too many positive comments about it.
2) I have a yard full of oak, cherry, and maple trees and every year these things decide to give me a thousand+ pounds of dried leaves (twice a year for my 200+ year old live oak). I've seen some absolutely gorgeous enclosures on here and around the internet with leaves from the trees I have and I was wondering, if I use the leaves from my yard, do I need to do anything to "prep" them, or will a nice rinsing do the job of getting them ready to be used? I do know that once every few years my town sprays for mosquitoes but its been a while since the last time they sprayed.
3)I bought some fake plants from the local Hobby Lobby and I let them soak for about a week to clean any possible oils and gunk off of them (saw people on here advising to do that). Should I do anything else, or are they fine?
I can tell I'm overthinking this, but I would rather try to ask people who have some experience with this than possibly risk losing my little monsters.
Also the enclosure for my genic that I was working on! 9in x 5in x 5in to give it some room to grow for a good while. No top holes due to stacking but it has 56 1/8in holes for some good airflow. Probably will remove that one random leaf. Not liking the look of it too much.
Edit: Sorry for the massive pictures!
![](http://i.imgur.com/58Ok0Yp.jpg)
![](http://i.imgur.com/nxLPsEa.jpg)
![](http://i.imgur.com/5CjfEHK.jpg)