Artificial grass for spider

[Cecelias lair]

I have a house spider that needs to be rehoused and I'm planning on adding some artificial grass for decoration.
Will it be fine to use any kind of artificial grass like ones for railway modeling and stuff? Is there any brands anyone can recommend that can be accommodated online? I don't have any craft shops or anything near me.

 

[Nicole C G]

Not exactly fake grass, but I’ve seen many people recommend this:

Amazon.com

 

[8 legged]

Jack Herer or Northern lights? No, kidding aside. Any common lawn should be sufficient here.

 

[Cecelias lair]

Not exactly fake grass, but I’ve seen many people recommend this:

Amazon.com

That does look like nice stuff. The trouble is I'm in the UK and it's a bit more on the pricy side for what I'm after

 

[Cecelias lair]

Jack Herer or Northern lights? No, kidding aside. Any common lawn should be sufficient here.

That would be some really expensive decorating
When you say any common lawn, does that mean that just samples for garden grass on eBay suffice? Because I was contemplating that because of how cheap it would be.

 

[8 legged]

Fake plants are not an option for me. Moist soil, seeds on it. Wait two weeks, done. Turf survives with little water...

 

[Jumbie Spider]

Moss. You can use live moss, or you can find dry moss in the hardware store (plant section) which has the green color and you can just lay it down like lawn squares and keep it moist.

 

[RezonantVoid]

Moss. You can use live moss, or you can find dry moss in the hardware store (plant section) which has the green color and you can just lay it down like lawn squares and keep it moist.

I just use natural clay and the moss grows itself with a bit of water and sunlight

 

[viper69]

I just use natural clay and the moss grows itself with a bit of water and sunlight
View attachment 407466 View attachment 407467

Ive not used clay and moss together. How does moss hold onto clay?

 

[RezonantVoid]

Ive not used clay and moss together. How does moss hold onto clay?

It's probably the best thing you can use for it for 2 reasons:

1- the solid structural integrity of clay let's a large variety of terrestrial moss anchor to it and spread with ease

2- the water retention of it means it doesn't suck the water from the moss immediately after misting it, allowing it to stay hydrated for considerable lengths of time without the need for regular watering

 

[viper69]

It's probably the best thing you can use for it for 2 reasons:

1- the solid structural integrity of clay let's a large variety of terrestrial moss anchor to it and spread with ease

2- the water retention of it means it doesn't suck the water from the moss immediately after misting it, allowing it to stay hydrated for considerable lengths of time without the need for regular watering

I hadn't considered 2. I used to make vivariums for red efts, and so they were created with natural products from the forest, not clay. This is really interesting, thanks.

So do you just put some of the moss into clay holes with your finger? How have you done it?

 

[RezonantVoid]

I hadn't considered 2. I used to make vivariums for red efts, and so they were created with natural products from the forest, not clay. This is really interesting, thanks.

So do you just put some of the moss into clay holes with your finger? How have you done it?

I'll get my tweezers and make a small 5mm hole, before pressing some moss into it and partially covering it again with the clay I pulled out. I'll just sit the enclosure next to a glass sliding door for a few months to let it grow out a bit

 

[Cecelias lair]

There's been a lot of votes here for moss so I'll get some of that. Thank you everyone for the help

 

[Cecelias lair]

I'm back with another question.

The enclosure idea will require a lot of space taken up by moss. The spider I'm rehousing is a house spider of some kind (I suspect Eratigena atrica) and I was wondering if this will be fine for the spider or if I should save this idea for a species that requires higher humidity.

 

[Charliemum]

That does look like nice stuff. The trouble is I'm in the UK and it's a bit more on the pricy side for what I'm after

I got a cheap bunch of plastic flowers from amazon that had grass like leaves then cut it up to use in my vivs isn't as pretty as real did the job were only £7 and the bunch has done several vivs
Eg

This is for my pulchra but you get the gist they are a soft plastic so won't hurt your spood but also won't flattern under its weight. House spiders rock unfortunately my big female house spider passed away recently still miss her Tetchy was amazing, but I have a few baby's I am raising up atm rainging from Tegeneria to steatoda so if you need any help or info let me know n will do my best to help house spiders rock and your spider will likely find a crevice it likes and web from there eventually you won't see the decorations for web this was my girls home it's a 6lt jar and it did have decor I also removed web every 3 months so I could see her made no difference she constantly webbed
So as you can see really it's not going to be seen for web I kept my girl dry just used a pipette to dribble water round her web fed her once or twice a week depending on abdomen size although my girl was rather chunky always looked pregnant even though she was never paired they are very fun to feed and mine have never turned down food good luck n have fun

 

[Cecelias lair]

House spiders rock unfortunately my big female house spider passed away recently still miss her Tetchy was amazing, but I have a few baby's I am raising up atm rainging from Tegeneria to steatoda so if you need any help or info let me know n will do my best to help house spiders rock and your spider will likely find a crevice it likes and web from there eventually you won't see the decorations for web this was my girls home it's a 6lt jar and it did have decor I also removed web every 3 months so I could see her made no difference she constantly webbed View attachment 408140
So as you can see really it's not going to be seen for web I kept my girl dry just used a pipette to dribble water round her web fed her once or twice a week depending on abdomen size although my girl was rather chunky always looked pregnant even though she was never paired they are very fun to feed and mine have never turned down food good luck n have fun

This is what got me thinking of using artificial grass for the enclosure initially. They web so much and like you, I keep my house spider dry. I stopped giving mine water because she's literally never drank. Any time I'd put water in her enclosure she'd attack it thinking it was pray then run off scared because she's getting wet. It seemed like it's just messing with her more than anything. But she eats plenty so I'm sure she gets plenty of liquid from her food.

I've been having some concerns about using moss for this reason. I think it might dry out too much and won't stay the green colour I want. This is from me having zero experience with moss though.
Basically I've got this idea for having a house and garden style enclosure so that's why I enquired about artificial grass. Most of the enclosure if going to be covered in whatever I use (grass, moss etc.) so I'm also getting concerned that if it is moss I use, the humidity might get too high for her. I wanna be 100% sure I make good decisions before I rehouse her. I don't wanna make mistakes and have to rehouse her multiple times in a short amount of time. Especially as she's a fast one

I remember you telling me about tetchy when I first caught Billy (my house spider) and I'm sorry to hear tetchy is gone. That's so sad

 

[Charliemum]

This is what got me thinking of using artificial grass for the enclosure initially. They web so much and like you, I keep my house spider dry. I stopped giving mine water because she's literally never drank. Any time I'd put water in her enclosure she'd attack it thinking it was pray then run off scared because she's getting wet. It seemed like it's just messing with her more than anything. But she eats plenty so I'm sure she gets plenty of liquid from her food.

I've been having some concerns about using moss for this reason. I think it might dry out too much and won't stay the green colour I want. This is from me having zero experience with moss though.
Basically I've got this idea for having a house and garden style enclosure so that's why I enquired about artificial grass. Most of the enclosure if going to be covered in whatever I use (grass, moss etc.) so I'm also getting concerned that if it is moss I use, the humidity might get too high for her. I wanna be 100% sure I make good decisions before I rehouse her. I don't wanna make mistakes and have to rehouse her multiple times in a short amount of time. Especially as she's a fast one

I remember you telling me about tetchy when I first caught Billy (my house spider) and I'm sorry to hear tetchy is gone. That's so sad

You can get dry moss that's green so you could use that I get mine in with decor kits I get from the spider shop maybe 6-10 quid depending on the set you get but if you order the lichen logs £6 you'll get the moss and some cool lichen covered sticks you could use as mini trees and dry green moss you can use as lawn or you can always try reptile carpet it's like a green felt so should work as garden grass and won't hurt your spood being for reptiles

I was wounded when I lost Tetchy I cried my eyes out, she was my first ever spood. She just collapsed no death curl or even warning just mid web keeled over. Thank you for your condolences she was an amazing spood.

 

[Cecelias lair]

You can get dry moss that's green so you could use that I get mine in with decor kits I get from the spider shop maybe 6-10 quid depending on the set you get but if you order the lichen logs £6 you'll get the moss and some cool lichen covered sticks you could use as mini trees and dry green moss you can use as lawn or you can always try reptile carpet it's like a green felt so should work as garden grass and won't hurt your spood being for reptiles

I was wounded when I lost Tetchy I cried my eyes out, she was my first ever spood. She just collapsed no death curl or even warning just mid web keeled over. Thank you for your condolences she was an amazing spood.

I don't know why I didn't think of finding stuff from a shop like that
I looked on Amazon and dry moss on there kept having reviews that there was dye in a lot of them so I got concerned using them. I started looking for stuff for animals on there and ended up picking up some frog moss. Which I've realised probably wasn't the best one to grab

I might see what swell reptiles have as they have TSS products on their site plus other things. I definitely like the look of that set you said about. It definitely wouldn't be enough moss for this idea but I can see that set being useful, so think I will pick up some of that for sure!
I'm kinda leaning towards the idea of reptile carpet. Especially as she's going to be webbing over everything and won't even feel the floor. Thank you so much for all your help!

It sucks losing them. I can't imagine what it feels like losing your first spider
My first is definitely an old lady now so I dunno how much time she has left. But at least I got 4 successful egg sack worth from her and have kept about 10-15 of them. Oh and 2 others that are kinda wild but live in this house still. They found webs with scraps on them and haven't moved out since

 

[Charliemum]

I don't know why I didn't think of finding stuff from a shop like that
I looked on Amazon and dry moss on there kept having reviews that there was dye in a lot of them so I got concerned using them. I started looking for stuff for animals on there and ended up picking up some frog moss. Which I've realised probably wasn't the best one to grab

I might see what swell reptiles have as they have TSS products on their site plus other things. I definitely like the look of that set you said about. It definitely wouldn't be enough moss for this idea but I can see that set being useful, so think I will pick up some of that for sure!
I'm kinda leaning towards the idea of reptile carpet. Especially as she's going to be webbing over everything and won't even feel the floor. Thank you so much for all your help!

It sucks losing them. I can't imagine what it feels like losing your first spider
My first is definitely an old lady now so I dunno how much time she has left. But at least I got 4 successful egg sack worth from her and have kept about 10-15 of them. Oh and 2 others that are kinda wild but live in this house still. They found webs with scraps on them and haven't moved out since

Np it will definitely end up webbed
I get alot of stuff from swells they do great acrylic vivs n have an excellent natural decor section I get my live moss n leaf litter from them too good luck hun n if you need help with anything just pm me am not on everyday but will answer ASAP

 

[Cecelias lair]

Np it will definitely end up webbed
I get alot of stuff from swells they do great acrylic vivs n have an excellent natural decor section I get my live moss n leaf litter from them too good luck hun n if you need help with anything just pm me am not on everyday but will answer ASAP

Their enclosure is what got me ordering from them and I do like stuff they have on there. I like that they have reviews on there too as that helps me feel more confident on my purchases. Apart from when it's for moss apparently