bed-a-beast

[Sean]

does anyone reccomend Bed-A-Beast for there t's and scorps???

Sean

 

[Nixy]

I personaly prefure peat and vermiculite.
have had issues with mold with Bed a beast..

 

[petitegreeneyes]

I use this stuff that comes in a brick called "Forest Bed". It really works well for me plus I mix vermiculite with it.

 

[bodc21]

I had bed a beast once i wont get it again i got mites wich then lost my first t a rosey so jus out of misfortune i wont use it again then i went to forest bark not a good idea neather ive been using
75percent peat and 25percent vermiculite some use half half i like a little more peat,hope i helped somewhat-jason

 

[Mister Internet]

Mites and mold are a lot more fond of BAB than peat/verm... that being said, it holds humidity WAY better than anything I've ever used...

 

[conipto]

It also holds shape of burrows very well. I've not had any mold problems yet with it myself though..

Bill

 

[Code Monkey]

I use it with dry, non burrowing species but won't use it with moist species. The stuff is nutritious so not only can it mold more easily than peat and verm, it can support all manner of fly larvae if kept wet with a little cricket goo soaked up into it.

 

[Buspirone]

Bed-A-Beast is made of Coir. I know people who have used bed-a-beast for other applications and had problems with mite infestations, molds and larvae showing up in it. I've used coir from garden centers for lots of things and found it very clean and mold resistant. I discovered it during my short lived interest in vermiculture. I always look to make sure the coir I purchased from the garden centers doesn't have trychoderma added to it and the plastic wrapper is intact. The brand I usually get is "GrowCoir" . Its usually cheaper than bed-a-beast at a garden center too.

 

[Steve Nunn]

Originally posted by Buspirone
Bed-A-Beast is made of Coir. I know people who have used bed-a-beast for other applications and had problems with mite infestations, molds and larvae showing up in it.

A good friend of mine, Lance May, found a ciggy butt in it. He no longer uses BAB Being that the BAB would have had small traces of nicotine in it (a powerfull pesticide), I'd never touch the stuff. This also shows how well filtered it is.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Buspirone]

Originally posted by Steve Nunn
A good friend of mine, Lance May, found a ciggy butt in it. He no longer uses BAB Being that the BAB would have had small traces of nicotine in it (a powerfull pesticide), I'd never touch the stuff. This also shows how well filtered it is.

Cheers,
Steve

I think it may be the processing agent's poor hygiene habits in storing and processing the bed-a-beast than the actual coir product that is the problem. I'll let you know since I'm using Growcoir/verm mix as my substrate for my rosie and its dry on top but moist about an inch down and all around the water dish. When I get L. parahybana I was going to try using a mix of coir/wormcastings as the substrate. You could always try microwaving the wet bed-a-beast for 5 or 10 minutes or bake it for 30 minutes at 300 degrees prior to use to kill off any eggs, larva or spores.

I hadn't thought about nicotine being a problem but I have used tobacco to make my own pesticide for my garden so that makes sense. Good thing warm weather is coming....I guess I will be smoking cigars outside for now on when I get the occaisional urge.

 

[Paladin]

as long as you keep it dry bedabeast is great

no problems with it so far

 

[bodc21]

I know i posted up on this before but i jus have to say NO to bed a beast go with peat/vermiculite.steve i agree totally with you that is awful i will never even think of bab even as a last resort basically i feel very strong on this cause i lost my first t to this and ive never had problems since with my mix of peat/vermiculite so obviously somthing is working!

 

[chid]

Originally posted by petitegreeneyes
I use this stuff that comes in a brick called "Forest Bed". It really works well for me plus I mix vermiculite with it.

The same here PGE . I have found Forest Bed to be very good . I did put some in a small spare tank and tried to keep it very moist as Id heard of it being a problem, but I encountered mould problems with it kept moist.
But for the less moisture needing spiders I use it for, no problems.

Chid

 

[Steve Nunn]

Originally posted by Paladin
as long as you keep it dry bedabeast is great

no problems with it so far

Hi Paladin,
No offense but the stuff is terrible. Any substrate when used dry is basically fine, except any of the conifers of course. I think if more hobbyists who've used BAB chime in you'll find quite a mixed opinion with this substrate. I know of at least five hobbyists who've lost spiders to this product (including one guy who lost an X. immanis, poor dude), that's enough to keep me from using it with any of my spiders. I'm yet to hear of one keeper who's lost a spider to such a substrate as peatmoss. This is what baffles me. There are tried and true substrates such as peat that everyone knows is safe, why deviate from them?

This just happens to be one of those hot topics that will create immense arguments without fail, it becomes almost comic. I guess the bottom line is go with whatever you feel is good, which in your case is BAB. I'm cool with that, but please take in whatever is said as it may one day save you from losing a valuable spider.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Cronoss]

IMO bed a beast is the worst substrait i have ever used.
I used to ues it for frogs too.it gave them red belly.
Bryan

 

[LunarFaery]

Originally posted by bodc21
I know i posted up on this before but i jus have to say NO to bed a beast go with peat/vermiculite.steve i agree totally with you that is awful i will never even think of bab even as a last resort basically i feel very strong on this cause i lost my first t to this and ive never had problems since with my mix of peat/vermiculite so obviously somthing is working!

Please forgive my inexpirence, but Im curious, where does one find the peat/vermiculite mix? Im getting ready to get my first T.

Jen

 

[Buspirone]

You can find it at garden centers or the gardening section of a hardware store. You may not find it pre-mixed. You'll have to buy canadian peat and vermiculite. Some of the larger chain hardware centers have stopped carrying vermiculite due to asbestos being found in some of it.

 

[Code Monkey]

If you have room to store it, you can go down to a feed store and pick up a large bale of peat and a 30lb sack of vermiculite for about $30 and will never need buy substrate again for a decade.

I went and got the 30lbs of verm because, as was pointed out, large chains are a bunch of litigation fearing pansies. The asbsestos was only detected in about 15% of American verm products. Further, the amounts were at the absolute minimum to be detectable, fully legal, and more importantly, 100% safe as there is no conceivable way to introduce it into the human body in free form. Then they turn around and push perlite - perlite is nothing more than the puffed rice version of glass and when dry gives off particulate mater that's like freebasing fiberglass. But, people don't fear that

 

[Buspirone]

I don't know if it makes a difference for tarantulas but when I was interested in vermiculture/vermicomposting it was generally believed that Canadian peat was better because it was older and more completely decomposed and inert. It was always recommended that if you were unsure of the peat's origin to wet it and squeeze out the water and repeat until the water being squeezed out was coming out clear instead of murky. Maybe someone else can elaborate or dismiss this idea.

 

[Code Monkey]

I can neither elaborate or dismiss except to say that I've never heard of anybody bothering to pre-treat peat for Ts. We get the occasional newbie question about sterilising peat, but we discourage that as being both a lot of trouble and a waste of time.