Gathering dirt from the woods

Gavvvo

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 15, 2022
Messages
5
I live on the border of arkansas and missouri, can I gather dirt from the woods for my invertebrate from either of these states? Is there any need to worry about mites and such? It’ll be for African assasin bugs and Blaberus Caniifer (and whatever else i end up getting). Thanks in advance!
 

HooahArmy

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jul 12, 2022
Messages
241
Hey there! I used to be stationed out there; lovely forest!
I made a post not too long ago about soils and harvesting substrate for inverts. I am a toxins and poisons specialist and back in college, my campus did a study on local soils with considerations to toxins. While mites and parasites can be a concern, their presence can be mitigated by freezing or roasting the soil in an oven to ensure the death of most pathogens. However, pollution that may cause illness in your inverts is another story. Here's the link to my posting about the soil study. You can read the section about wild-harvested soil only, or you can read everything else about other options. Through the post, I cover potting soil, top soil, terrarium soil, and peat (in a later post, same thread) as well.
The verdict is that since wild-harvested soil contains so many unknowns such as pesticides and other oddities, it is best to either go with store-bought specialized invert soil, or try your best to make a soil harvest in a location that is as remote as possible.
Here is my post within the thread. I hope it helps:
 

Vladerscump

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 8, 2020
Messages
34
I live on the border of arkansas and missouri, can I gather dirt from the woods for my invertebrate from either of these states? Is there any need to worry about mites and such? It’ll be for African assasin bugs and Blaberus Caniifer (and whatever else i end up getting). Thanks in advance!
Some people bake dirt some don't. I live in a rural area. I source everything ( including soils) inside my enclosures from outdoors, most of which is taken from my property but sometimes I find something good at a state wilderness park. I let wood and vines dry out in my garage. I haven't lost any Ts and mine are all healthy. I think that mites and other parasites are mainly Reptile keeper issues. I use a variety of soils including sand and clay to create natural layers which helps stabilize burrows.
 
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TomKemp

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 5, 2014
Messages
160
I agree with the comment above. I have been keeping spiders for decades now and basically anything from your woods in north America is not going to bother them. If anything it'll create a better bio active situation for them to exist in.
 
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