grow live moss

[Frédérick]

Hey people! now i've seen many cool enclosures with healthy, living green moss in it and i was wondering if theres any way i could get some peat moss growing, whitout having to buy live moss from a garden store. I,ve read from a dart frog forum that you can "dust" some peat moss and keep it wet and it gets to grow, has anybody have any experience doing so?

 

[thedude]

dude go out into the forest and find some moss and put it in your pets tank.

i did that with milipedes and they were fine

 

[Brian S]

Funny you make a thread like this. I am actually planning to do my next enclosure with some moss I collect out in the woods behind my house. I think that would really look good in a forest type of enclosure. I plan to do an Exo-Terra for a terrestrial species such as Xenesthis, Megaphobema or Pamphobeteus.

 

[seanbond]

dude go out into the forest and find some moss and put it in your pets tank.

i did that with milipedes and they were fine

iv done the same as mentioned above. works well, collected from a mountain near my house.

 

[bakaichi]

dude go out into the forest and find some moss and put it in your pets tank.

i did that with milipedes and they were fine

did u have any problem with the little wrom and bug hidding in the moss?
i took my moss out after i spoted them in the tank

 

[Brian S]

did u have any problem with the little wrom and bug hidding in the moss?
i took my moss out after i spoted them in the tank

That's not gonna hurt a thing IMO. Remember tarantulas dont live in a sterile environment in the wild.

 

[bakaichi]

That's not gonna hurt a thing IMO. Remember tarantulas dont live in a sterile environment in the wild.

ya know that too but arent those little tiny white worm found in moss nemetode too ?

dont konw if is the same type tht will hrm the Ts

 

[seanbond]

ya know that too but arent those little tiny white worm found in moss nemetode too ?

dont konw if is the same type tht will hrm the Ts

iv never had such a thing happen

 

[Jason Vaughn]

ya know that too but arent those little tiny white worm found in moss nemetode too ?

dont konw if is the same type tht will hrm the Ts

if you are worried you can always set up an enclosure with just the moss in it, and see what ends up happening with it

 

[bakaichi]

if you are worried you can always set up an enclosure with just the moss in it, and see what ends up happening with it

currently place the moss i collected in water ..
and all the little bug and worm are flying out into the water..

going to leave it in there for a few day and see how it gose form there

 

[desertdweller]

currently place the moss i collected in water ..
and all the little bug and worm are flying out into the water..

going to leave it in there for a few day and see how it gose form there

Great idea, please let us know how it goes. I have also planted shade grass seeds and it is doing well. I cut it with scissors!

 

[tamjam69]

What about British moss lol, funny question,:2: is your moss the same as ours and is it safe?

 

[RottweilExpress]

I've done the same. Haven't even cleansed it from bugs either. The moss tends to die in the peat moss after some weeks though, and I'm not willing to put real plantsoil in there. THAT has bugs and crap crawling all over then place.

 

[Cyris69]

I bought some imported sphagnum moss from a reputable local dark frog breeder and he had it imported from Chile I believe. He said leave it under a florescence bulb for 4-7 weeks and the spores will germinate and it will be 'revived'. Will that work? It wasn't dried or baked still moist in a large 2gal bag.

 

[mangsky]

What about British moss lol, funny question,:2: is your moss the same as ours and is it safe?

how bout Randy moss... darnit couldn't resist ....

but do let us know how it turns out

 

[dianedfisher]

I bought some imported sphagnum moss from a reputable local dark frog breeder and he had it imported from Chile I believe. He said leave it under a florescence bulb for 4-7 weeks and the spores will germinate and it will be 'revived'. Will that work? It wasn't dried or baked still moist in a large 2gal bag.

I was under the impression that Federal Laws would not allow the importation/distribution of "live" plants. In the "old" days you could buy moss, water it and it would "revive" and re-grow. Now everything is 100% dead, it's been irradiated and killed before being packaged. You can find domestic moss, mostly from the NW U.S. on ebay. Live frog moss, pillow moss, etc. also work and can usually be purchased from dart frog suppliers. For tarantulas the preferable moss would be those requiring very low light requirements. Moss suitable for use in diurnal "herp" environments requires more UVB light than most tarantula set-ups will provide. Di

 

[Frédérick]

I bought some imported sphagnum moss from a reputable local dark frog breeder and he had it imported from Chile I believe. He said leave it under a florescence bulb for 4-7 weeks and the spores will germinate and it will be 'revived'. Will that work? It wasn't dried or baked still moist in a large 2gal bag.

Was the peat brownish or still green and living ?

I would pick some live moss if I could, but given that there's actually an awful lot of snow I was thinking about some other ways of having live moss, preferably without having to get into a garden store and buy it...if it is possible to do so.

 

[Frédérick]

So the peat moss we buy at the store is dead and can't be revived whatsoever?

i might then collect some live moss outdoors, but for the moment there's too much snow to even dream of it! but I thought that moss could always be revived with water and light

 

[UrbanJungles]

I've actually spent alot of time researching mosses for my exhibits at work. Most mosses (outside of the ones in the Pacific NW) that are temperate require a winter cooling/freezing period to thrive. If you collect some in the spring you can actually entice it to grow for a while but within a year it'll turn brown or yellow and die.

You can get some of the tropical Dicranum mosses which grows in the SE (Fl, GA , etc) which will often thrive all year round when kept moist and with good strong lighting, these are the mosses that are popular with dart frog enthusiasts for planted vivariums.

When you see people's setups with that pretty green moss it's almost always a picture of a fairly recent setup, mosses won't thrive long term in a T tank I'm afraid. The humidity and lighting required to keep it viable is often at a level that would be uncomfortable for a spider to endure.

Sphagnum needs constantly "wet" not moist, environment to thrive...the more stagnant the better. I grow alot of carnivorous plants and will often grown sphagnum inadvertently in the terrariums.

You can get some of the decorative mosses that are actually painted green but I would stay far away from them. Most mosses that are sold dry will not come back to life...you might get lucky with some sphagnum but that's about it.

 

[kingfarvito]

IMEthe reason moss dies is because it dosent get nourishment i know in dart frog tanks it thrives off of being pooped/peed on