How do you wet substrate?

Bjorgly

Arachnodemon
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Perhaps a stupid quetsion, but i dont know what the best way to keep substrate damp is? Pour water on it? mist the substrate directly and hope you dont hit your spider? Overflow te water dish?

wet soil from an overflowed water dish or from water that has been poured on can only attract pests they way i see it, so any insight is appreciated please!

Mark
 

dilleo

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mist or a spray bottle. i just use a spray bottle.

-jeremy
 

whoami?

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If by "pests" you mean "mites", I see no way to avoid them.

I can let my spiders' cages dry out completely.

Then I wet them.

Within three hours, the mites are back.

I swear, those little bastards are the Aliens of the animal kingdom. F*ckers can apparently lie dormant forever.

>:-(

Anyway, I forgot your question.

Hold on for a moment, so I can see what it was. I'll be back in a moment...

Oh, okay. I don't pour water onto the substrate because it leaves bigs pits.

Sometimes I overflow the water dish.

Sometimes I just mist the cages.

But I never pay too much attention to mites, since I can never seem to get rid of them.

That probably doesn't help you though.

But if not, that's just too damn bad. >:-(
 
T

Tarantula

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I have been misting the substrate for years without any problems whatsoever.
 

Gillian

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Bjorgly,
To dampen those of my t's that need it, I use a sprayer I bought at Home Depot. It has a canister, that you fill with water. You then pump the handle on top, to build up pressure, and spray away. I initially bought this as I was misting my Ball Python's cage and was getting cramped hands from constantly squeezing the spray handle on a bottle I usually used. (Trying to mist a 70G is very hard)
Peace,
Gillian
 
T

Tarantula

Guest
The local exotic store here uses the same kind of sprayer with a pump that Gillian uses and i am thinking of getting one. They are great.
 

Immortal_sin

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I use the overflow method with most of mine. No mite problems that I can see, especially since I stopped feeding crickets to my Ts.
I also cover or partially cover the top of the container with plastic or saran wrap.
Seems to work very well.
 

Lycanthrope

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well normally i just mist the enclosures, but in some cases (ie my T. blondi) ive had a difficult time maintaining the satisfactory humidity level. heres what i do: you know that proverbial paintbrush we all use to test a t's temperment? well ive found another use. i shove the stick end down into the substrate all the way, move it around a bit, then pull it out. then i pour water into the hole. i do this in a few select spots around the enclosure, then pack in the holes. with daily misting, this should help you get that peat a little moister.
 

Weapon-X

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re

yup everyone else seems right, i do exacyly that use a spray bottle sometimes i overflow the water dish maybe once or twice a week, usualy i mist the substrate directly and some on the sides, but i really hate the water stains, speaking of mites i've never had them , except from a centipede and a scorpion i got from someone else, apparently this is what also killed them i can find no other reason--Jeff
 

MrT

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Re: re

Originally posted by Weapon-X
yup everyone else seems right, i do exacyly that use a spray bottle sometimes i overflow the water dish maybe once or twice a week, usualy i mist the substrate directly and some on the sides, but i really hate the water stains, .--Jeff
I saw in a thread a while back that Code Monkey uses distilled water for misting. No more water stains.

I use the overflow method myself.

Ernie
 

Weapon-X

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re

i'm gonna definetly have to start doing that with distilled water then, i got a tank right now that looks ridiculous with water stains, i even cleaned and scrubbed it and they won't come off, thanks thats a great idea--Jeff
 

Bob the thief

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Well I might have to go for a few days come next month or so , So im gona save up money for a misting system.

If you got the money and the time its a goodinvestment.

oh and if it does not have a timer , make sure it only sprays a small portion of the tank not near your T
 

MrT

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Originally posted by Bob the thief
Well I might have to go for a few days come next month or so , So im gona save up money for a misting system.

If you got the money and the time its a goodinvestment.

oh and if it does not have a timer , make sure it only sprays a small portion of the tank not near your T

Bob,
Please tell me/us about the system. Sounds neat.

Ernie
 

Bob the thief

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There are a few im looking into . But I really need one with a timer in case I have to go away for a few days becuase no one is brave enough to mist my t's when im gone I had a few people before but not now.

So my plan is to buy a misting system then have someone (my brother) check up on all my t's while in gone.

http://lllreptile.com/v2/content/catalog/?product_string=mr.-moisture-automatic-misting-system < im looking into this one now

I saw it in action at a reptile show it sprays a very very fine mist. And I thought it to be ideal but like I said it is expensive and requires you to drill a hole in the screen lid.
 

MrT

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Bob,
Thats slick as an Ape's a$$. I bet it could be setup as a drip system too.

Thanks, Ernie
 

Kugellager

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I use the 'Water from below' method for any invert I have that burrows into the substrate and mist for those which do not. I still occasionally mist the surface to quickly increase the air humidity for my jungle species though the humidity levels stay between 70-80+% for a week in most of my enclosures.

The water from below method involves thin layer of pea-sized gravel or some similar substance over which I put a substrate as close as I can to the native soil. I put a tube down one of the corners of the enclosure into the gravel layer. THis tube is where I pour water as needed. My inverts (Scorps and T's) usually burrow down to where the humidity suits them.

This method creates a nice gradation of humidity from the gravel layer to the surface. You can use this method without a gravel layer and the humidity will spread out in a triangular shaped area from the corner with the tube. I use that for my G.rosea and it has constructed a humid burrow nearer to the tube and one on the opposite corner where it has burrowed to within 1" of the humid layer(about 4" down in that corner).

John
];')
 
Last edited:

atavuss

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Re: re

Originally posted by Weapon-X
i'm gonna definetly have to start doing that with distilled water then, i got a tank right now that looks ridiculous with water stains, i even cleaned and scrubbed it and they won't come off, thanks thats a great idea--Jeff
vinegar will sometimes remove hard water stains.
Ed
 
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