Hydrating loose coconut fiber substrate?

[Dylan14]

I see dark substrate in a lot of videos and i got my last T in dark substrate that is coconut fiber but i bought some and its dry and brown. How do I hydrate it consistently throughout? Just mix it like mud? Or mist as im putting it in the enclosure?

 

[lostbrane]

Put your coco fiber in the terrarium. Tamp it down so it isn’t loose. Add/tamp until desired sub level/height is achieved. Then pour water into the coco fiber. It will branch out a bit but that’s fine. Or you can just overflow your water dish for the same effect.

What species are you keeping? That will change the moisture you need, if it’s needed at all.

 

[antinous]

What species are you keeping? If it’s from an arid area you don’t need moist sub. If it is a tropical species, depending on the size of the enclosure you can just add water in by pouring in a little or sprinkling it in using a old Gatorade bottle with holes poked into a lid.

 

[Dylan14]

I have a gbb sling with dry substrate that i mist maybe twice a week, i want to rehouse when he molts. And my recent juvenile costarican tiger rump came with about 2.5-3 in of the previously mentioned dark substrate.

 

[antinous]

I have a gbb sling with dry substrate that i mist maybe twice a week, i want to rehouse when he molts. And my recent juvenile costarican tiger rump came with about 2.5-3 in of the previously mentioned dark substrate.

How large is the GBB sling? It's fine to stay dry if it's larger than 1" or so. With the D. fasciatus keep the sub moist by adding water by giving a heavy and thorough spray every couple days/one week.

 

[Dylan14]

How large is the GBB sling? It's fine to stay dry if it's larger than 1" or so. With the D. fasciatus keep the sub moist by adding water by giving a heavy and thorough spray every couple days/one week.

The sling is about an inch actually, maybe a little under. I realized the substrate mistake after wards and i dont wanna stress him out by rehousing him back to back. And he pretty much has the whole place webbed up so i assumed he was comfortable. And my D. Fascistus has a bottle cap.

 

[Theneil]

"dark" substrate is a little vague. Could it be that something other than coco fiber was used? Peat and topsoil are also extremely common and both tend to be much darker in color than coco fiber.

 

[antinous]

They both should have a bottle cap (or something sinilar) as a water dish btw

 

[Dylan14]

They both should have a bottle cap (or something sinilar) as a water dish btw

They both should have a bottle cap (or something sinilar) as a water dish btw

You think his big enough for a cap a little less than an inch?

 

[antinous]

You think his big enough for a cap a little less than an inch?

Yea, I have a sling that's around 3/4-1" and I provide it with a bottle cap. I've seen them drink from it a couple times and it helps provide humidity.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I see dark substrate in a lot of videos

Could just be different substrate, I use a mix of topsoil and sedge peat so it often looks dark (even when dry).

View media item 53158

0.1 Brachypelma albopilosum (Honduras)

• The Grym Reaper
• Aug 10, 2018
• albopilosum brachypelma brachypelma albopilosum curlyhair tarantula honduran curly hair

Kitana rocking her new suit.

You think his big enough for a cap a little less than an inch?

Yeah, tarantulas are heinously difficult to drown and slings don't even break the surface tension so they can literally walk on water.

 

[Dovey]

I add a little vermiculite to my Coco fiber to weigh it down and give it some body. That way species that like to burrow can create burrows that won't collapse, and it doesn't tend to get all fluffy and loose and annoying to the tarantulas--or to me

 

[Nightstalker47]

You can hydrate the sub in a bucket of any kind, just slowly pour some water and mix evenly. Its always better to use somewhat moist coco fiber at first, as when it dries it no longer packs down well.