"Jungle Mix" Fir/Peat Moss mixture

[bee67]

Hi all,

I have done some searching on this topic and browsed Joe's enclyclopedia thread in Tarantula Discussions/Questions, but I haven't been able to find the exact answer to my question, so pardon me if I'm wasting your time :? I put this post in Chat since I'm sure this has been discussed many times, but I just can't find it. Mods, feel free to move me around.

I recently purchased a bag of Zilla's Jungle Mix, which contains Douglas Fir Bark and Sphagnum Peat Moss. I had mold in my enclosure and wanted to switch it out as soon as possible (I used to use Coco Fibre, but the LPS in my parents' town where I am staying for the summer didn't have any on-hand).

I picked out as many of the wood chips as I could (leaving mostly peat) but there is still a bit of fir left over. My question(s) is/are this/these:

(a) Why is it that wood chips have such a bad rap with Tarantula keepers? Is it that they are abrasive, toxic or somehow else dangerous? I have found many posts saying just not to use it... but never why, and if the peat/fir mixture will be OK.

(b) Is fir dangerous to invertebrates the same way that cedar is/or is rumoured to be? I have seen some discussion about cedar residue and "fresh" cedar vs. compost, and some people mention pine and fir too. The shelf where I used to house my spider was made of Pine and I didn't notice anything of concern (ie illness) but will the fir shavings put my pet at risk?

I'd appreciate some helpful answers or redirection to a thread or resource I may have missed... My intention is not to spark any debate about cedar residues, mulch vs. compost, or what have you.

Thanks for your time!

 

[Evil Seedlet]

I don't know if this is thhe whole story, but I think a lot of people don't like the wood chips/etc because a) it is really hard for creatures to burrow in and b) it stacks up pretty hard and a falling T has little cushion when it falls onto it. The scratchy bits might also hurt T's, I'm not sure.

 

[bee67]

I'll keep this post short since I'm not sure if my Internet is working. If I have double posted and/or a different post from my appears, my apologies.

Steve still has not adjusted to his new sub after three or four days. He sits in the corner all day with only a leg or two on the ground and the rest up against the glass. How long will it take for him to stop stressing out and adjust to his new environment?

 

[robd]

What kind of T are we talking about here?

Also... have you considered other ways to mitigate the mold problem you had, since you shouldn't just chalk it up to it being something wrong with the old substrate. How ventilated is your enclosure? Do you have a fan in your T room/area to provide airflow through the ventilation? Do you mist it a lot?

Misting, to me, is kind of an overrated thing. Obviously the humidity that comes of it dissipates quickly and IMO, standing water is a better method of providing humidity.

 

[bee67]

I do have some idea of what caused the mold problem... I just moved back into my parent's for the summer and in the transit, his water dish overflowed. He was covered with a towel to reduce the light and after I let him settle down for a few days and checked on him, the sub was moldy.

Really my only reason for switching substrate was that I wanted to get him out of there before the mold overtook more of his enclosure, and before it began to affect him in any way. Coco fibre was not immediately available, so I picked another for the time being.

Steve is a g. rosea. He hasn't been officially sexed, but I know for sure he is not a mature male. I try to keep his enclosure as dry as possible, and just top up his water dish from time to time.

Thanks for your help and interest guys

 

[High_Rolling_T]

The Jungle Mix is what i had originally bought when getting my first T(A. avic) and being that she was never on it, it was no problem.

Shortly after though I had a G. rosea too. To be honest, for the two weeks I had her on there, she seemed content with it. In fact, I've seen her roam more since i changed to coco fiber than before on the Jungle Mix. The reasons I had switched from the Jungle Mix was because for one I was used to dealing with the bricks of coco fiber from when I had a corn snake, and two because of everyone's aversion here to wood chips.

Other than that though, she seemed comfortable with it. I also noticed that it tends to hold moister better/longer

 

[thedude]

Most of my spiders, aswell as scorpions are being kept on the jungle mix and don't seem to mind it. They all get cozy with it. The jungle mix that i've been using doesn't have very many large chips.. it's very fine. I also noti e that it does hold in moister longer than straight peat or cocofiber does, or from my experiences anyway.