More Questions

[Frostbyte]

Ive been doing Ts for about a year .. I should know this but wanna get to the basics. I posted about my Cobalt , with substrate .. does everyone go to a local store and buy a bag of plain potting soil and use it? With my scorps I was cooking the soil ( to free it of parasites ) Is that something that has to be done? Also .. I have NO heat on any of my Ts or Scorps .. the all seem to be active and eat well . I have them in areas that are somewhat warmer than the rest of the house and away from drafts. Is Heating a must? I just wanna make sure I have the basics down. I have a Versi Color , a Pink Toe , a Rose Hair , a Green Bottle Blue , A Curly Hair , a Red Knee and the dreaded Cobalt . I just wanna make sure that each one is comfy. Oh yeah , ... do you mist a Cobalts tank? I was pouring water in the substrate to make it "damp " THaNKS aGaiN ! !

 

[Immortal_sin]

well, you may get more than one answer on this, but I'll tell you what *I* do.
I put both the H lividum in a tall plastic container, with vent holes in the lid, around the top edge, and around the bottom. I filled it 3/4 of the way with pure peat moss. I don't mess with potting soil, since I had bad luck with molds. I make sure the peat moss is damp when I put it in. I pack it well, and get a burrow started for them. I put the T in, and it will usually continue burrowing where I started it for them.
I put in a water dish, keep it filled, and sometimes overflow it. I had NO problems with ventilation, or mold using this method. My T room is between 75-80 degrees year round, so I don't use any other supplemental heating.
When I dug both the girls up last week to ship them off, they were in very good shape too.
See this thread for pics of them...they are kinda fat for H lividum!
good luck!

http://www.arachnopets.com/arachnob...eadid=13188&highlight=saying+goodbye+to+ghost

 

[arachnopunks]

I will echo what Immortal said. We have had really bad luck with potting soils sprouting anything from mold to seedlings!! If you get dry Canadian peat you should be fine. Nothing has ever grown on that as far as I remember. We were getting little bags at the store for like $3, but found a HUGE bag....it is like 2 feet wide by 3 feet high of compressed peat for about $10. It is just as good as lasts forever. We will usually put a layer of vermiculite at the bottom for drainage, even with our burrowers. When they get to the vermiculite layer, they bring some of it to the surface.


-Jill