Newbie Tarantula Keeper

Creepy Crawling Guy

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 6, 2017
Messages
48
So I Ordered 3 T slings all of them is around 1"
Albo
Parahybana
Vagans

is soil and cocopeat substrate good ??

i have some fine wood shavings here can i use them ??

and majority of the care sheet i see says to put peat moss and vermiculite in the substrate is it required?? coz i dont have them right now

im new in keeping tarantula i just want to add diversity to my centipedes and scorps
 

sasker

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 9, 2016
Messages
1,091
Just cocopeat would do fine.

What kind of soil do you have in mind? If you want to use potting soil, just be careful that no pesticides are added to it (for obvious reasons).

I would advise against wood shavings.

For the species that you mentioned it is not really necessary to add vermiculite and peat moss. Vermiculite is usually added to retain more moist. It is good to keep the substrate slightly damp for slings, but once they leave their fragile sling stage it is not necessary to keep the substrate damp.

Success with your tarantulas. You purchased three very nice spiders. Their care is quite forgiving, so they are hardy enough to survive a few care mistakes.

I suggest you use the search button well, there is a ton of information on Arachnoboards already. But if you are not certain, feel free to ask away! :)

Oh, and feel free to send a few pictures of your enclosures to see if they need some changes. You will see that everyone is more than happy to give you some advise.
 

PanzoN88

Arachnodemon
Joined
Sep 15, 2014
Messages
713
Ignore care sheets, if no one has mentioned it before I finish typing this. They are useless. Humidity is usually fulfilled by water dish. Most, if not all tarantulas will do just fine at room temperature. It is not like raising a reptile and monitoring all of those numbers. Tarantulas are more forgiving in care, as they do not require a lot of maintenance. They don't cost much. Reptiles on the other hand require all of the measuring equipment and the massive cage which will get expensive. Care sheets and pet store employees may say you need all of the same things, but a water dish, sterilite bin, cork bark, eco earth is all the tarantula(s) really need for proper housing.

As for the selection you purchased: very nice adds. Watching them grow will be a great experience. I've been at it since 2014 and I am still amazed by the color change with each molt. Feeding is a very neat experience as well. The crunch sounds great, but you almost (emphasis on almost) feel bad for the cricket, dubia, mealworm, etc...

Welcome to the hobby.

Oh almost forgot, once you've experienced raising them for a few weeks or months, you'll get the urge to buy more, and when you buy more, stopping is impossible, so just embrace it and come over to our side, where the addiction will grow.
 

Creepy Crawling Guy

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 6, 2017
Messages
48
okay guys thnx for the great infos

going to shop for everything i need tomorrow so i can prepare their enclosure before they arrive

so excited!!!!
 

The Grym Reaper

Arachnoreaper
Joined
Jul 19, 2016
Messages
4,835
So I Ordered 3 T slings all of them is around 1"
Albo
Parahybana
Vagans
First of all, welcome to the hobby :)

Good choices for starters, I don't have a B. vagans myself but I do have the others, they're all very hardy species that will tolerate some newbie husbandry errors, decent growers and great eaters.

is soil and cocopeat substrate good ??
Down to personal preference, some people use straight coco fibre, others use topsoil (just make sure it doesn't contain manure or pesticides), I use a mix of sedge peat and coco fibre. Just cocopeat on its own will probably be fine.

i have some fine wood shavings here can i use them ??
I would advise against it.

nd majority of the care sheet i see says to put peat moss and vermiculite in the substrate is it required??
No, ignore care sheets, they kill Tarantulas.

You'll find pretty much any information you need in regards to care here on the boards, if you have any questions then feel free to ask away or post pictures of your setups if you think you might have missed something and someone will be more than happy to give you any advice you may need.
 

DPetsche

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 27, 2016
Messages
46
I know you already got your answers but I like to use coco fiber and vermiculite for my slings. I heavily moisten it then let it get a bit dryer before putting anyone in it. With my larger Ts I just use straight coco fiber but I do still moisturize it heavily then let it dry before putting anyone in it. Haven't had an issue yet! Just make sure you keep a water bowl in at all times, especially if you don't think you'll remember to go in every once in a while and add some water to the substrate.
 

BishopiMaster

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Messages
356
So I Ordered 3 T slings all of them is around 1"
Albo
Parahybana
Vagans

is soil and cocopeat substrate good ??

i have some fine wood shavings here can i use them ??

and majority of the care sheet i see says to put peat moss and vermiculite in the substrate is it required?? coz i dont have them right now

im new in keeping tarantula i just want to add diversity to my centipedes and scorps
The first question is, where did you obtain your soil from? I'm assuming you bought the cocofibre
 

Creepy Crawling Guy

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 6, 2017
Messages
48
The first question is, where did you obtain your soil from? I'm assuming you bought the cocofibre
i obtain my soil in my backyard what i do is dig deep enough atleast 4-6ft then use the soil from the very bottom i have lots of that kind of soil for my plants and i never used industrial fertilizer i only use gastines ... but now i will refrain using soil

i really love AB lots of people care and very informative forum unlike others pftt
 

DPetsche

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 27, 2016
Messages
46
i obtain my soil in my backyard what i do is dig deep enough atleast 4-6ft then use the soil from the very bottom i have lots of that kind of soil for my plants and i never used industrial fertilizer i only use gastines ... but now i will refrain using soil

i really love AB lots of people care and very informative forum unlike others pftt
At first I wondered why you were asked where you're getting it from, now I know haha. You can use that soil, not that much of a problem, just make absolutely sure that you bake it in the oven. Even if you think you have the cleanest dirt in the country, there's more than likely going to be stuff in it that just doesn't really sit well with captive tarantulas.
 

BishopiMaster

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Messages
356
i obtain my soil in my backyard what i do is dig deep enough atleast 4-6ft then use the soil from the very bottom i have lots of that kind of soil for my plants and i never used industrial fertilizer i only use gastines ... but now i will refrain using soil

i really love AB lots of people care and very informative forum unlike others pftt
Yeah, so that's a really important detail, i highly recommend baking that soil at 200 degrees in the oven for 30 minutes, I would repeat that 3 times, and then seal it in a bag until use, this will rid any parasites to the best of your ability. Nematodes 'may' be tarantula species specific, and some might comment that, it's unreasonable because what if tarantulas are not in your area, but I assure you that after you see the damage nematodes can cause on a tarantula, you will not want to take a chance.
Soil is particularly good for setting up burrows for species because it has very good staying power for burrows, that is the reason that I would use it, I'm not telling you not to use it, just that if you do obtain it from outside, or really anywhere, but we'll be "reasonable",, you want to bake it.
 

Tatarita

Arachnosquire
Joined
Mar 4, 2016
Messages
92
I use coco fiber. Best thing in my opinion. I keep wetting it and it never molds! I tried using soil and my T wasn't having it. She stayed away from it, plus I noticed it stains
 

BishopiMaster

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Messages
356
I use coco fiber. Best thing in my opinion. I keep wetting it and it never molds! I tried using soil and my T wasn't having it. She stayed away from it, plus I noticed it stains
How does a t manage to stay away from potting soil if its the ground? She climbs up? Theres gotta be some other reason here, like soil is less absorbant and youre putting too much for uhh, soil.compared to cocofibre, or something
 

Tanner Dzula

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 29, 2016
Messages
190
awesome choices on T's.

the LP is going to grow faster then the weeds in your yard and will eat mostly anything, Just look out for the hairs!

The vagans is pretty bulletproof for the most part, and as an adult, they look beautiful.

and the Albo is going to be kind of the middle ground between the two. in ym experience my Albo's always Out grow my vagans by a bit, but not nearly as fast as the LP.
all three are good eaters, with Albo's usually being the tarantula version of a garbage disposal. when ever any of my other T's won't eat i usually toss it in my Albo's direction and She always takes it without hesitation(just make sure not to over feed, and this is a species that will sometimes literally just keep eating and eating)

all three are super Hardy tarantula's and amazing for first Time T's owners.
i will recommend giving the Albo and Vagans some SUPER deep substrate and you will see some very impressive burrow set ups with them. From the ones I've owned, LP's don't seem to want to burrow as much as adults, mine usually is more content sitting out in the open no matter how much substrate i give her or what type of hide, which I'm thankful for, but my Albo and my vegans both seem to think they are half tarantula- Half tonka truck and literally bulldoze the substrate around daily.

for humidity, just over fill the water dish ~maybe once a week, less so for the Albo and Vagans as the LP as they seem to prefer it on the drier side.

other then that, feed and enjoy :)
 

darkness975

Latrodectus
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Aug 31, 2012
Messages
5,610
How does a t manage to stay away from potting soil if its the ground? She climbs up? Theres gotta be some other reason here, like soil is less absorbant and youre putting too much for uhh, soil.compared to cocofibre, or something
You would want to use Top Soil, not Potting Soil. Huge difference, most notably that Potting Soil often contains chemicals/fertilizers,etc that are harmful to the Spider.
 

Tanner Dzula

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 29, 2016
Messages
190
That doesnt answer my question
theres many ways it could avoid the soil itself.

example:
i tried out using top soil in one of my enclosures, so it was mostly top soil and on the opposite end from his hide i put a layer of sphagnum moss/carpet moss by the water bowl. my T for the most part would only sit on he moss and after about 3 days in the new enclosure he had moved all the moss on the one end, and bunched it up between the water bowl and the hide. basicly making a pathway from the water bowl to the hide. he wouldn't sit on the the plain top soil.

i re-did the enclosure, making it identical set up wise but instead of top soil used cocofiber and peat moss mix, with one end by the water bowl having a layer of Sphagnum/carpet moss and the rest just the substrate. and he was fine with sitting in the middle of his enclosure just fine.

I've had some T's do the same but inverse, with moss, where they don't mind top soil or anything but will not seem to walk on moss for any reason and go through anyway to avoid it. Sometimes spiders do spider things.
 

Tatarita

Arachnosquire
Joined
Mar 4, 2016
Messages
92
I tried introducing my girl to all natural, organic Top Soil . I specifically made sure there werent any chemicals, fertilizers or pesticides. I put it in one area of her tank to see if she would like it and she stayed away from that area and spent her time on the opposite side of her enclosure instead. She simply didn't like it and prefers the coco fiber and that's perfectly ok by me. :happy:

You would want to use Top Soil, not Potting Soil. Huge difference, most notably that Potting Soil often contains chemicals/fertilizers,etc that are harmful to the Spider.
 

OliverWhatever

Arachnosquire
Joined
Sep 14, 2015
Messages
60
My problem with the top soils I have used is that it's not really good for burrowing. If it dries out, it just collapses, and adding water to the dry soil just clumps it together.
 

Creepy Crawling Guy

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 6, 2017
Messages
48
okay guys all T.s sling got delivered today

all seems healthy

albo(almost 1") molted ... some says wait for 5days before feeding some says 2 weeks so im gonna wait for a week if it doesnt eat ill try in a few days

vagans(almost 1.5") pretty big

LP(.5") very skittish crawl up to my arm while transferring it to its new enclo using a paint brush

got a lot of coco peat (by accident dodnt know coco brick expand a lot)

i have some coco peat thats is wet coz i left it outside for the final drying but it drizzle a little while im at work so its kina wet when i squeeze it no water comes out is it safe to use this way or shoul i wait till its bone dry ???
 

MGery92

Arachnosquire
Joined
May 21, 2017
Messages
64
okay guys all T.s sling got delivered today

all seems healthy

albo(almost 1") molted ... some says wait for 5days before feeding some says 2 weeks so im gonna wait for a week if it doesnt eat ill try in a few days

vagans(almost 1.5") pretty big

LP(.5") very skittish crawl up to my arm while transferring it to its new enclo using a paint brush

got a lot of coco peat (by accident dodnt know coco brick expand a lot)

i have some coco peat thats is wet coz i left it outside for the final drying but it drizzle a little while im at work so its kina wet when i squeeze it no water comes out is it safe to use this way or shoul i wait till its bone dry ???
A week will be enough for the Albo, I'm sure that it is going to eat. :)

My LP was very skittish too when it was this small, once it escaped during feeding. They can be surprisingly fast for new keepers (I'm in the hobby for 8 months now, still have much to learn).

How wet is that coco peat? If it is slightly moist, that is good, slings needs a bit more humid enclosure, than juvie/sub/adult ones.
 
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