Substrate Opinions

[Psilocybin]

What's up guys, recently bought a bag of substrate in my local reptile store, it was on sale and havnt heard of it before, its by PRO REP and its called Spider Life, however there is nothing telling me what's in this blended mixture, I've tried looking online but couldn't get any answeres...

Have any of you used it before or anyone still use it??

Figured it would be alot better than the bog standard coco fibre as it dries out very quickly even with a vermiculite blend

 

[jrh3]

Here is a link from a past inquiry.

https://arachnoboards.com/threads/pro-rep-spider-life-substrate.228096/

 

[Vanisher]

Maybe that is good. Substrate is more or less up to the keeper what he/she likes!

My favourite soil i mix myself containing of peat and clay or topsoil and clay, sometines i mix in little sand and barkchips.
For african speicies i use larger porportion of clay and a small porprtion of sand so that the sub gets hard when it dries. Exellent for them to burrow in and it looks naturalistic

For rainforrest speicies i use less clay and more peatand some barkchips

 

[FrDoc]

Topsoil.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

Spider Life is basically just an overpriced mix of sedge peat and coarse vermiculite.

You could purchase a 35L bag of topsoil, 10L bag of sedge peat, and a 5L bag of fine vermiculite and make a much better substrate mix for less.

 

[Feral]

Why is drying out quickly a bad thing? Substrate aeration is good! Healthy!
If it's airy enough to dry out fairly quickly, it's airy enough to deter anaerobic pockets and other nasties... and that's a good thing.
Having to be more vigilant and add substrate moisture more often are not downsides, they are actually upsides. Having to do more "work" is not an excuse.
I have, in the past, used straight topsoil, straight vermiculite, and a mix of topsoil and vermiculite. I now use straight coco fiber in unplanted enclosures, and an amended coco fiber mix in planted enclosures (modified ABG recipe). It works well for me so far. The only thing I haven't tried yet is straight peat or any of the pre-made mixes like Spider Life. So far, I've seen no need to try them, I'm good with what I've got now.
But yes, "drying out"/substrate aeration is healthy and desirable. Don't hate on substrate aeration, friend.

 

[ZackP1023]

I see a lot of keepers use topsoil or a topsoil blend for substrate. Has anyone used organic garden soil or an organic garden soil blend?

I’ve recently lost an Asian Forest Scorpion due to burrow collapse of 100% coconut fiber. To help prevent the issue for any of my arachnids, I’ve did a little research and saw that some clay can help substrate support itself, so I’ve done a blend of 50/50 coconut fiber and organic garden soil (pesticide free of coarse).

I know tarantulas automatically have a Masters in Structural Engineering and have silk to back it up, but I worry about getting any new forest variety scorpions again.

 

[cold blood]

I see a lot of keepers use topsoil or a topsoil blend for substrate. Has anyone used organic garden soil or an organic garden soil blend?

I’ve recently lost an Asian Forest Scorpion due to burrow collapse of 100% coconut fiber. To help prevent the issue for any of my arachnids, I’ve did a little research and saw that some clay can help substrate support itself, so I’ve done a blend of 50/50 coconut fiber and organic garden soil (pesticide free of coarse).

I know tarantulas automatically have a Masters in Structural Engineering and have silk to back it up, but I worry about getting any new forest variety scorpions again.

First...coco fiber needs to be tamped down tightly, then it holds up to burrows.

I always tell people to AVIOD any dirt labeled as "organic"....all dirt is inherently organic, when you see this listed on the bag, its not in reference to the dirt, its in reference to the additives...organic additives most often refer to manure or compost...both things you want to avoid for obvious reasons.

 

[ZackP1023]

First...coco fiber needs to be tamped down tightly, then it holds up to burrows.

I always tell people to AVIOD any dirt labeled as "organic"....all dirt is inherently organic, when you see this listed on the bag, its not in reference to the dirt, its in reference to the additives...organic additives most often refer to manure or compost...both things you want to avoid for obvious reasons.

I’ll take a look at the ingredients on the bag to see exactly what’s in it. I went with organic to remove any possibility of pesticides.

I’ve done the tamping down with coco-fiber and the scorpion still had a burrow collapse and died. I don’t know how else to prevent it for species that don’t spin silk webs.