Substrate preference poll

[tacoma0680]

coconut is the best way for me cause It hold the moisture in the soil and you dont have dry cage

 

[PALAMO]

substrate

i use the soil from my property as it is similar to what my moderatum came from in the wild of course this is a terestrial spicies that burrows ..it is a red dirt loam black gumbo mix that i mix a small amount of sand with ( i know alot lot of people will disagree with the sand part )but when mixed in with the soil i have here it works well ,its stable enough for her to burrow in, yet easy enough for her to maintain.she loves it ! this may not be for every one but it works well for me ..and if you use something like this remember to bake the soil first to get out all the little nasties that may be living in the dirt...

 

[acerno]

I keep tropical scorpions, so having high humidity is a priority. I used to use 100% vermiculite but the scorpions were not to keen in creating burrows in it. I switched to 100% soil and they seemed to prefer this as they began burrowing. I was going to use peat moss but I thought the high acidity may be a factor in the health of the scorpions. I may try a 50-50 soil/peat at a later date to see their behavior.

 

[halfwaynowhere]

I use coco coir right now. Its probably not the cheapest option, but I prefer it because its natural, and doesn't deplete natural resources. I would never use peat moss, as I don't agree with the process involved in obtaining it. And potting soil just sounds like risky business, with fertilizers, pesticides, etc. Of course, I'm one of them new age hippies who prefers organic and all that, lol.

 

[josh_r]

i prefer to use a soil that closest represents what the species naturally lives in or around. i tend to think that a species will fare better in a specific soil prefered by the species. that being said, i will go out and find a soil type that closest matches what ive found in my research. most of my spiders are kept on very loamy sandy/clay soil taken from the desert. it can be cooked to kill off anything that may be in it. other species i may keep on a very coarse granite rock soil or a thick clay or even humus. just depends on what it is.

the way i see it, these animals are never found in 100% peat or coco fiber or vermiculite. infact, the soils they live in are hardly 100% anything or even 50/50. they are a mix of many things. i try to duplicate that as much as possible and i have noticed a difference in the habits of many of my animals after the change. much more natural behavior in my opinion.

-josh

 

[jblayza]

other

I prefer Eco Earth. I Like the one that come with 6 disks instead of the block, cuz sometimes you just don' need so much and you can just throw in a disk of two.

 

[pinktoe23]

I'm on the coco fiber band wagon.

same here, has worked wonderfully for me.

 

[robbie]

coco fiber for me as well.

 

[CjP]

Count me in as cukoo for coco. Yeah, peat may be cheaper, but a one bedroom apartment doesn't really have a lot of room to store bales of peat moss.

 

[ttula]

100% peat moss, my Ts love the stuff and have had no problems with mold or anything else.

 

[izan]

I use 100% vermiculite for arboreals and for terrestrials I use forest bed (expanding substrate), peat and verm in varying mixtures depnding on species.

Chid

I like your site. Well done.

iZAN

 

[monkey]

75%coco fibre, 25% vermiculite

 

[von_z]

1 vote for EcoEarth

 

[Zeus9699]

Substrate

I have over 1000 tarantulas and I use the same substrate for almost all of them.......about 75% peat and 25% vermiculite.

 

[betuana]

I like Coir/Coconut Fiber - and a question

I am fond of coconut fiber - we buy it in bulk for our potted plants as well (mixed with worm castings for plant nutrients and some vermiculite) so it ends up actually being fairly inexpensive (though I've seen some of the small bricks sold in pet stores priced at many times the bulk price for gardening supplies!)

I had a question though - has anyone tried, or known of someone who has tried the Zoo Med Excavator Clay Burrowing Substrate? It apparently is made to let critters (it cites lizards, snakes, T's, scorpions, etc) safely burrow without danger of tunnel collapse, and is supposed to emulate their environment. Makes me curious about it, but I'm cautious about trying new things, especially since I'm very much a newbie! Wondering if anyone else has used it...
Here's a listing for it : http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=6016+6040+17913&pcatid=17913

Any thoughts?

 

[apidaeman]

Coco fiber 80% with 20% peat moss.

 

[Drachenjager]

tried the coco fiber and back to 100% peat and peat/vermiculite mix for arboreals and certain others and more vermiculite for slings

 

[8ballphoenix]

I had a question though - has anyone tried, or known of someone who has tried the Zoo Med Excavator Clay Burrowing Substrate? It apparently is made to let critters (it cites lizards, snakes, T's, scorpions, etc) safely burrow without danger of tunnel collapse, and is supposed to emulate their environment. Makes me curious about it, but I'm cautious about trying new things, especially since I'm very much a newbie! Wondering if anyone else has used it...
Here's a listing for it : http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=6016+6040+17913&pcatid=17913
Any thoughts?

I was wondering about Zoo Med Excavator Clay Burrowing Substrate as well but it was confusing because they say you can mold it into tunnels yet ts can tunnel through it? Anyways, most confusing. My husband tried it, he's a manager at a pet store, and disliked it. Intensely. Said it hardens up like cement and is just awful to work with.

Hope that helps.

 

[presurcukr]

my vote is 100% eco earth no shrooms grow in a moist habitat

 

[beanb142002]

First of all, I am using paper towels since I had nothing else. I am going to try a mixture of peat moss and vermiculite. I may experiment with varying concentrations of the two. I have a G. Aureostriata 1" spiderling so any advice would be appreciated in a PM.