Substrate preference poll

preferred substrate??

  • 100% potting soil

    Votes: 109 8.7%
  • 80% potting soil-20%mulch

    Votes: 22 1.8%
  • 100% peat moss

    Votes: 363 29.0%
  • 100% vermiculite

    Votes: 34 2.7%
  • 50/50 peat/vermiculite

    Votes: 95 7.6%
  • 50/50 potting soil/peat moss

    Votes: 104 8.3%
  • 50/50 potting soil/vermiculite

    Votes: 35 2.8%
  • 75% peat moss-25% vermiculite

    Votes: 61 4.9%
  • 75% vermicuite-25% peat moss

    Votes: 13 1.0%
  • other...please state in reply post

    Votes: 414 33.1%

  • Total voters
    1,250

josh_r

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 18, 2008
Messages
1,131
100% natural clay based soils for me. You dont find spiders living in coco fiber or peat moss in the wild so I dont like to house them in it. I have noticed I get MUCH better behavior and burrowing from my spiders on loamy clay based soils than anything else. Give them what they came from!
 

Kathy

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 4, 2009
Messages
852
Ok, I keep reading about vermiculite so I just went to Home Depot and bought some, now I am reading the label and it says don't inhale, if you get it in your eyes, flush with water, breathing over extended period of time could cause respiratory problems. Now how in the world do you use this as substrate?
 

Arachnos

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Messages
13
I started off with vermiculite and peat moss 50/50 but now I am a 100% fan of coconut fiber ecoearth. It is easy to keep moist for high humidity species and easy to keep clean for the desert species. So far I have not heard any complaints out of my T's :D
 

Rue

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 24, 2011
Messages
239
I think the ExoTerra Plantation Soil IS coconut fibre...same as the EcoEarth product...

If it is, I'm good to go...
 

Dr Acula

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 22, 2010
Messages
336
My vote goes for "other" - the coconut fiber EcoEarth.
other" for grounded up babies :D
jk XD
coconut fiber has worked fine for me. no mold and my haitian brown's burrows hold up just fine :)
 
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Mojo Jojo

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 3, 2002
Messages
2,122
I'm really surprised to see so many people using the coconut fibers these days. When I was using the stuff back around 2002 or so, people were having fungal/mold issues with it and I had an A. geniculata that stuck itself to the glass until I changed it back to peat. Back then I was using Bed-a-beast. Is the stuff being processed differently these days?
 

super-pede

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 6, 2010
Messages
543
It completely depends on the species IMO.
for my desert pedes, scorps, and T's I use a clay(50 %)/sand(25%)/peat moss(25%) mixture
for My tropical species I use a base layes of clay to support burrowing and a coco fibre/ peatmoss mixture for the top (and thicker layer) to hold moisture. and then I also use straight coco fiber and straight peat moss sometimes for smaller enclosures.
 

MB623

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jul 3, 2011
Messages
192
Substrate

I definitely prefer Eco-Earth. It's clean, holds moisture well, and is quite cheap if bought at the right place. Plus I kinda like the smell when moist.
 

Birdman10682

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
15
I like a coco-fiber/coco husk blend for my Okie browns, my curly hair and my white-knee. I've also tried a coco-husk/desert sand/cypress bedding blend for my rose-haired T and he has been settled in comfortably for months now. However, I put the sand on the bottom, cypress in the middle and the coco-husk on top.
 

catfishrod69

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
4,401
exxo terra plantation soil all the way....the other stuff my pet store gets,(cant remember name), grows mold, will almost never dry out, and also grows bird seed plants....hmmmmm...owner of that factory must make bird seed too or something, also found leaves and sticks in it...
 
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