Substrate?

poppaJT

Arachnopeon
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Aug 10, 2010
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Hi everyone, I got this substrate from a pet store, it's wood shavings that are cut kind of like grated cheese, and it doesn't have chemicals in it, I'm just wondering if it's ok for my tarantulas? Both of my tarantulas are dry climate tarantulas, I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it :?
 

Mamisha-X

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Jun 4, 2010
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NO! wood shavings = splinters and cuts = stressed and unhappy tarantula! use eco earth coconut substrate! It is the best for them!
 

codykrr

Arachnoking
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^ kinda subjective. I prefer peat moss. Coco fiber tends to mold easily.

But yeah, no wood chips.
 

NevularScorpion

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^ I second him peat moss because you will not have problems with molds(unless you have isopods).
 

Chris_Skeleton

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^I third. Although I use 100% coconut fiber and have yet to have a problem with mold.
 

Shell

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I use only cocofiber. I had a problem with a little bit of mold in my A. avicularia's old enclosure, but it was my fault, not enough ventilation. I rehoused her back in the spring, to an enclosure with more ventilation and have not had an issue with mold since. Otherwise, the cocofiber has worked great for me.
 

malevolentrobot

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I use only cocofiber. I had a problem with a little bit of mold in my A. avicularia's old enclosure, but it was my fault, not enough ventilation. I rehoused her back in the spring, to an enclosure with more ventilation and have not had an issue with mold since. Otherwise, the cocofiber has worked great for me.
same here, i use coco fiber in every enclosure and so far only my versi has given me mold problems, probably because i am being way too fussy over it :wall:
 

Fran

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Not to be picky, but is not a crime to have some chips on the substrate or to use some "jungle" mixture and stuff like that...Remmember that in the wild, the substrate could be very abbrassive and a mixture of plants, rocks and everything you can imagine.

Simply keep it as less abbrassive as you can.
 

Falk

Arachnodemon
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Hi everyone, I got this substrate from a pet store, it's wood shavings that are cut kind of like grated cheese, and it doesn't have chemicals in it, I'm just wondering if it's ok for my tarantulas? Both of my tarantulas are dry climate tarantulas, I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it :?
Tarantulas cant burrow in that.
 

MIC

Arachnosquire
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Vermiculite for the lower layer (for draining purpose), a strong wire mesh and on top of this the final coconat fiber substrate. This is my favorit choise and it never gave me any problem with molt or so.
 

Fran

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Vermiculite for the lower layer (for draining purpose), a strong wire mesh and on top of this the final coconat fiber substrate. This is my favorit choise and it never gave me any problem with molt or so.
I never agreed with that. If the spider feels like digging, shes gonna find herself withn the mesh and the gravel.
 

curiousme

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We personally prefer a mixture of several different substrates. We use peat moss, coco fibre and plain potting soil with no fertilizers in it and sometimes a dash of paver's sand. The potting soil is by far the cheapest though, if that is a concern for you.
 

MIC

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I never agreed with that. If the spider feels like digging, shes gonna find herself withn the mesh and the gravel.
Vermiculite is not hard as the gravel and I try always to give a suitable thickness for the coconat layer. I use also a special naylon mesh, very strong and very dense, which resulted totally safe for the spider (non risk to trap on it). The whole thing permits also ventilation beneath the substrate, besides the draining function.
 

Fran

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Vermiculite is not hard as the gravel and I try always to give a suitable thickness for the coconat layer. I use also a special naylon mesh, very strong and very dense, which resulted totally safe for the spider (non risk to trap on it). The whole thing permits also ventilation beneath the substrate, besides the draining function.

Yeah, although still a bad idea in my opinion.

How many times have I seen tarantulas out of the blue digging and enlarging the burrow 4-6 inches deep...
You would have to have a coco layer of at least 8" to be on the safe side,on top of the mesh and gravel which would bring 2 problems:

1:Enclosure would be so heavy it would have satelites orbiting around.
2:You would need to have a custom made tank to have that height.
 

Kaimetsu

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^ I second him peat moss because you will not have problems with molds(unless you have isopods).
I have a question about isopods but it isnt worth starting a new thread over since isopods were just mentioned here. Is it safe to use isopods that i catch in my yard to keep my avic tanks clean?
 

MIC

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Yeah, although still a bad idea in my opinion.

How many times have I seen tarantulas out of the blue digging and enlarging the burrow 4-6 inches deep...
You would have to have a coco layer of at least 8" to be on the safe side,on top of the mesh and gravel which would bring 2 problems:

1:Enclosure would be so heavy it would have satelites orbiting around.
2:You would need to have a custom made tank to have that height.
I have to specify that i use expanded vermiculite that is pretty lighter from the coco fiber itself (60Kg/m3). I don't use any gravel and yes I use custom made terrarium for these cases, but with thiner substate than 8". On the other hand, I don't have obligatory burrowers and I give to my Ts a retreat which, the majority of them, prefer to use instead of burrowing.
 

codykrr

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I have a question about isopods but it isnt worth starting a new thread over since isopods were just mentioned here. Is it safe to use isopods that i catch in my yard to keep my avic tanks clean?
Personally I wouldnt. When I have used them in the past, I would catch as many as I could find and let them breed. then use the offspring for tanks.

Also. Just to add. Peat moss is 12 bucks for an entire bale. It will last about a year(unless you go nuts setting up tanks and buying spiders).
 

MIC

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I have a question about isopods but it isnt worth starting a new thread over since isopods were just mentioned here. Is it safe to use isopods that i catch in my yard to keep my avic tanks clean?
Definetely no! You must quarantine them, for enough time (a month), in a separate enclosure giving them your own controlled food and water and then move them into the Ts enclosures.
 

JimM

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I would never go waste cash on Eco-Earth.
Plenty of appropriate things can be found at your nursery.

I use peat.
Anything you buy marketed for the Pet trade is marked up 300%
Total waste of money.
 
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