What are your Favorite Substrates?

[Tentacle Toast]

I find myself using that "repti-soil" for just about all of my spider applications at this point. How would I chart that?.with the top-soil selection?

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I find myself using that "repti-soil" for just about all of my spider applications at this point. How would I chart that?.with the top-soil selection?

I don’t know what is it made of ?

ReptiSoil™ | Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc.

zoomed.com

This is all I found on the website. I’ve asked before its like a mix of stuff.

 

[Tentacle Toast]

I don’t know what is it made of ?

ReptiSoil™ | Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc.

zoomed.com

This is all I found on the website. I’ve asked before its like a mix of stuff.

Right, but I don't want to check every box he's got up for a vote, LoL. I'll just say soil. Thanks, man...

 

[LilithArachne]

I love coconut
You really can't go wrong with it (plus it feels weird after you wash your hands after touching them)

 

[DrPeeWee]

Bioactive is a term for marketing and gouging sells. It came from the reptile/ampibian world, especialy tree frogs. They need tons of moisture and that can create molding. So you need inverts like springtails and clean up crews. If you use compost in a substrate without these, it will get crazy quick.

theres nothing bioactive: its just substrate that includes organic matter that decomposes and feeds the inverts living in it.

for my fav sub: it doesnt exist yet.

for the record, im a horticulturist, and i know soil. I hate being swindled in pet shops. Those branded substrates arent certified “organic” as in food organic. Nor pesticide free. If they are, get ready to shell out the big money.

they will sell you a 40$ moist bag of leaf litter, charcoal, compost and peat. All things you can mix yourself. And its moist: youre paying for 25-50% water weight because its sold by weight.

its really convient though, if you have one tarantula or some. It gets crazy expensive when you have a lot.

Big dealers do cocofiber or with a peat mix. Some go luxurious. These are fewer.

daves little beasties collects humus in forests. Now that stuff is activated alright. Comes with springtails and everything thats alive, for free.

Man, TheraMygalo, you are chock full of information.


As a Horticulturist, do you think to mimic grasslands, a mixture of 60% coco-fiber, 20% peat, 10% topsoil, and 10% fine sand would work well for my grammostola pulchripes 'opportunistic burrowing? I know it's native to the grasslands of Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina. I've heard of people using topsoil from their yards, treated in the oven at 250 for 30 minutes to ensure parasites are not present prior to mixing.
In my observation the substrate doesn't hold well for a burrow, and I'm thinking my T has given up on trying as it seems to be refusing the burrow.

I have 2.issues,
1. humidity, which could be the ventilation.
2. when my T tries to build a burrow it is unable to support itself and crumbles.

Thank you!

I find myself using that "repti-soil" for just about all of my spider applications at this point. How would I chart that?.with the top-soil selection?

Yeah, I would consider that a bagged top soil for sure. Ill look into that and see about my use case! thank you!

I don’t know what is it made of ?

ReptiSoil™ | Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc.

zoomed.com

This is all I found on the website. I’ve asked before its like a mix of stuff.

I would personally group it into topsoil, I think. mostly because it has soil in the name though .

I looked into it when I was buying my first substrate and thought it was a special use case for reptiles. Plus it was 13 bucks for something like 8 quarts at my local Petco... where coco fiber was about 12 bucks but for 3 compressed bricks.

 

[TheraMygale]

Man, TheraMygalo, you are chock full of information.


As a Horticulturist, do you think to mimic grasslands, a mixture of 60% coco-fiber, 20% peat, 10% topsoil, and 10% fine sand would work well for my grammostola pulchripes 'opportunistic burrowing? I know it's native to the grasslands of Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina. I've heard of people using topsoil from their yards, treated in the oven at 250 for 30 minutes to ensure parasites are not present prior to mixing.
In my observation the substrate doesn't hold well for a burrow, and I'm thinking my T has given up on trying as it seems to be refusing the burrow.

I have 2.issues,
1. humidity, which could be the ventilation.
2. when my T tries to build a burrow it is unable to support itself and crumbles.

Thank you!

well, coco coir is not a natural subtrate in nature. So it will never be a grassland substrate.

if you look into the composition of soil, you will quickly see its a mix of clay, silt, sand and decomposing matter, humus etc.

I used cococoir with peat, and just cococoir and my burrows hold.

i also use reptisoil now because i dont have many tarantulas and its simple.

grasslands is more then just soil. Its plants and weather. If you research a bit to see geographical soil composition by location, you would get an idea. There are a few members that have good substrate mixtures.

just keep it simple.

 

[Pillenslikker]

I mix peat with cocofiber (50/50)

 

[DrPeeWee]

well, coco coir is not a natural subtrate in nature. So it will never be a grassland substrate.

if you look into the composition of soil, you will quickly see its a mix of clay, silt, sand and decomposing matter, humus etc.

I used cococoir with peat, and just cococoir and my burrows hold.

i also use reptisoil now because i dont have many tarantulas and its simple.

grasslands is more then just soil. Its plants and weather. If you research a bit to see geographical soil composition by location, you would get an idea. There are a few members that have good substrate mixtures.

just keep it simple.

You have a point.

There is no reasonable way I can expect myself to "Replicate" the environment in an enclosure, and I am overthinking this. So I will hold off making huge changes unless my T seems distressed.

However when I eventually get my permanent enclosure for it, I will just use what's available and may opt in my case for Coco fiber at 60%, Soil (I will look at Reptisoil) at 35%, and fine sand at 5%

I will make a burrow with a hide on top since the Chaco's tend to prefer using an already existing hide to begin with. and will just keep it simple

I have a bad habit of going down rabbit holes, only to find myself in a tarantulas burrow, and I'm a Juicy Cricket.

 

[Mike41793]

Man, TheraMygalo, you are chock full of information.


As a Horticulturist, do you think to mimic grasslands, a mixture of 60% coco-fiber, 20% peat, 10% topsoil, and 10% fine sand would work well for my grammostola pulchripes 'opportunistic burrowing? I know it's native to the grasslands of Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina. I've heard of people using topsoil from their yards, treated in the oven at 250 for 30 minutes to ensure parasites are not present prior to mixing.
In my observation the substrate doesn't hold well for a burrow, and I'm thinking my T has given up on trying as it seems to be refusing the burrow.

I have 2.issues,
1. humidity, which could be the ventilation.
2. when my T tries to build a burrow it is unable to support itself and crumbles.

Thank you!

You highlighted one of the other issues too, grasslands have grass in them. The plants growing there help with humidity and holding the soil in place. Admirable to want to recreate it but keeping things simple will ultimately probably be better for the spider. And in my opinion, the animals well being takes precedence over other things.

You could always setup a tank with a mixture of soils you want to try and even try planting stuff in it and just keeping that for awhile to see if it establishes itself. If it does, and you're able to maintain parameters well, then could try adding the spider later on.

 

[DrPeeWee]

You highlighted one of the other issues too, grasslands have grass in them. The plants growing there help with humidity and holding the soil in place. Admirable to want to recreate it but keeping things simple will ultimately probably be better for the spider. And in my opinion, the animals well being takes precedence over other things.

You could always setup a tank with a mixture of soils you want to try and even try planting stuff in it and just keeping that for awhile to see if it establishes itself. If it does, and you're able to maintain parameters well, then could try adding the spider later on.

I agree.

After thinking about this discussion further, I have decided to stick with the KISS method for now. I might look into more elaborate tank setups as you described in the future, but for now I'm focusing my energy in Husbandry essentials.

Thank you for your insights!

 

[cold blood]

All appropriate substrates ar just fine and all are acceptable for any t. Substrate choice is purely a keepers choice, as is any mixture you will see fit or want to try.

My personal favorites are;

1. top soil, its the most natural (all wild tarantulas live on or over dirt pretty much). Its also BY FAR the cheapest option, which makes it a great option if you are either filling deep enclosures or have lots of ts. Its also the most dense, and as a result its the one choice that doesn't need to be tightly tamped down....so its as simple to use as pour and go. This density also makes it the heaviest option....bad if you want to move big enclosures, great if you dont want enclosures being easily moved or knocked around.

2. Peat moss, its the second cheapest option, and like soil, its really only available (IME) in large bags. It however, is the least dense, so its also extremely light. It initially resists water absorption more than most others, but once it does absorb, it holds that moisture like nothing else I have ever used. It can also be "dusty" when working with, and in the past when I wasnt conscious of this, it did give me a few asthma (allergy) attacks....now that I am more aware, its become a non-issue.

All the others IMO are ridiculously overpriced, so for me the cost to benefit ratio prevents me from buying any of the others....although if you choose to its just fine and dandy.

 

[Brewser]

My favorite substrate is the kind I get for Free.
Gathering

 

[DrPeeWee]

All appropriate substrates ar just fine and all are acceptable for any t. Substrate choice is purely a keepers choice, as is any mixture you will see fit or want to try.

My personal favorites are;

1. top soil, its the most natural (all wild tarantulas live on or over dirt pretty much). Its also BY FAR the cheapest option, which makes it a great option if you are either filling deep enclosures or have lots of ts. Its also the most dense, and as a result its the one choice that desnt need to be tightly tamped down....so its as simple to use as pour and go. This density also makes it the heaviest option....bad if yoou want to move big wnclosures, great if you dont want enclosures being easily moved or knocked around.

2. Peat moss, its the second cheapest option, and like soil, its really only available (IME) in large bags. It however, is the least dense, so its also extremely light. It initially resists water absorbtion more than most others, but once it does absorb, it holds that moisture like nothing else I have ever used. It can allso be "dusty" when working with, and in the past when I wasnt concious of this, it did give me a few asthma (allergy) attacks....now that I am mre aware, its become a non-issue.

All the others IMO are ridiculously over priced, so for me the cost to benefit ratio prevents me from buying any of the others....although if you choose to its just fine and dandy.

Thank You for your insight! I'm thinking of using the mixture I highlighted above and after I get what I wish to use, might mix them together bits at a time in a small batch until I get what i like and then use that ratio.
Now, would it be a bad idea to purchase from a place like Home Depot? I'm certain I could avoid the 300% markup from a Petco or PetSmart going this route, but could it be dangerous for the T in any way?

My favorite substrate is the kind I get for Free.
Gathering

I mean... I DO have a yard... I COULD use just a small 50 lb bag and have enough for a while but unfortunately I fertilize and live in a heavy farm area, so probably not the best idea Just in case a crop duster sprinkled some pesticides from the sky.

In reality though I'd rather use a bagged product, just for the reason of pesticides and such in my community.

And as an aside:

Thank you to Arachnopets for pointing out to me that I can just edit my post to add content when replying to others in the same thread.
I came from a certain forum that is very nitpicky about edits, and I was just harboring some habits I had acquired from there.

 

[Brewser]

I mean... I DO have a yard... I COULD use just a small 50 lb bag and have enough for a while but unfortunately I fertilize and live in a heavy farm area, so probably not the best idea Just in case a crop duster sprinkled some pesticides from the sky.

I also live around farms, no crop dusters however. (Pesticides Raining Down Is A Bummer)

I do gather Fallen Oak Tree Bark from my yard, but go to the WILD areas for most other supplies ' Chemical &
Cash Free '
Actually prefer it over store bought because I KNOW it's Better QUALITY, and there is much more variety to choose from.

Side note- also gather Free Driftwood etc. From Lakeshore, Once again All Natural Goodness.

I trust this method over any Store / Supplier ( Unknown Additives )

Post Script - The added Benefit of Enjoying Gods Creation aka Nature.

 

[cold blood]

would it be a bad idea to purchase from a place like Home Depot?

Home depot is where I buy from....the two brands to look for are timberline and earthgro...which one will depend on your location...I use the latter.

I DO have a yard.

you cant just go willy nilly and use just any dirt.....yards are notorious for being sprayed...and even if yours isnt, your neighbors likely do.....so while you can collect from outside, you really need to be doing it from a wild area.

In reality though I'd rather use a bagged product

With is being so cheap, it really does make more sense to just buy a bag.

 

[Stu Macher]

I'm interested in top soil/vermiculite blends to save some money. I'm just nervous about the fungus gnat larvae etc that could potentially be living in those soils.

 

[goofyGoober99]

I don't have very many spiders and most of them are pretty small so buying fancy dirt isn't a finance destroying decision. For my tarantulas I've been doing a mix of reptisoil and coconut fiber. When packed down it holds a burrow quite well.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Home depot is where I buy from....the t brands to look for are timberline and earthgro...which one will depend on your location...I use the latter.


you cant just go willy nilly and use just any dirt.....yards are notorious for being sprayed...and even if yours isnt, your neighbors likely do.....so while you can collect from outside, you really need to be doing it from a wild area.

With is being so cheap, it really does make more sense to just buy a bag.

yep.
earthgro Is better I got timberline from another hardware store and it was practically mulch so I had to use it in the flower bed. Only $3 a bag. I mix with coco fiber so my cages aren’t 40 pounds each . I know I have one Cage a 15 gallon so heavy I cannot carry it.
timberline Could had been something put in the wrong bag? mulch Chips .

 

[Stu Macher]

I don't have very many spiders and most of them are pretty small so buying fancy dirt isn't a finance destroying decision. For my tarantulas I've been doing a mix of reptisoil and coconut fiber. When packed down it holds a burrow quite well.

I exclusively use resptisoil. It's a great substrate. But now it's kinda getting expensive. This thread has me thinking of what I'm going to use in the future.

 

[goofyGoober99]

I exclusively use resptisoil. It's a great substrate. But now it's kinda getting expensive. This thread has me thinking of what I'm going to use in the future.

I wonder how annoying it would be to buy all the components separately in bulk would be .
If I end up needing more than 2 bags a year I might try to do that tbh.