What is the Best Substrate for all Ts including one Trap Door??

B

BRussell

Arachnopeon
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Mar 12, 2013
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11
I know this is a simple question, and a lot of people use peat moss,potting soil etc. I've been using a coconut sub. and feel I will need to cut in something with more density for our trapdoor. I want to use peat moss or potting soil but am supper scared of additives. I read the bags and they don't,all, say they have pesticides can I trust they don't? what is everyone else s experiences?
 
Stan Schultz

Stan Schultz

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BRussell said:
I know this is a simple question, and a lot of people use peat moss,potting soil etc. I've been using a coconut sub. and feel I will need to cut in something with more density for our trapdoor. I want to use peat moss or potting soil but am supper scared of additives. I read the bags and they don't,all, say they have pesticides can I trust they don't? what is everyone else s experiences?
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Questions like this have been known to spawn flame wars comparable to the Russian Revolution! First, read Substrate.

In all fairness, I have never heard of anyone losing a pet tarantula or scorpion because they used bad substrate. But there are caveats to that:

1) I may simply have missed some key reports, or my memory has failed me again. (I'm pushing 70. I was alive when most of your parents were born! I was in high school when Baerg wrote The Tarantula, the book that started this whole business in 1958!)

2) A lot of tarantulas and other arachnids die inexplicably. There's always the chance that some of those deaths were caused by bad substrate and nobody realized it.

You may have to buy several packages and experiment with each to see which works best for you.

In a very general sort of way, if you have trouble with burrows collapsing, mix about 1/3 loam or garden soil with your chosen substrate. If you can get it from a natural and organic foods store you're better off. If you can get common garden soil or dirt from a vacant, untilled area that you're sure hasn't been sprayed with pesticides in the last 5 or 10 years, you're also probably safe.

Lastly, don't stress too much about substrate. Do the best you can and move on with keeping your little 8-legged wonders.
 
Chris11

Chris11

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Top soil, IMO, is the best for a burrowing species... all my fossorials take to it immediately.
 
BobBarley

BobBarley

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Chris11 said:
Top soil, IMO, is the best for a burrowing species... all my fossorials take to it immediately.
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I agree and I use top soil as well. The only con I can find is that you kind of need to test out different bags with different brands to get the type you want. Even if one person uses a certain brand, another person might also use the same brand but is on the other side of the continent. Top soil usually varies regionally.

With that said I still use it and think it's great!
 
Chris11

Chris11

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BobBarley said:
I agree and I use top soil as well. The only con I can find is that you kind of need to test out different bags with different brands to get the type you want. Even if one person uses a certain brand, another person might also use the same brand but is on the other side of the continent. Top soil usually varies regionally.

With that said I still use it and think it's great!
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You do end up with a bad batch every so often... im in the middle of one right now... just sifting away over here!
 
BobBarley

BobBarley

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Chris11 said:
You do end up with a bad batch every so often... im in the middle of one right now... just sifting away over here!
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Lol yeah, I got a bag that was labeled "Top Soil", but apparently had lots of slow release fertilizer in it!
 
Chris LXXIX

Chris LXXIX

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123rc123 said:
Dark earth in general, its a type of soil
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Then (if topsoil) yes but watch well what you buy, because if inside there's fertilizers or other stuff like that, you don't want that. You don't want a dead spider.

Personally i always used coco fiber bags (not bricks, annoying) for all my Theraphosidae in 25 years of T's keeping.
Now i don't want to start a "substrate debate"... use what you like more. If topsoil, just check well.
 
Sam_Peanuts

Sam_Peanuts

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 21, 2010
Messages
408
Dark earth is fine as long as you make sure there's nothing added to it. The stuff I use(mixed in with peat) is labelled dark earth top soil.

I don't know if it's a Canada thing that it's called that or a specific type of soil we get here because in french, they use the term "terre noire" on all top soil bags I found which literally means black earth.
 
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