What substrate do you use for your terrestrial t's?

What kind of substrate do you use for your terrestrial T's?

  • Peat Moss

    Votes: 8 15.7%
  • Vermiculite

    Votes: 4 7.8%
  • Dirt

    Votes: 4 7.8%
  • Coconut Shavings

    Votes: 24 47.1%
  • Peat Moss/Vermiculite mix

    Votes: 11 21.6%

  • Total voters
    51

jwb121377

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 20, 2002
Messages
905
For the most part pure peat. Sometimes I'll use some vermiculite to help with humidity sometimes. This is ofcorse for adult t's. For slings I use pure virmiculite.
 

JacenBeers

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 1, 2002
Messages
1,264
I just use potting soil. Sometimes I will mix in some bark as well.
 

Immortal_sin

Arachnotemptress
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 17, 2002
Messages
3,952
all my terrestrials get some sort of peat/verm mix. It depends upon whether I know if they are burrowing ts, or if they don't care about excavation!
 

Henry Kane

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 19, 2002
Messages
1,884
4 years plus using the peat verm mix and not a speck of mold or a single problem to report yet.
If it works...

Atrax
 

Tranz

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
320
Jungle Mix. I got tired of going from one store to another and not seeing what I wanted. Let's see, is that the good kind of peat, or the bad kind? Does that have fertilizer in it? Does that have pesticides? Is that sterile? Why can't they sell that in less than 20-pound bags? Finally, I happened upon a pet store and saw a small premixed sterile fertilizer and pesticide-free bag of a brand I had seen recommended in care sheets. It was a no-brainer. I like this stuff because the sling bulldozes it and burrows in it, and also because it has a varied texture and composition - it's fine and soft, but also has big chunks and strings that the T can move around and build things with. Also you can tell when it is dry, when it is moist, and when it is damp by the color.
 
Last edited:

veronyka

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 20, 2002
Messages
221
I use that compressed brick of bed-a-beast type stuff, it looks just like potting soil. My spiders all seem to love it. I've used bark and some stuff that was like ground walnut, and didn't care for them (neither did my T's). I gave the bark to my boyfriend to use for his millipedes! :D
 

Lasiodora

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 11, 2002
Messages
852
I use coco soil mixed with sand for species that like it a little bit drier. For all others, I use straight up coco soil. Haven't had a problem yet.
Mike

_______________________
"QUESTION:
WHEN WILL THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH?
ANSWER: WHEN THE EARTH FALLS TO PIECES!!"
Tupac Shakur
 

kosh

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 10, 2002
Messages
508
i currently use 100% vermiculite on my large spider.......and all the slings i have are on 100% peat (ala Holley)....im now thinking a peat/verm mix is the way to go......so im gonna try to find out what the EXACT best kind of peat is and then go to a verm/peat mix very soon....
those of you who keep your slings on 100% verm and the larger ones on other substrates......WHY?? why keep the slings on something different than larger ones??
 

MarkmD

Arachnoprince
Joined
Aug 9, 2012
Messages
1,835
I currently use 100% cocofiber for them, never had problems so far.
 

Keith B

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jul 5, 2012
Messages
339
I have 14 Ts, 3 Avic, 2 Psalmo, 2 Grammostola, 2 Brachypelma, 1 Pamphobeteus, 1 GBB, 1 Lasiodora, 1 Monocentropus, 1 Acanthoscurria.. All on shredded coconut husk. The terrestrials seem to enjoy a little bit of gravel or pebbles mixed in. The arboreals like it straight up. Never had an issue. Although I don't keep any really swampy species, so I can't vouch for those.

I see the year as well, but I'm posting in case it helps. This topic seems to come up once a week.
 

McGuiverstein

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 20, 2012
Messages
348
I for one like seeing old threads revived, because it means people are using the search function. We're either chastising people for asking the usual played out stuff, or telling them they're posting on a dead thread. Shouldn't we be praising others for actually searching too? Haha

Anyway, I use cf. I like being able to tell the moisture level by its color, but it is annoying when things get too dry and water just sits on the surface.
 

Lizardman905

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Messages
100
I for one like seeing old threads revived, because it means people are using the search function. We're either chastising people for asking the usual played out stuff, or telling them they're posting on a dead thread. Shouldn't we be praising others for actually searching too? Haha

Anyway, I use cf. I like being able to tell the moisture level by its color, but it is annoying when things get too dry and water just sits on the surface.
Ik I was just saying cause it looked like he thought it was new.
 

Tomoran

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
Messages
239
I for one like seeing old threads revived, because it means people are using the search function. We're either chastising people for asking the usual played out stuff, or telling them they're posting on a dead thread. Shouldn't we be praising others for actually searching too? Haha
Agreed completely. :)
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
I have 14 Ts
But not 15, they take up too much space evidently ;) 2002 wow, coolio!

It used to be peat moss, now 100% cf. though maybe some gravel like Keith mentioned would be a good idea, let those guys do some heavy lifting for a change!
 

Tomoran

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
Messages
239
For those who use peat moss, do you have difficulty finding it without any fertilizer additives? Perhaps it's because it's winter here, and selections in gardenting departments are sparse, but I haven't been able to find any without additives. I thought I found some yesterday which was labeled "organic", but I read the ingredients and discovered that it contained "organic chicken feces" for nitrates.
 
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