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Who will use this??

DewDrop

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Well DewDrop I think that's partially because sometimes less is more, a lot of folks just want a quick answer and tend to be intimidated by a larger post, so they either skim over it thereby missing just that information they were seeking, or just skip it entirely, again missing some information that probably would have been helpful. Several times I redid my posts after seeing the size of them (NOT saying you should, and I do read them) Several times I simply didn't post after realizing just how long the reply had gotten. I have trained myself into giving quick replies for the most part now. Most really don't want to debate or look deeper then the question they originally asked.And honestly, that's Okay. Each goes about things as is most comfortable for them.
I'm actually convinced some have never read a single book on T care and depend on forums such as this one to get them through. And that's what places like this are here for. So again, that's Okay.
When I decided to keep a few of my own, I read, researched, read some more, this was in addition to having many years of experience in the pet field including arachnids. Then I asked all the foolish questions here, even though I was sure I already had the answers, and I learned a little bit along the way, I'm still learning, always will be, NO one knows it all. I'm still enjoying it, up to ten T's and counting, struggling to save enough for my pultra, and planning on being here a good long while.​
Love this site, it feels like home as compared to a few of the others out there :p
I do however lurk at those sites as well ^*^
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Yeah it is a fun site. I have my sights set on books now, as I have for awhile now. Just environmental and spider relevant. Two spiders is so much, but not too much, it is like having a dozen. If I could just find a round acrylic 2 gallon cookie jar that I could have a circular cut placed in for a vent I'd be elated. I think it would be real cute and go nice. Anyone seen any? Oh and the paragraphing comment was adorable a welcomed reminder that has helped me to proofread easier. It is the little things I wouldn't of thought of that I can find on forums sometimes that really do work that keeps me coming back the most. Some ideas on habitats are great too.
 

kormath

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I haven't seen any round acrylic cookie jar type containers. I've seen round acrylic containers but may not be the style your looking for. Can't think of where I saw that one. I'll link it if I run across it again.
 

kormath

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So I've been using this organic top soil that stayed this thread and I'm not happy with it.

There is so much wood and rock debris in the bag I got its been molding insanely easy.

With all the wood debris you have to wear gloves to use it or you end up with millions of microscopic slivers in your fingers. Well maybe not millions but it feels like it.

So for the last 5 or 6 enclosures I've used this in I've had to make a sifter to remove all the wood chips and larger rocks. Sifter has 1/8" holes so the little wood chips go through to keep the natural dirt texture. I've found using the sifter has cut back on the mold issues I've had with this as a substrate.

I've also been looking into potting soil with organic fertilizers. Nitrogen potassium and phosphate. Same things you'll find in the dirt the spiders live in out in the wild and anywhere there is vegetation.

So I'm thinking with the small amounts in the potting soil, further diluted with coco fiber or other mixes it shouldn't be bad for the Ts. I wouldn't use any soil with any other additives, especially man made plant foods or other chemicals though.
 
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Kymura

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could you not just put it through a colander or sieve? A cheap one from the dollar type stores...?
Been going to get some just haven't been to Lowes :/ (Like a fifty mile trip for me, kind of far for dirt lol)
 

Fleas

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could you not just put it through a colander or sieve? A cheap one from the dollar type stores...?
Been going to get some just haven't been to Lowes :/ (Like a fifty mile trip for me, kind of far for dirt lol)
That's what am going to do and seal it in some plastic and sunbake it on my next rehoused
 

Kymura

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tag me and let me know how it works hun,
not going to buy any if its not worth the bother, I have some immunity issues going on,
so can't really get all torn up trying to clean it :p
 

kormath

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tag me and let me know how it works hun,
not going to buy any if its not worth the bother, I have some immunity issues going on,
so can't really get all torn up trying to clean it :p
I don't think it's worth the hassle. The only reason i made the sifter is i didn't want to toss out a little over half a bag that i had left. And holy hell after reading my post above with all the errors i won't be posting from my phone anymore lol. Kinda surprised anyone knew what i was trying to say :p

So after another round of slivers when setting up the enclosure for my son's pumpkin patch, i've tossed the remainder of this top soil out, and will be stopping at Home Depot on the way to drop my son off at the ex's to get some potting soil tonight.

My only concern now is if it has perlite in it. I know vermiculite is ok for T's but i haven't heard anything about perlite. I'll have to stop by and chat with one of the people in the local expo i met recently and see what they use. I know they mentioned they got all of their substrate from Home Depot and Lowes but i didn't catch any specifics on what they buy.
 

kormath

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Didn't have a chance to stop this weekend, we were in a rush. I'll have to grab some next time we head down there and see how it works.
 

MassExodus

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I just switched to the potting soil/vermiculite/coco peat mixture some folks use, I have to say I like it, it makes very natural looking, moist dirt. Smells good too. I love the smell of dirt for some reason...lol
 

kormath

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I just switched to the potting soil/vermiculite/coco peat mixture some folks use, I have to say I like it, it makes very natural looking, moist dirt. Smells good too. I love the smell of dirt for some reason...lol
fresh dirt yes, one of my favorite smells. it's a spring time smell :) We rehoused the Pcam yesterday, he was wanting to burrow and we only had an inch or so sub in his enclosure. So now he has 3 inches or so and plenty of anchors if he wants to web.

For my mixture i'm now using organic potting soil/eco earth coco fiber/ vermiculite (for the tiny slings and the genic). Once the slings are grown enough they don't need the higher moisture i'll remove the vermiculite.

Should i leave it in the genic's mix? he's roughly 3.5" now maybe 4.
 

MassExodus

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fresh dirt yes, one of my favorite smells. it's a spring time smell :) We rehoused the Pcam yesterday, he was wanting to burrow and we only had an inch or so sub in his enclosure. So now he has 3 inches or so and plenty of anchors if he wants to web.

For my mixture i'm now using organic potting soil/eco earth coco fiber/ vermiculite (for the tiny slings and the genic). Once the slings are grown enough they don't need the higher moisture i'll remove the vermiculite.

Should i leave it in the genic's mix? he's roughly 3.5" now maybe 4.
Absolutely. My two genics have always been, and continue to be, just as moisture loving as any Pampho or C lividus I've ever seen. They're a few of the reasons I started using it :)
 

kormath

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Thanks @MassExodus i thought they liked it moist even grown, but there's that little bit of uncertainty in the back of my mind, so i had to question it :) LP is the same right? moisture throughout their life or do they go to dry substrate as juvie/adults?
 

MassExodus

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Thanks @MassExodus i thought they liked it moist even grown, but there's that little bit of uncertainty in the back of my mind, so i had to question it :) LP is the same right? moisture throughout their life or do they go to dry substrate as juvie/adults?
Lp can go either way. They seem to do fine on dry substrate with a big dish, but sometimes they'll crawl on the moist area if you make one, and sometimes they'll climb the sides because it bothers them..I've never seen either of mine hanging on to their dish for dear life or actually crouching over it like a genic will in a dry enclosure. I'm keeping my big Lp girl moister than usual because she is literally going to flip over any time, so it would be nice to have the mixture in her sub, I'll be switching her to it as well.
 

Steve123

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Nice article Kymura, the most concise and considered review of substrate I've ever read.

Far as buying topsoil, I've had the same experience as y'all. It's hard to find the stuff without additives, like the soft, black, fine-grained potting soil we middle-age folks used to buy at the local flower shop (remember FTD?). The closest I can get nowadays are the no-brand big topsoil bags from local nurseries, kinda like what the OP photos show, but even then I find myself sifting out little pebbles and wood debris, mostly to no benefit <laughing at the things I waste time doing>. But these bags do it for me, untreated, alone or in a mixture of recycled, sifted old substrate (to remove webbing, food boluses, cricket bones, heads and wings, which go into compost outside). The recycled portion has an ever decreasing fraction of coir and other things I've stopped buying, for various odd reasons.:confused:

Far as spores, parasites and what not, I often think the threats to our charges as well as our own health may be more in our minds than our substrates.
 

MassExodus

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I was looking back at this thread and I remember recently seeing someone state emphatically that keepers in Germany are against using any kind of peat. Nothing against our own experts, here in the US (God bless them!) but it seems our European cousins are a step ahead of us most times(difficult pairings, importing new species, etc.) has anyone heard anything about it? My main ingredient has been some sort of peat for years, though it's a mixture now..I've never had any problems. Anyone? For the sake of discussion, I use jungle mix, (fir and coco peat), mixed with topsoil and vermiculite. Same dirt for all. I've seen posts about bits of wood molding, and jungle mix has a LOT of wood, you'll get splinters running your hands through it :D I have never once had mold on it..never one time, with over a hundred inverts using it at one point, when I had baby scorps. (My actual collection now is closer to sixty.) Maybe because I like lots of ventilation? Don't really know. Has anyone heard this about peat though? Do we have any Germans or German speaking folks that can elaborate? I'm not sweating it, but I would like to hear more, for the sake of discussion.
 

kormath

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I was looking back at this thread and I remember recently seeing someone state emphatically that keepers in Germany are against using any kind of peat. Nothing against our own experts, here in the US (God bless them!) but it seems our European cousins are a step ahead of us most times(difficult pairings, importing new species, etc.) has anyone heard anything about it? My main ingredient has been some sort of peat for years, though it's a mixture now..I've never had any problems. Anyone? For the sake of discussion, I use jungle mix, (fir and coco peat), mixed with topsoil and vermiculite. Same dirt for all. I've seen posts about bits of wood molding, and jungle mix has a LOT of wood, you'll get splinters running your hands through it :D I have never once had mold on it..never one time, with over a hundred inverts using it at one point, when I had baby scorps. (My actual collection now is closer to sixty.) Maybe because I like lots of ventilation? Don't really know. Has anyone heard this about peat though? Do we have any Germans or German speaking folks that can elaborate? I'm not sweating it, but I would like to hear more, for the sake of discussion.
it was someone blowing smoke to make themselves look more knowledgeable ;) Vagansfordawin in the Found Worms in Water dish post - http://www.tarantulaforum.com/threads/found-worms-in-water-dish.19055/#post-111022
Eco earth is the worst thing you can do to your Tarantula.
Peat could be even worse.
-_-. Fertilizer isn't bad for Tarantulas but i use potting soil without fertilizer. You can litteraly find hundreds and hundreds of threads to this in germany.

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No response to your request in that thread to provide those hundreds and hundreds of threads on that.

Only thing i know about peat that is a downer is it's dusty, if it's moistened and then allowed to fully dry out it will repel water.

I buy the 3 cu ft bales, when the enclosure starts to dry and the substrate shrinks form the walls i refresh it. I've never had the problem of it repelling water by doing this. Also, if it shrinks from teh walls the roaches can get stuck there and die. Didn't think they were that stupid till i had to fish 4 out of my son's A. genic enclosure while it was moody in premolt.

I'm still scratching my head how added fertilizers and chemicals aren't bad :p
 
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Tricocyst

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I don't have any experience with peat but after using eco earth for over a month now I have to say I love how well it keeps humidity.. now for desert t's it might be bad? I've heard eco earth gets gets dusty but mine is still fine.. I mist it once a week and it's the best substrate I've ever owned!
 
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