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General Tarantula Discussion
Is vermiculite safe?
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<blockquote data-quote="Whitelightning777" data-source="post: 136592" data-attributes="member: 26980"><p>Vermaculite is safe. I mainly use it for my arboreals because they don't walk on the ground much anyway.</p><p></p><p>The problem is that tarantulas absolutely hate walking on it. That literally drives any of my terrestrial Ts up the wall, across the lid, down the other wall. You get the idea.</p><p></p><p>I will use it in a bottom layer of substrate to help drainage but for what the tarantula has to actually walk on, I use 100% organic peat because it's mold resistant and holds together pretty well if you compress it.</p><p></p><p>Keeping Ts on straight vermaculite or only sand is something people used to do more in the 1980s and so on. Today, better substrates that your tarantula will enjoy using much better exist.</p><p></p><p>If you want to discourage burrowing, a trick is to use vermaculite high percentage mix for the substrate but only use straight peat or maybe straight EcoEarth for the top inch or two of the substrate after compressing it and making it a little damp.</p><p></p><p>Since tarantulas generally hate how vermaculite feels, they'll stop going and deeper when they hit that layer.</p><p></p><p>Of course, if your spiders don't mind it, that won't work.</p><p></p><p>My Lasiodora klugi, T stirmi and Pamphobeteus sp machala all actively loathe and are disgusted by the slightest trace of the stuff. Any feeder that makes it down that far is totally safe from capture until it emerges.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Whitelightning777, post: 136592, member: 26980"] Vermaculite is safe. I mainly use it for my arboreals because they don't walk on the ground much anyway. The problem is that tarantulas absolutely hate walking on it. That literally drives any of my terrestrial Ts up the wall, across the lid, down the other wall. You get the idea. I will use it in a bottom layer of substrate to help drainage but for what the tarantula has to actually walk on, I use 100% organic peat because it's mold resistant and holds together pretty well if you compress it. Keeping Ts on straight vermaculite or only sand is something people used to do more in the 1980s and so on. Today, better substrates that your tarantula will enjoy using much better exist. If you want to discourage burrowing, a trick is to use vermaculite high percentage mix for the substrate but only use straight peat or maybe straight EcoEarth for the top inch or two of the substrate after compressing it and making it a little damp. Since tarantulas generally hate how vermaculite feels, they'll stop going and deeper when they hit that layer. Of course, if your spiders don't mind it, that won't work. My Lasiodora klugi, T stirmi and Pamphobeteus sp machala all actively loathe and are disgusted by the slightest trace of the stuff. Any feeder that makes it down that far is totally safe from capture until it emerges. [/QUOTE]
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Is vermiculite safe?
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