Using Soil From Outside?

[DreadedNeith]

Ok so I have heard of people using soil from their yard in their T evclosures.
I know If I used soil from outside I would have to be sure there were no pesticides or other chemicals, it wasnt collected near a road, and I would have to bake the soil in the oven to kill any potentially harmful fungus, insects, parasites.
I often go hunting with my cousin and I could collect soil from deep in the woods were there is no risk of chemicals or runoff from a road.
If I collected dirt from a clean location and baked it in my oven would it be safe to use in my Ts enclosure?

 

[Whitelightning777]

Sterilizing would only kill off harmful microbes. Even in the woods, there's no sure way to verify that it's chemical free. Pollution travels.

Considering that many tarantulas can be worth over $100 to $200 when grown, a bag of organic peat from a gardening store or EcoEarth is a small price to pay & you won't have to put dirt into your oven and clean the oven later.

Time is money too.

 

[DreadedNeith]

Im only wondering because i wou,d like to grow plants insidde the enclosure. I want plants, moss, springtails and other beneficial insects. If i did get soil from outside here is what i plan on doing.
gathering in the woods far from any man made structure, crops, landscaping, rivers, or roads
sifting out any big twigs, rocks, or peices of forest littler
soaking the ddirt with boiling water
baking the dirt to an internal temp of 180-200°f
letting it dry and then putting it in an eclosure with crickets to see if the crickets die after a few days.
I've heard of other people who have kept Ts for years doing this and it working just fine.
i would buy topsoil but i dont know which brands are safe and i cant be sure they werent contaminated during transport.ive heard people use EarthGro topsoil with no reported deaths. Have you used any stor baught topsoil and if so what brand? If not, what would i use to grow moss and plants in the enclosure?

 

[Arachnoclown]

I use to be a logger for many years...most forests in North America are sprayed. Not a safe bet that the soil is good.

 

[Tortoise Tom]

I thought of doing this many times. I have done it for some reptiles.

I think Whitelightning sums up my POV best: Its not worth the risk and its not worth the time.

I don't trust any bought in a bag soil either. I once got a big bag of soil and there was partially composted jacaranda leaves in it. Jacaranda is toxic. If I had used that solid under a tortoise, I might have killed it. There is no way to know what combusted yard waste that soil-in-a-bag was made from. Could be chemically treated yard clippings, or it cold be Azalea and oleander clippings, or it could be something safe. No way to know.

 

[DreadedNeith]

I use to be a logger for many years...most forests in North America are sprayed. Not a safe bet that the soil is good.

Oh wow. I didnt knkw they just sprayed forest like that. Thanks for the deads up. I gues i wont be doing that. I wish i could go get some soil from Suriname. I really want an enclosure that resembles my Ts natural environment as cclose as possible. What would I use for substrate if i wanted to grow live plants in the enclosure? I see people in the hobby have live plants but i have no idea what the growing medium is.

 

[DreadedNeith]

I thought of doing this many times. I have done it for some reptiles.

I think Whitelightning sums up my POV best: Its not worth the risk and its not worth the time.

I don't trust any bought in a bag soil either. I once got a big bag of soil and there was partially composted jacaranda leaves in it. Jacaranda is toxic. If I had used that solid under a tortoise, I might have killed it. There is no way to know what combusted yard waste that soil-in-a-bag was made from. Could be chemically treated yard clippings, or it cold be Azalea and oleander clippings, or it could be something safe. No way to know.

Alright, you guys have forgotten more about the hobby then i will probably ever know. I'll take your advice. a few people gave me names of good store baught soil that they have used for years but if there is even a small schance that something toxic coukd be in it that would kill my T then its not worth it. I dont even care about loosing money from the T dying I just wouldnt want to do that to any creature. What substrate would you recommend for growing live plants in the enclosure?

 

[Whitelightning777]

Get this.

8 Quarts of Natural Peat Moss - No Additives 100% Pure https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005ZTBZIM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_nOdFBbFR5B06K

 

[PanzoN88]

I wouldn't try growing any live plants in a tarantula enclosure. If I recall you can get a cheap bag of topsoil from home depot which will last a long time, it is also safe for tarantulas. I don't know the brand as I use coco fiber, but one of the mods on ab uses a specific brand of topsoil.

 

[DreadedNeith]

I was reluctant to use store bought because i have no way of knowing where they got the soil or if it was kept near any dangerous chems but i hope that member replies here. Id be interested to know exactly what kind as everyone only always says topsoil from home depot and doesnt get a brand.

 

[MassExodus]

I was reluctant to use store bought because i have no way of knowing where they got the soil or if it was kept near any dangerous chems but i hope that member replies here. Id be interested to know exactly what kind as everyone only always says topsoil from home depot and doesnt get a brand.

Any organic topsoil that doesnt contain natural pesticides will do, always read the labels.. Be warned, topsoil will mold fast. Id mix topsoil, coco fiber or Jungle Mix with it if you're gonna try to grow plants. Jungle mix looks like natural forest floor, with sticks and everything. I love it. Its expensive though. Going back to yard dirt: I have ten acres of field that, in 25 years has never been treated with anything, it just gets plowed every year, and theres 4 horses living on it. I could use it safely..but theres always that small chance some harmful chemical/pesticide made its way into my field. Maybe poisoned grasshoppers hopped over from a neighbors field and died and decayed into my dirt..would that kill a spider? Dunno, but better safe then sorry. I have used it years ago, but it molds too easily unless you mix it. And if you're going to all that trouble, why not just buy safe substrate from a store? If you like natural looking sub, get jungle mix, you'll like it. Also, if you have dry species, excavator clay is the tits. Just my dos pesos.

 

[MassExodus]

I use to be a logger for many years...most forests in North America are sprayed. Not a safe bet that the soil is good.

That's awesome, small world. I come from a long line of loggers.
Epic South Park reference for the win!
I won the internet, everyone go home. Go on, go.

 

[DreadedNeith]

Any organic topsoil that doesnt contain natural pesticides will do, always read the labels.. Be warned, topsoil will mold fast. Id mix topsoil, coco fiber or Jungle Mix with it if you're gonna try to grow plants. Jungle mix looks like natural forest floor, with sticks and everything. I love it. Its expensive though. Going back to yard dirt: I have ten acres of field that, in 25 years has never been treated with anything, it just gets plowed every year, and theres 4 horses living on it. I could use it safely..but theres always that small chance some harmful chemical/pesticide made its way into my field. Maybe poisoned grasshoppers hopped over from a neighbors field and died and decayed into my dirt..would that kill a spider? Dunno, but better safe then sorry. I have used it years ago, but it molds too easily unless you mix it. And if you're going to all that trouble, why not just buy safe substrate from a store? If you like natural looking sub, get jungle mix, you'll like it. Also, if you have dry species, excavator clay is the tits. Just my dos pesos.

Thanks. I never even thought about a contaminaded animal tranfering toxins. Also the mold issue worries me. I might stick to coconut fiber and eventually go get some moss. I knkw coconut fiber is mkre resisten to mold because there arent a lot of nutrients in it to sustain a lot of mold. How mold resistant would a mox like the one you mention be? Ive also heard that adding moss to the mix makes the acidity in the substrate go up and helps prevent mold. The more I look into the substrate thing the more i realize just how big of a can of worms i am openeing. It seems everyone has a mix and everyone debates what the best one is. The coconut fiber seems to be working just fine. I may not be able to grow anything in it but at least the spider is healthy and happy. I guess if its not broke dont fix it huh?

 

[DreadedNeith]

I use to be a logger for many years...most forests in North America are sprayed. Not a safe bet that the soil is good.

I am going to heed the warnings that all of you have given and not use soil.
i do have a question though, and i hope i dont come off as being a smart ass because thats not what im trying to do.
if soil from outside is potentially unsafe because of chemicals. What is the difference with using soil and a peice of wood found in the forest? Ive seen lots of keepers go into the woods and find old stumps or wood and take them home, wash them, and bake them. Wouldnt these be dangerous to use also? I am wondering only because ive seen some well known keepers do this and i dont want to copy this if its potentially dangerous for the T.

 

[Tortoise Tom]

I wouldn't hesitate to use my own soil from my own ranch. I know what is in it and I'm not too worried about errant pesticide laced bugs flying in. If that were a problem, one could make that argument about anything we might want to put under our spiders. Errant pesticide laced grasshoppers could also fly into the coco shredding/bagging plant too.

The point I was making is that bought-in-a-bag soil from the store could be made with anything and there is no way to know. Soil from your own environment that you've made or composted yourself will have known ingredients.

 

[MassExodus]

I am going to heed the warnings that all of you have given and not use soil.
i do have a question though, and i hope i dont come off as being a smart ass because thats not what im trying to do.
if soil from outside is potentially unsafe because of chemicals. What is the difference with using soil and a peice of wood found in the forest? Ive seen lots of keepers go into the woods and find old stumps or wood and take them home, wash them, and bake them. Wouldnt these be dangerous to use also? I am wondering only because ive seen some well known keepers do this and i dont want to copy this if its potentially dangerous for the T.

The truth is most keepers just try to minimize risk to their spiders. I work at a hospital that has a pest control company spray every month. Yet I have found three female A anax there and brought them home, and they're doing fine. I see healthy looking males all the time. I mean if everything was so dangerous, how is it there's tarantulas everywhere here? How do they survive all these dangers? You have to take the info you get from hobbyists (like me ) with a grain of salt. Our own fears and opinions color everything we do. You could probably walk out to your front yard, dig up some dirt, and never have any issues at all. For all we know, a few days of rain might be all it takes to wash away, dilute or destroy pesticides that were sprayed recently. You just never know. There in lies the problem. I plan on going after some more local species soon, and if I see an A moderatum sitting on a barrel of toxic waste, I'm grabbing that little bastard.

 

[Arachnoclown]

I am going to heed the warnings that all of you have given and not use soil.
i do have a question though, and i hope i dont come off as being a smart ass because thats not what im trying to do.
if soil from outside is potentially unsafe because of chemicals. What is the difference with using soil and a peice of wood found in the forest? Ive seen lots of keepers go into the woods and find old stumps or wood and take them home, wash them, and bake them. Wouldnt these be dangerous to use also? I am wondering only because ive seen some well known keepers do this and i dont want to copy this if its potentially dangerous for the T.

No difference at all...I don't scavenge anything. I buy corkbark in bark in bulk. I also only use coco fiber and vermiculite.

 

[Whitelightning777]

Compared to the price of most tarantulas, cork bark & EcoEarth is a cheap investment.

The risk of using wild type wood could be mitagated by boiling in water for a long time and then heating in an oven to perhaps 250 to 300 degrees if one was hell-bent on doing it, but never eliminated.

At least try putting it in with feeder crickets for a few weeks first to see if they survive.

 

[MassExodus]

Compared to the price of most tarantulas, cork bark & EcoEarth is a cheap investment.

The risk of using wild type wood could be mitagated by boiling in water for a long time and then heating in an oven to perhaps 250 to 300 degrees if one was hell-bent on doing it, but never eliminated.

At least try putting it in with feeder crickets for a few weeks first to see if they survive.

The crickets are more likely to be harmful, in my opinion.

 

[Whitelightning777]

The point is that if the crickets live (ones from the pet store not the wild), it's less likely for something dangerous to be present.