Substrate

[Sam Heaton]

Hi I'm new and was hoping someone could help me by telling me a good substrate for a g.rosea. I've used wood chips up to now but i don't feel that my tarantula is comfortable on it. If anyone knows the best substrate to use and where i can get it I would be really grateful.

[Elaine Ross]

Hi and welcome

I use the coconut fibre blocks that have been compressed. All my terrestrial T's seem to do really well on it. You have to soak it to expand it and then dry it out for use with the T's that prefer dryer conditions. Its really cheap too which is a bonus

Elaine

[Sam Heaton]

thanks. Interestingly enough my tarantula tried to make some sort of borrow in the wood chips and made itself quite a cosy hiding place.

[Elaine Ross]

thanks. Interestingly enough my tarantula tried to make some sort of borrow in the wood chips and made itself quite a cosy hiding place.

Some of mine like to dig too. My tiny G. aureo can move that dirt around like a jcb lol.

You will find that a lot of T's prefer to have somewhere safe to hide away so mine all have flower pots, cork bark, ot half cocnut shell hides. I also supply mine with an open water dish thats not too deep.

Elaine

[Sam Heaton]

how often do u recommend changing the substrate

[Elaine Ross]

how often do u recommend changing the substrate

I was told that some never change the substrate and others have said only every 6 months or more. Others will probably be along to give you proper guidelines for that.

I do clean out any food remains and poop the day after each feed and clean the water dish every second day.

T's dont seem to like change very much so the least you fiddle with their habitat the better. Once you get some proper substrate for yours then just leave her alone to get it sorted the way she wants it but do remove food remains as they go mouldy. I would change the substrate soonish though as the bark chip stuff isnt any good for them.

Elaine

[Sam Heaton]

I'm looking at buying some of the substrate of one of the links from the forum page the spider shop.co.uk? They sell 10 blocks of the stuff for £18 and i think my tarantula is a male.

[Robert Farmer]

1 block makes up about 10 litres as far as I can remember, so 10 may keep you going for some time!

I guess as far as sub changes go as long as it's maintained well and there isn't any signs of mould or otherwise I wouldn't change it.

[Sam Heaton]

I'm also worried about wether wood chips are the best substrate for a G. rosea to moult on as it's been nearly a year since it's last one.

[Elaine Ross]

I'm looking at buying some of the substrate of one of the links from the forum page the spider shop.co.uk? They sell 10 blocks of the stuff for £18 and i think my tarantula is a male.

If you only have the one T then one block should be more than plenty. I have 3 juveniles, 1 large spiderling and 8 slings and I still have some substrate left from 1 block. Once the block has been soaked to expand it there is loads of it, something like 10ltrs.

What size is your G. rosea?

Elaine

[Colin D Wilson]

There's other posts mentioning chippings and without getting too in depth (again) some woods used for the chippings have a natural insecticide which is why they're commonly used for reptiles to keep the mites down so it's not something i'd use for a T.

I've always used a mixture of peat and vermiculite, which has served me well ( a few woodlice in there and to keep the mould down etc) Drawbacks for this mixture is rehydrating it if it gets too dry, and cleansiness (hard to spot waste products)
I'm now warming a little to the coir blocks (two drawbacks in my usage, a little dusty when dry and if the T shovels substrate in the water the whole lot wets through, not to G. rosea liking)
I'm trying a mixture of all three, equal parts, in a couple of enclosures and it's looking promising.

Good housekeeping will lengthen the time between "cage cleaning" which is beneficial as i maintain that spiders should be disturbed as little as possible.

[Sam Heaton]

not quite sure to be totally honest with you it's around 2-3yrs old so it might be 2-3 cm legspan

[Sam Heaton]

In the water dish is a sponge which is over the other side of the cage to the T which i sterilise every day just for safe keeping. The tarantula stays in it's hiding place most of the time so dont think it notices much change.

[Colin D Wilson]

Get rid of the sponge, horrible, bacteria ridden, mouldy things.

this is just my opinion you'll understand, don't like 'em.

Use a smaller water dish with just a drop in there, in fact, at the size it is, you could do without it if it's eating well and shows good body weight. If you're worried about it having a drink then lightly mist the side of the enclosure occasionally.

[Sam Heaton]

I'm also starting to wonder wether it is approachign a moult seeing as the last time it did was some time at the beginning of may last year.