Sphagnum moss

[Steven T Smiles]

Hi All
Does any one out there use Sphagnum Moss to retain moisture and humidity in there spiders enclosures, I have just purchased some from my local garden centre, and I have a number of questions before attempting to use it.
1. Does it need to undergo any treatment to make it safe to use around the spiders enclosure prior to using.
2. Does in contain or attract anything that might be harmful to the T's, is it a breeding ground for mould.
Should I disgard it and forget the idea
I am a bewildered newby requiring assistance.
Thanks Steve.

[Nicola Dolby]

1. no, just get water on it and it will hold the moisture and increase the humidity in the tank.
2. No
3. No
4. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[James Box]

oh don't forget 5, Nicola: No!


sphagnum moss seems pretty good to me! i've had the odd bit of mould on it but just rip that bit off, and it's ok.
plus, mould...well, i've had it in tanks before and only one species (incidentally not what i've seen growing on the moss) has appeared to be harmful.
it's just disgusting cause it's fungus and fungus is wrong.

[Steven T Smiles]

Thanks for the quick response both to you Nicola and James your time taken to answer my question is gratefully appreciated.
Sphagnum moss it is then .
Thanks Steve

[Andrew Ferguson]

oh don't forget 5, Nicola: No!


sphagnum moss seems pretty good to me! i've had the odd bit of mould on it but just rip that bit off, and it's ok.
plus, mould...well, i've had it in tanks before and only one species (incidentally not what i've seen growing on the moss) has appeared to be harmful.
it's just disgusting cause it's fungus and fungus is wrong.

I take it you're not a fan of bacon n mushroom sarnies or the occasional bit of stilton cheese James?

[Matthew Baines]

James is what is known as a mycophobe. He has terrifying dreams of mushrooms which started from a young age when he was no good at playing Super Mario and he felt like the mushrooms were taunting him at how bad he was at the game.

Oh and sphagnum moss is good , we get ours from the garden centre and either nuke it in the microwave or pour a few kettles of water over it. As for the mouldy bits , you could invest in some wood lice.

[James Box]

oi! i was fantastic at Super Mario Bros, my mates and i prided ourselves on how fast we could beat levels, how many secrets we could find, etc!

Andrew: why on earth would you pollute a lovely bacon sarnie with something that lives on rot and filth? (conveniently ignoring what pigs eat...)
and stilton...it's gone off, chuck it!

woodlice are amazing for cleaning up the odd bit of mould or left over food...you can get them from the garden, but quarantine for a couple weeks first in case of them coming in contact with pesticides.

[Craig Mackay]

Gotta agree with James on this one!

[Nicola Dolby]

If you keep the substrate on the moist side, the woodies will breed like rabbits! My Chilobrachys has a whole family for company!

I use the moss in all my tanks. Even in the dry petpals my Grammostola and my Brachys love playing in it. One of my Koh Samuis thinks its edible! At last a vegitarian tarantula:-S:-S or maybe she's just flossing!B-)

[Matthew Baines]

oi! i was fantastic at Super Mario Bros, my mates and i prided ourselves on how fast we could beat levels, how many secrets we could find, etc!

Andrew: why on earth would you pollute a lovely bacon sarnie with something that lives on rot and filth? (conveniently ignoring what pigs eat...)
and stilton...it's gone off, chuck it!

woodlice are amazing for cleaning up the odd bit of mould or left over food...you can get them from the garden, but quarantine for a couple weeks first in case of them coming in contact with pesticides.

I am suprised you are still alive James, because if you think long and hard about it (And I have) everything that passes through your system has come into contact with fungus be it directly or indirectly. So there is no escaping the fact so you are just best to get over it.

Don't tell me you are a Vegetarian Nicola !!!!

I am now trying to stop myself from having a rant about how destructive vegetarians are!

As for Woodlice colonies we have a few 1000 , dead easy to keep layer of soil, loads of veg ESPECIALLY carrot as they need the copper i think it is to survive, and a few layers of unprinted cardboard . Leave them to breed and they will breed like mad. make sure it is moist but not too moist and let them do there thing, we got about 30 6 months ago and they just exploded in numbers in no time.

[Nicola Dolby]

Definitely not Matt. How can I be a vegitarian when my favorite meal is Pork Vindaloo served on Fennel Rice with Major Grey Mango Chutney and a side serving of Black Eyed Peas served with MUSHROOMS and Tomatoes and a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. Feeling hungry yet?

[Steven T Smiles]

Thanks for all the sound advice guys gratfully appreciated and i,ll be putting the knowledge to good use Steve

[Robert Martin]

Hi all,

I've never considered using woodlice in my spider tanks. Can you use just everyday woodlice out of the garden or is there some special woodlice you need to buy? Also, dosn't a load of woodlice running around annoy the spider and why dosn't the spider try eating them?

Rob.

[Grant Brown]

Hi all,

I've never considered using woodlice in my spider tanks. Can you use just everyday woodlice out of the garden or is there some special woodlice you need to buy? Also, dosn't a load of woodlice running around annoy the spider and why dosn't the spider try eating them?

Rob.

The only potential issue with UK woodlice is the temperature. I have yet to experiment with them, but I'd imagine that UK natives are probably not well adjusted to temps much about 25 C for any length of time.

Then again, you could track down some tropical species or ask around for some of the introduced hothouse species. I think I may actually have a species of hothouse specialist growing with my carnivorous plants, but I have yet to investigate the ID properly.

[Robert Martin]

Cheers Grant. It'd be a shame to experiment with the little guys if they arn't gonna survive. Maybe i should research some more exotic woodlice and try and get my hands on some.