Two questions - a GBB sling question and a prey item question

1. I just moved my GBB sling into a new enclosure last night. The substrate is a mix of ecoearth and sanitized play sand that I use for my hermit crabs. He has hiding areas made from cork bark and some fake foliage. But instead of making a burrow he has climbed up into the top corner of the enclosure where the shape of the plastic container makes a platform and is sitting there. Is it possible he doesn't like the substrate? He was previously kept on completely dried-out and crumbly 100% ecoearth at the petstore.

2. I just adopted a tarantula from someone on CL (I have no idea what it is. I posted a picture here: http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/gallery/showimage.php?i=23023&c=11#post16463) and he said he's been feeding it lizards and pinky mice. I'm not prepared to feed it either of those and I think that's excessive. Will switching her diet from vertebrates to invertebrates have any adverse effects on her? Is it likely that she will only eat vertebrates now? The guy said he'd had her for about 6 years.

Thanks for your patience. I'm still a newbie in this hobby.

Never use sand, it can actually harm tarantulas and get into the joints.
i use coco fiber and vermiculite, 50/50. it's soft and holds moisture with out causing mold or fungus.
cork bark and fake plants are best to use.
This link should help.
http://arachnophiliac.info/burrow/substrate.htm

There are alot of pet stores these days that do a poor job at taking care of tarantulas and don't know alot.

GBBs are somewhat semi-arboreal, so they like to go up high sometimes. That said, it could just be the new enclosure jitters. Give her time. I've found they don't really burrow either.

There will be no issue switching her to an invertebrate diet.

Is there any down side to using 100% eco earth for burrowers?

I use "Eco earth" for burrowers with no problems, but there are probably soil mixtures that hold together better.

Oh here we go again with the sand...
I'm not going to tell you to use or not to use sand, but do some research of your own before deciding to tear up you new enclosure to remove a trace amount of sand.
FYI GBBs live naturally in a sand environment in Venezuela. There are some downsides to sand but there's no way I'm buying it that it gets in their joints.
I'm sure I'll get blasted for this.

Actually, I *did* do research and that is precisely why I used the 50/50 sand and EE mixture. It seemed the most natural. To be honest, I've kept a Golden knee on a similar mixture for months now with no adverse effects. I never thought anything of it until now. I've known rose hairs to live on nothing BUT that stupid calci-sand for reptiles for 12+ years and be perfectly fine. Dirt particles are just as likely to get into lungs/joints/eyes/etc as the sand is, right? It doesn't make much sense to me either...

Mindibun said:

Actually, I *did* do research and that is precisely why I used the 50/50 sand and EE mixture. It seemed the most natural. To be honest, I've kept a Golden knee on a similar mixture for months now with no adverse effects. I never thought anything of it until now. I've known rose hairs to live on nothing BUT that stupid calci-sand for reptiles for 12+ years and be perfectly fine. Dirt particles are just as likely to get into lungs/joints/eyes/etc as the sand is, right? It doesn't make much sense to me either...

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I agree with you.
Pending the species and the ability to control moisture and bacteria issues. I just don't get how people seem to want to shame someone for it because they heard some rumor about it being bad without any proof.

About the sand, source of information.
http://petcenter.info/petcenterstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=817

Grin said:

About the sand, source of information.
http://petcenter.info/petcenterstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=817

Click to expand...

Wow, thanks! I have to say that is the most credible piece of info on the topic I have seen. I hope you didn't take my comment as an attack on you either, it was a little incident from the past.
I will still say, using natural sand, for a sandy species, could not be the worst thing for the T. I also don't think someone would use sand for a burrowing T as it wouldn't hold up too well.
Back to the OPs questions.

Two problems I had with that link: firstly, they claim sand does not hold moisture well, but hermit crabs require 80% humidity and I keep mine on 75% sterilized sand and 25% EE. Many hermit crab keepers (at least the more knowledgeable ones) use similar substrate. We use this specifically because it DOES hold moisture. It actually holds it really well as long as you go down into it far enough. My golden knee has dug quite an elaborate burrow in his sand/EE substrate and other than a light, once-weekly misting I have never had to add water to it. The architecture of his burrow holds up phenomenally well and he has three entrances/exits that wrap under and around a cork bark piece that sits in the substrate. The same goes for the hermit crabs. Hermit crabs dig elaborate tunnels and "caves" or "pockets"/"chambers" - whatever you want to call them - in the deepest part of the substrate. The substrate depth in my crabitat is more than a foot at the deepest part and you can see their burrows and chambers if you bend down and look under the tank. It's fascinating. So all else aside, I promise you that sand does hold moisture and will hold up as a burrowing substrate.

secondly, they claim that tarantulas that come from sandy areas will burrow under the sand and not spend much time in it. I live in Florida, famous for its nothing-but-junk-grows-here-sandy-soil and there is no going "under" the sand. It goes all the way down, and the further you go, the wetter it gets.

Anyway, not to get off-topic I just wanted to point out two flaws that I saw. Obviously, each person will make their own decision on which substrate works best. When it is time to rehouse I will probably switch to 100% EE and see how that works out. Thanks for answering my questions.

P.S. - did anyone glance at the link I posted to the photo of my unidentified T? Her caging is disgusting and she's being housed on what probably used to be green calci sand but is now just white calci sand with green water stains here and there. Her "tree" is a piece of coral. I want to get her rehoused but since I don't know what she is I don't know how to set it up...

Straight ecoearth, or mix with vermiculite is great. Sand is abrasive, I don't use it at all. Change the substrate to either of the forementioned, and feed it crix, roaches, or superworms. Grats on the GBB, btw I think they're awesome, and can't wait to get one myself!

Yeah, I'd love to help figure out what that is.

Sand may not be the best for tarantulas, but the fact that so many of them live on it in the wild should tell you something. Anyone who says it's completely unacceptable is full of it.

Sand is fine as long as long as you realize that the desert that tarantulas live in isn't like the desert you see in cartoons. It's not all shifty windblown sand dunes with camels, pyramids and Arabic ambiance music.

Too often so I see in LPS and some hobbyists too, setups with just pure sand with obligatory tacky fake cactus and heat lamp/mat. Very few people I've seen get it right.

Actual desert sand/soil is very different than the kind you get at the pet store or wherever.

Pure sand = not good

Sand mixed in small quantities with other substrate(s) or sand to make a drainage layer = ok

No sand = ok, probably safest

Well.. I use that "completely dried-out and crumbly 100% ecoearth at the petstore". My .75 inch CC spins as much web as my 2 inch Versi, and eats like an englishmans wife.

My GBB (and there's no reason to believe mine is any different from anybody else's) has always, since he was a sling, carpeted over the substrate with webbing and thus never had an issue with the substrate's composition - it could be ground glass for all he cares because he lives eats and breathes in his silk hammock/bachelor pad, never having to set foot on what's underneath - I'm sure yours will do the same - it's one of the special treats of having a GBB.