I‘ve had my tarantula for about a year and a half. The first substrate I used was coconut fiber. The cage needed to be cleaned so recently I changed the substrate to peat and the tarantula did not like that much so after a few weeks with it keeping on its hide I changed it again, back to coconut fiber. It still stays on its hide and won‘t walk on the substrate, occasionally I see it on the water dish or on the glass on the side of the cage. It has been about a month since I put the coconut fiber in. It still eats the crickets if they wander on the hide. What should I do!? I don‘t know what else I can try.
What species of tarantula do you have? Is the sub wet at all? Some tarantulas, like the G.rosea (rose hair tarantula) for instance, do not like any kind of moisture in their enclosures. If that's the case, just let the substrate dry out entirely and the tarantula should again start walking on the ground.
A great load of lavender sage and lemon may, but I've never tried it. You could try rosemary oil extract.
Go for Peat, or Vermiculite instead. Many of the professional keepers swear by Peat as a substrate, however although peat hold moisture quite well, the following are common problems: Mould, mites, fungus and other unwanted growths. To counter this the substrate should be microwaved (only when it's dry, otherwise their is a possible fire risk!) This will kill any mould or fungus spores, and anything else, such as mites. Vermiculite doesn't tend to encourage mould, fungus or mites. Though some tarantulas, especially arboreal species don't like it as it tends to stick to their feet. You can wet the coconut fibre a little more to encourage burrowing. I use a product called Bed-A-Beast. This product comes in a 4 X 8 X 2 block and when placed in water it yields about 8 litres of bedding. One block fills my five - 10x24 tanks and a dozen small containers for spiderlings.
