I can't get rid of this ruddy mold!!!

AbraCadaver · May 29, 2010

Guys, I need help ASAP!

Two of my enlosures are just determined to give me a hard time, and I have no idea what to do anymore.. It all started when I bought some spiders from this guy.. I got an enclosure with them. My Avicularia sp. Amazon Purple was in the enclosure when I got it, but she was cramped, so I moved her.
So, in her new enclosure, I've gotten mold, and in the enclosure she came with. I have litterally boiled all my enclosures, and I've baked the substrate, so the only thing I can think of is that it's on the spider itself. But, the enclosure she came with is still affected, allthough I have a spider in there, which haven't been in a moldy enclosure before. What the heck do I do now? I can't think of anything.. I do the exact same thing with these enclosures as I've done with other avics, and they haven't had any mold problems at all!:? To top it off, the two spiders in the moldy enclosures are in pre-molt!! They've webbed themselves into Narnia, so I'm having a battle with myself on wether to move them or not.. What should I do here? I'm posting some pics too.. It seems that the poop is what's molding.. In the one enclosure, theres a sort of "carpet" of light, hairy mold, and the other is just tiny, fuzzy bits al around..

I'm stumped here, guys..

This is the enclosure the amazon purple came in, now inhabitet by my mystery Avic;

This is Amazon purples new enclosure;

ametan · May 29, 2010

Have you tried isopods? I don't use them, but I've heard they eat up mold.

bholmes · May 29, 2010

Isopods would do the trick
, I am just not sure if you have/can get them in Norway. If you are able to then it is definitely worth a shot.

curiousme · May 29, 2010

AbraCadaver said:
Guys, I need help ASAP!

Two of my enlosures are just determined to give me a hard time, and I have no idea what to do anymore.. It all started when I bought some spiders from this guy.. I got an enclosure with them. My Avicularia sp. Amazon Purple was in the enclosure when I got it, but she was cramped, so I moved her.
So, in her new enclosure, I've gotten mold, and in the enclosure she came with.

For us, the first step when we see mold is to add more ventilation.

I have litterally boiled all my enclosures, and I've baked the substrate, so the only thing I can think of is that it's on the spider itself.

All boiling and baking will do, is provide anything that wants to set up shop a perfect environment. Just because you have 'sterilized' your substrate, does not mean it will stay sterile, it can't.

But, the enclosure she came with is still affected, allthough I have a spider in there, which haven't been in a moldy enclosure before. What the heck do I do now? I can't think of anything.. I do the exact same thing with these enclosures as I've done with other avics, and they haven't had any mold problems at all!:? To top it off, the two spiders in the moldy enclosures are in pre-molt!! They've webbed themselves into Narnia, so I'm having a battle with myself on wether to move them or not.. What should I do here? I'm posting some pics too.. It seems that the poop is what's molding.. In the one enclosure, theres a sort of "carpet" of light, hairy mold, and the other is just tiny, fuzzy bits al around..

Remove as much of the mold as possible and then add ventilation. Let the enclosures dry out a bit and perhaps it will fix the problem.

AbraCadaver · May 29, 2010

Uhm... There's ALOT of ventilation in these enclosures, so that's not the problem.. As mentioned, I have an identical enclosure with no mold problem whatsoever. So I doubt that's the problem.. I'll see if I can find some isopods, we get them here in summer..

what should I do in the meantime? The two spiders in question are in pre-molt..

Big B · May 29, 2010

Is it just me or does the substrate look soaking wet? I read that it was baked but... I keep mine pretty dry and it works for keeping mold/fungus to a minimum. Iospods do work, but a change in husbandry will also work....it did for me.

Ryan1 · May 29, 2010

mold

From the looks of the first pic it looks way too wet. When in doubt about mold in an enclosure just change enclosures or at least clean the current one. Cross venting is very important with Avics I've found. It's easier to keep adding humidity rather than not having enough cross venting and dealing with mold all the time.

curiousme · May 29, 2010

AbraCadaver said:
Uhm... There's ALOT of ventilation in these enclosures, so that's not the problem.. As mentioned, I have an identical enclosure with no mold problem whatsoever. So I doubt that's the problem.. I'll see if I can find some isopods, we get them here in summer..

Well, the substrate looks soaking wet and the only way to get it dry quickly is more air and heat.

You don't want to move them because they are premolt, but you are worried to leave them....... With that in mind. I would remove as much of the mold as you can and get some isopods. If you are collecting them out of the wild, try and go to a Forestry or somewhere that no pesticides or fertilizers are used. Either that or buy some CB ones.

what should I do in the meantime? The two spiders in question are in pre-molt..

Remove the mold and add isopods. Add ventilation in the lid if that isn't possible. Those are my opinions and what we would do.

shanebp · May 29, 2010

I had this same problem when my A.Avic was in premolt. IMO, don't worry about it. I left it in there till it molted and then an extra few days for it to harden up and it turned out just fine. Of course I then rehoused it and got rid of the mold but yeah. I wouldn't worry yourself over it too much.

JC · May 29, 2010

Keep the substrate about the 25% less humid.

AbraxasComplex · May 29, 2010

I also suggest isopods... but I have a better solution that helps prevent mold.

Mix your substrate with peat moss. Peat moss creates an acidic environment in the substrate. Generally many mold species cannot thrive in acidic environments (though several can). By increasing the concentration of peat moss in all your substrate mixes it will help decrease the growth rate of many molds and inhibit other species.

By combining both detritivores (like isopods, snails, red wiggler worms, and springtails) and acidic properties none of my enclosures have issues with mold.

curiousme · May 29, 2010

AbraxasComplex said:
I also suggest isopods... but I have a better solution that helps prevent mold.

Mix your substrate with peat moss. Peat moss creates an acidic environment in the substrate. Generally many mold species cannot thrive in acidic environments (though several can). By increasing the concentration of peat moss in all your substrate mixes it will help decrease the growth rate of many molds and inhibit other species.

I have heard this advice before, but have had mold grow in enclosures that are 100% peat. This makes me wonder about that tidbit and I don't repeat it to others.

AbraxasComplex · May 29, 2010

curiousme said:
I have heard this advice before, but have had mold grow in enclosures that are 100% peat. This makes me wonder about that tidbit and I don't repeat it to others.

Hence why I mentioned that some species still can grow in acidic areas. There are thousands of species found across the world after all. Sometimes the acidic properties only inhibit growth of certain species, while I'm sure it enables the odd species of fungus to thrive.

curiousme · May 29, 2010

AbraxasComplex said:
Hence why I mentioned that some species still can grow in acidic areas. There are thousands of species found across the world after all. Sometimes the acidic properties only inhibit growth of certain species, while I'm sure it enables the odd species of fungus to thrive.

I am not saying that you are wrong, just giving my opinion of the info.

Motorkar · May 30, 2010

The substrate is really soaked wet. Dry it up as soon as possible: put it in the owen, put the heat to the max for about 10 minutes and leave doors of the oven a bit open so that humidity steams out.

Try weting the substrate then and mix it with dry up one, thats a good way to keep all the substrate humid but not wet. Rember that spiders don't need exactly percentage of humidity as said, it can be even 5-10% below that percentage of humidity.

AbraCadaver · May 31, 2010

Thanks for the input guys. The sub isn't wet, Guess it's the flash combined with recent misting... My biggest mystery is that I have two avic enclosures that I do the exacat same ting with, and i've had no issues with them at all.. I don't keep the sub wet, but when I mist, some of it kinda has to go there... You know, gravity=p i'll just leave them be for now. I've gotten out the worst blobs, an i'll Do some cleaning when they're well through their molts.

fantasticp · Jun 1, 2010

Just ignore it. I pick it out with tweezers if the clump is too big and leave the small stuff and have never had problems. Although, I had a lot more mold fluff when I was in a crappy apartment with black mold in the bathroom. I moved out and have only had 10% or less of the mold problems I used to, so you might want to inspect your house for other sources of mold spores. It might be a coincedence.

spidersnstuff · Nov 7, 2010

Future reference

If anyone reads this post in the future, it does sound like the tarantula itself could be infected. Acting premolt, like not eating, and lethargic could mean an infected tarantula, you would probably want to make sure your T. is dry several days before reintroducing to a suitable habitat. This can be achieved by placing layers of paper towel over the substrate, or removing the T. and giving them a dry container to live with max. ventilation and dryness, and a deeper, less surface area based water supply.

curiousme · Nov 7, 2010

spidersnstuff said:
If anyone reads this post in the future, it does sound like the tarantula itself could be infected. Acting premolt, like not eating, and lethargic could mean an infected tarantula, you would probably want to make sure your T. is dry several days before reintroducing to a suitable habitat. This can be achieved by placing layers of paper towel over the substrate, or removing the T. and giving them a dry container to live with max. ventilation and dryness, and a deeper, less surface area based water supply.

What do you mean by infected? Do you mean that the T itself could possibly be molding?

I have read threads on that, but it is able to be seen(as far as I know/ read, never experienced it myself) and the OP said nothing about the T looking odd; just that it was in premolt.:? Also, wouldn't drying the T out when it could actually be in premolt, possibly cause harm if you're wrong and it tries to molt?

I am wondering what caused this leap in logic and am finding myself puzzled. Perhaps you could help me understand it a bit better?

Ictinike · Nov 7, 2010

curiousme said:
I am not saying that you are wrong, just giving my opinion of the info.

No it's not really wrong but what you use to wet down the peat can change it's acidity or wash it away. I can't remember who (well known here) stated examples of using tap water that had been treated with chemicals may reduce the acidity to the point it's pretty neutral and much of a acidic tendencies are literally washed away.

I can't argue and since I've converted over to straight sifted peat, using distilled water for wetting, I've had a big reduction in any possible mold and mites. While this may just be coincidence you can't argue with the science of it and I can see an acidic reducing ability if you don't know what's in your water.

I can't get rid of this ruddy mold!!!

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