I've only had the irminia for a week and I'd guess the humidity in the tank was 60%
My sling is only 1.5" right now and the rinse and repeat method is my usual modus operandi
Oh ok, mold spores was already on the bark then I guess. Hmm, you shouldn't have any mold though. Or, oooorrrrr, mold hitch hiked on the hairs of the tarantula from previous pet store/owner. So maybe the tarantulas previous owner had a wet moldy enclosure. If it happens again then throw the bark in the oven for 350/400 F for an hour or so.
Hmm, how exactly is replacing the substrate harmful again? I don't know how you or other people do it but replacing substrate isn't stressful, not when I do it. Tarantulas are shipped from all over the world and can take up to two weeks to arrive through harsh conditions. So putting a tarantula in a specimen container and transferring it to another enclosure is just as stressful? I'm scratching my head on this one and to say replacing the substrate is needless isn't entirely true. Is there something wrong with replacing the substrate every three months or so? Having the humidity fluctuate as you suggest would be more stressful to the tarantula. I'm all ears, and if you can give me your two cents and enlighten me then I'll probably agree with you.
I think the spores were on the corkbark I got from the pet store. I didn't think I'd have to bake the corkbark before I made the enclosure, so I just put it right in and a week later it was covered in mold.
The kingdom Fungi is arguably the most biologically successful organism group on the planet. Their spores are everywhere - literally in every breath you take. Trying to fight mold is a losing battle, you can only delay it. Bake every piece of bark, it'll only kill whatever spores were there at the time. The bark will have come into contact with more spores by the time you walk it back over to the enclosure.
Tarantulas are effectively blind. Their world is perceived by vibration and chemoreceptors. When you replace the substrate, you have essentially given them an entirely new home to settle into. Many tarantulas take months to settle in, so replacing substrate every three months puts them into a never-ending state of trying to settle into a new home. It's not a matter of stressing out the spider by catching and transferring it, I'm talking about after the fact. As for humidity fluctuating, that's what happens whether you want it to or not. Weather and such.
Replacing the substrate isn't necessary unless it's completely overrun with mold/mites or something along those lines. That's not the case here. Changing out the sub every three months is just going to needlessly stress out the spider.
I disagree, my only intention is to help MissHarlan. Absolutely no ill will coming from me. MissHarlan, I'll PM you and show you many proofs that it is ok for you to change the substrate. These people are not including all of the information that you need to hear. Eulers, you say you shouldn't change substrate, I say you can. MissHarlan, you can see for yourself that it is in fact ok to change your substrate.
I use a pipette to put water directly into the sub and I also drip some down the wall
This is getting ridiculous. Your opinion is absolutely the minority opinion here as all the 'disagrees' should have shown you. Nevertheless you insist and since you don't want to face the arguments you transfer your highly questionable teachings to PM??? If you think you know so much better than all the tarantula keepers here than why can't you face their arguments? It's not only EulersK that disagrees strongly with you.
+1
Some people don't like to be proven wrong is all. Don't need to face arguments...I can also show facts that can justify my opinion. I can have 100 dislikes but it doesn't disprove what I have seen with my own eyes. So sorry about that.