# Issues with mold & wood hide (New Owner!)



## Beth P (Sep 1, 2016)

Hi everyone, 

I'm a new T owner and I've had my G. Rosea about 2 weeks. I bought her one of those half log bark hides for her enclosure but after about a week I noticed some white and green growing on it. I put the hide in the sun for a day hoping to bake the mold off and then placed it back into the dry enclosure. After another week, more of the white patches showed up and I attempted to scrape it off. I kind of did a number on the hide and a lot of the bark has come off, revealing this slightly powdery red stuff beneath it (pics attached). Is this pine extract? Was there ever mold to being with? And most importantly, can I put this back in the enclosure or should I just get a new hide?  

I want to do the best I can as an owner so any advice is appreciated. Thanks so much! 

(I've attached a photo of her setup, the hide before and after I scraped bark off)


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## The Snark (Sep 1, 2016)

Sigh. What do you want to do? You aren't killing the mold when you scrap the fluff off. That's just the fruit of the 'plant'. You can bake the wood and do a severe knock down, but not a complete kill, not sure how hot or how long - others will know. Or you can do a 100% kill. 48 hour exposure to EO or 45 minutes in an autoclave at ~238F, saturated steam. Only those two are non destructive and 100% effective.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Beth P (Sep 1, 2016)

The Snark said:


> Sigh. What do you want to do? You aren't killing the mold when you scrap the fluff off. That's just the fruit of the 'plant'. You can bake the wood and do a severe knock down, but not a complete kill, not sure how hot or how long - others will know. Or you can do a 100% kill. 48 hour exposure to EO or 45 minutes in an autoclave at ~238F, saturated steam. Only those two are non destructive and 100% effective.


Okay. I'm not going to bake anything at this point. Let me clarify, the questions are: 
-Is that white crap in the photos I attached mold
-Can I put the hide back in the enclosure after I scraped the bark off
(not sure what this hide is made from, I know certain woods, like cedar, are natural insecticides and I am concerned about the red powdery substance beneath the bark poisoning my rosea) 

That's it. You can keep the lengthy temp and steam stuff to yourself dude.

Reactions: Dislike 1


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## Venom1080 (Sep 1, 2016)

i dont see anything. if your spiders still alive after two weeks its most likely not cedar. i'd put it back in. 

that cage looks very tall, i highly recommend filling the cage up so the gap between the cage top and substrate level is no more than 1.5x the tarantulas leg span. terrestrial Ts do climb rarely and if it falls, it can injure or kill itself.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## The Snark (Sep 1, 2016)

Beth P said:


> Okay. I'm not going to bake anything at this point. Let me clarify, the questions are:
> -Is that white crap in the photos I attached mold
> -Can I put the hide back in the enclosure after I scraped the bark off
> (not sure what this hide is made from, I know certain woods, like cedar, are natural insecticides and I am concerned about the red powdery substance beneath the bark poisoning my rosea)


White crap: probable fungus
Red powdery substance: Pheloderm, cork cambium.

Reactions: Like 1


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## viper69 (Sep 1, 2016)

Welcome to owning Ts and the AB forum. Everyone gave you excellent advice.

For hides, I don't use wood, I use cork OR I make them out of PVC because it's cheap (like 1 dollar vs 8$) and won't grow mold. If you need instructions ask.

Below is one I made out of PVC













AF  E. sp. Red, Post-Molt



__ viper69
__ Aug 29, 2016






The red stuff is part of the tree.

I also echo the sentiments of Venom1080. The container your T is in looks to be

1. Too small for its size
2. Too tall for a terrestrial for the reasons mentioned by Venom1080.

Do right by your T and follow the instructions Venom gave you regarding the 1.5X distance. It might just save your Ts life in the future.

You could keep that T in a medium sized ExoTerra Breeder Box or a large one, and not worry about the distance.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Beth P (Sep 1, 2016)

The Snark said:


> White crap: probable fungus
> Red powdery substance: Pheloderm, cork cambium.


Thx!


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## Beth P (Sep 1, 2016)

Venom1080 said:


> i dont see anything. if your spiders still alive after two weeks its most likely not cedar. i'd put it back in.
> 
> that cage looks very tall, i highly recommend filling the cage up so the gap between the cage top and substrate level is no more than 1.5x the tarantulas leg span. terrestrial Ts do climb rarely and if it falls, it can injure or kill itself.


Thanks for the advice, I'm drying out some more substrate now and I'll put the hide back in!

Reactions: Like 1


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## Beth P (Sep 1, 2016)

viper69 said:


> Welcome to owning Ts and the AB forum. Everyone gave you excellent advice.
> 
> For hides, I don't use wood, I use cork OR I make them out of PVC because it's cheap (like 1 dollar vs 8$) and won't grow mold. If you need instructions ask.
> 
> ...


Thanks for taking the time to reply! This is all super helpful. I had been eyeing up a breeder box while shopping and now I'm kicking myself for letting the dude at the reptile store convince me to buy my current enclosure. Hopefully I can get a new home in the next week! For now, I'll add some more substrate. Thanks again!

Reactions: Like 1


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## DeanK (Sep 1, 2016)

If the white stuff is mold then simply scraping it off isn't gonna kill it. While mold doesn't necessarily hurt a T it is a sign of an underlying issue, usually too much moisture and not enough ventilation. So if there's mold on the log you need to find out what's causing it and rectify that IMO


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## viper69 (Sep 1, 2016)

Beth P said:


> Thanks for taking the time to reply! This is all super helpful. I had been eyeing up a breeder box while shopping and now I'm kicking myself for letting the dude at the reptile store convince me to buy my current enclosure. Hopefully I can get a new home in the next week! For now, I'll add some more substrate. Thanks again!


No problem Beth. I have a few Adult Females, ranging in size from 4" DLS to 6" DLS, all in the large size Breeder Box. They are all NW terrestrials with similar care requirements as your NW terrestrial.

When in doubt, don't listen to the store peeps, just wait a day, and come to the forum and ask.

Also check Amazon for Breeder Boxes. They tend to have the best prices generally, though when shipping is factored in, maybe not. Depends on the selection of stores you have around you.


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## The Snark (Sep 2, 2016)

DeanK said:


> So if there's mold on the log you need to find out what's causing it and rectify that IMO


Fungi and molds, eukaryotic organisms, are an intrinsic part of an ecosystem. You will never find a tree entirely free of them in nature. Without them and the work they do, life as we know it on the planet would cease in a few short years. Essentially, they are the beneficial organisms in the earth's terrestrial digestive tract.

Reactions: Agree 2 | Informative 2 | Love 1


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## shining (Sep 2, 2016)

Simple solution.

Toss that half log as they are notorious for mold and fungus. (Or follow Snark's advice)

Replace the substrate and keep it drier.

Get a big corkround or terra cotta pot and break it in half. 

Problem solved.



Also, I have one of those logs too (it is not cedar or pine) and it had a mold issue too. I scraped the bark off and guess what, I baked it and I have no more problems with it even being in the more humid environment of my Gromphadorhina portentosa community.

Reactions: Like 1


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