# I keep finding little white things growing in my substrate!!!! Please help me.



## Grammostola (Feb 28, 2012)

Hey everyone, I am hoping someone can help me. I tried to post pics but had trouble doing so. I'm rather new at the hobby, but I have a G. Rosea, B. Vagans a C. Fasciatum and a P. Cambridgei. Now the three terrestrials seem great, but the arboreal is frusterating me. I lightly mist it maybe once or so a week but is never overly damp. It seems to dry out pretty good before any new mist attempts. There are two small pieces of wood that had been frozen for a couple days then microwaved, so I can't imagine any thing coming from that. The sub is Exo terra plantation soil, all kept in a tall plastic candy container with holes on the lid and around the sides near the top. I don't have the tools to measure the humidity or temp but can't imagine them being too bad. The problem is I keep finding little white egg like things appearing in the substrate every few days. I don't know if it's a fungi or some sort of eggs that could cause harm to the little T. He is completely healthy with no noticable defects (worms or mites). I just don't want to ignore theses little white things only to later have them infest the enclosure. I could email any pics if there is anyone willing to offer help, I just can't seem to get them uploaded here. Thanks to anyone that has taken the time to read this post and hopefully help with this possible problem. ::


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## Reptileplantguy (Feb 28, 2012)

It's mold, the enclosure is to damp and there is not enough ventilation if you are getting fuzzy egg things


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## AlexRC (Feb 28, 2012)

I think I know exactly what you're talking about.  Small clusters of what appear to be tiny white eggs, I get those as well time to time and only in my humid enclosures.  I thought them to be a type of mite egg, but others have told me that it's just poop although I know it's definitely not.  I can't seem to prevent them completely as I'm not sure exactly where they're coming from, and I've never seen any movement or sign of live mites and I've done all sorts of checking, and hardcore searching.  My best fight against it is just taking a warm wet paper towel and wiping them out, and spot removing any substrate that they show up on.
If you end up getting any more info about this stuff I'd appreciate it if you could PM me, although I'll also be bookmarking this thread.

---------- Post added 02-28-2012 at 01:22 AM ----------

P.S. - What I'm finding isn't mold, I've had mold a few times when I first started in the hobby but learned how to deal with it right away.  What I'm finding now is a whole new thing, and shows up only on the walls (plastic, glass) of the enclosure  95% of the time and always near the vent holes as if something got in there and laid eggs.  Very rarely does it ever appear on the substrate for me.  Also, I noticed that most of the time they reappear after a fresh misting, like if I spray at night they'll be there in the morning.  Like I said before, I just wipe them out with warm wet paper towels.


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## jakykong (Feb 28, 2012)

Have you considered that it might be feces? Tarantula feces is white, it will dissolve in water, they typically leave it away from their burrows/hides. Not infrequently, on the walls.


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## AlexRC (Feb 28, 2012)

jakykong said:


> Have you considered that it might be feces? Tarantula feces is white, it will dissolve in water, they typically leave it away from their burrows/hides. Not infrequently, on the walls.


What I have most definitely isn't feces, can't speak for the OP's though.  Feces is more of a gooey transparent whitish substance, that dries flat and runny.  I'm getting small concentrated clusters of solid white, tiny, oval shaped things that stick out about half a millimeter from the walls.  And when in the substrate, are usually spread out 1 or 2 for every centimeter or so.  No runs or transparency with these things, sold as tiny rocks.


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## jayefbe (Feb 28, 2012)

Alexrc - post a pic, because what you are describing is poop.


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## Hobo (Feb 28, 2012)

Awwwww yeeeeaaah another poop thread!

To the both of you, pending some pics, what you are describing is definitely poo.

Poop. Heh.

In addition to having runny white crap, they will also pass small egg like granules occasionally. Many many threads exist of people mistaking these things for eggs.

Here are a few threads with pictures of poop.

First this one. And this one. And here's a GOOD ONE!

Reactions: Like 2


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## AlexRC (Feb 28, 2012)

Hobo said:


> Awwwww yeeeeaaah another poop thread!
> 
> To the both of you, pending some pics, what you are describing is definitely poo.
> 
> ...


After all of the poop threads I've read to confirm that what I was finding wasn't a form of feces, and all of the pics I've seen, I must say THANK YOU HOBO!!!
Pics from the 1st thread are kinda unclear but resemble the poop I'm used to seeing, but the comparison pics on the 2nd link's 4th page, and the 2 pics on the 3rd link definitely clear it all up for me.  I've been going nuts about it every time it appears.
But I must ask, if you do know, why it only shows up like this in my humid enclosures.  As the OP stated, all of my dryer/terrestrial sp enclosures never have this variation of it, but it's turned up in almost all of my arboreal/humid ones.
Well either way, this makes me a lot happier, and now I can finally put the mite paranoia to rest lol.
THANKS AGAIN HOBO, YOU'RE THE MAN!


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## Chris_Skeleton (Feb 28, 2012)

I believe I know what you are talking about. I have the same thing in my H. lividum enclosure. I just let it run it's course and clean it out every now and then. Hasn't caused any problems in the months it has occurred. I've posted pics in this thread as well:

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?221120-White-dots-in-substrate....


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## zonbonzovi (Feb 28, 2012)

Chris, I get the same stuff from your pic on the boluses in my stirmi tank, def. a mold of sorts.  The balls(slightly yellow) are also another form of mold that I've seen frequently in moist burrowing setups.  They are usually grouped together and appear like Keebler magic in another part of the enclosure.  I don't think either are harmful but I remove any that's easy access all the same.  I would love to know of what variety the yellow balls are.  It doesn't appear to be the same as the "yellow slime mold" referred to in some plant forums.

On a separate note, I get these sometimes and it was nice to finally know what the hell they are!:

http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/feb2002.html


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## xhexdx (Feb 28, 2012)

Since it seems the question(s) has/have been answered, I'll just chime in to note that the specific name shouldn't be capitalized.

B. vagans, not B. Vagans.


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## AlexRC (Feb 29, 2012)

Chris_Skeleton said:


> I believe I know what you are talking about. I have the same thing in my H. lividum enclosure. I just let it run it's course and clean it out every now and then. Hasn't caused any problems in the months it has occurred. I've posted pics in this thread as well:
> 
> http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?221120-White-dots-in-substrate....


What you show in your pic is exactly what I find in mine, just not so much at a time as I usually clean it out after about a week or so.  It's also exactly what's seen in the pics that are in the threads linked by Hobo up above, and confirmed to be a form of feces.  I was going nuts about it for a while until last night when those links finally identified it for me.  But it also does look like it's causing light mold to grow around it in your substrate where it's most dense.  I usually get them on the walls of the enclosure, very seldom on the substrate so I haven't gotten any mold from it yet.  I still haven't found anything on why it comes out like this sometimes, but just that it does, and that's actually good enough for me.  
Great pic by the way, I've tried taking so many, but none of my cams, mixed with the poor lighting of my room ever come out clear enough to see anything more than white blurs.


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## Grammostola (Feb 29, 2012)

Wow! This new hobby will be easy with help like this. Sounds like AlexRC and I have had the exact same concerns on this. I'm just relieved to hear that it's only 'T turd'. I just want to thank everyone for their opinions and comments. Those pics from 'Hobo' were dead on and much appreciated too.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Chris_Skeleton (Feb 29, 2012)

Just to clarify, what's in my pic is NOT feces. You need to post pics. If its like what's in my pic, then it's mold.


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