B.albo sling care

[antsman]

I have a B. albo sling 1.3" or so. Having problems with it's enclosure molding.
I have moved it to a new smaller enclosure and it molded again, I moisten the substrate every few days to keep it humid.
I don't want to have to move the sling again as I am scared to stress it. I believe it is getting ready to molt as it has closed off its hide/burrow. It did molt the end of September.
Would it be okay to move it again? Will it be okay with just a small bit of mold?
If I move it today I will bake the substrate and leave out the hide.
I can't find Springtails for sale in Canada yet.

What I have heard is 60-70% humidity, 70-80F, substrate moist enough to clump together, and a water dish. Pack the substrate down, and use a smaller container to house to better control humidity. I am not power feeding, only feeding every 4-5 days.

Any tips on sling care would be very helpful thanks.

 

[ErinM31]

I have a B. albo sling 1.3" or so. Having problems with it's enclosure molding.
I have moved it to a new smaller enclosure and it molded again, I moisten the substrate every few days to keep it humid.
I don't want to have to move the sling again as I am scared to stress it. I believe it is getting ready to molt as it has closed off its hide/burrow. It did molt the end of September.
Would it be okay to move it again? Will it be okay with just a small bit of mold?
If I move it today I will bake the substrate and leave out the hide.
I can't find Springtails for sale in Canada yet.

What I have heard is 60-70% humidity, 70-80F, substrate moist enough to clump together, and a water dish. Pack the substrate down, and use a smaller container to house to better control humidity. I am not power feeding, only feeding every 4-5 days.

Any tips on sling care would be very helpful thanks.

This is a desert species and doesn't need humidity! I don't know why some sites/caresheets recommend this but as a result, I made the same mistake with my B. smithi sling. Thankfully, this seems a hardy genus and the humid enclosure and unpalatable food that I gave it in the beginning did no worse than delay its growth by a month.

I have both B. smithi and B. albopilosum slings -- the latter still under an inch -- and I keep their substrate dry and no misting! It is a good idea to give the sling a small water dish (looks like you have one ) or a bit of damp moss, but you don't want the substrate damp (especially so damp that it clumps -- yikes!) nor the enclosure humid.

Since it has closed itself off in it's burrow, I would not disturb it now but STOP adding water and if you can remove mold and increase ventilation without disturbing the sling, that would be good too.

 

[ErinM31]

This is just my anecdotal experience, but it seemed like my little B. albopilosum was having difficulty making a burrow in the loose dry substrate after I rehoused it to a larger container so I made it a starter burrow from carefully curling material from a Jiffy peat pot into a tunnel and then burying all but one end in the substrate (this is NOT something you should ever do with damp substrate as it will mold mold mold!). My little sling set to work making the place it's own, using webbing and substrate to build up the entrance and even incorporating its overturned waterdish in the architecture.

 

[Andrea82]

Anything telling you to keep it within specific humidity ranges is a bad source of info. Even though slings need a little more moisture than adults, wetting the substrate or misting is unnecessary. The waterdish is enough, if you live in a dry environment, or are running the central heating, you could overflow the waterdish a little or dribble some water on the sides.
Could you post some pictures? That would help to give more advice

 

[Andrea82]

@ErinM31
B.albopilosum is not a desert species, their natural habitat is tropical scrubland and forests, located in Central America. Mine enjoy a bit of 'rain' now and then.

 

[cold blood]

I have a B. albo sling 1.3" or so. Having problems with it's enclosure molding.
I have moved it to a new smaller enclosure and it molded again, I moisten the substrate every few days to keep it humid.
I don't want to have to move the sling again as I am scared to stress it. I believe it is getting ready to molt as it has closed off its hide/burrow. It did molt the end of September.
Would it be okay to move it again? Will it be okay with just a small bit of mold?
If I move it today I will bake the substrate and leave out the hide.
I can't find Springtails for sale in Canada yet.

What I have heard is 60-70% humidity, 70-80F, substrate moist enough to clump together, and a water dish. Pack the substrate down, and use a smaller container to house to better control humidity. I am not power feeding, only feeding every 4-5 days.

Any tips on sling care would be very helpful thanks.

Lets see if I can add anything valuable that hasn't been already said.

As mentioned, your concerns are unfounded. At 1.3" (if that's the DLS, if its body size we are dealing with something completely different as it would be much much larger). Truthfully it appears well smaller than 1.3", more like 3/4". Keeping an area of the sub damp is the preferred method, but you do not have to keep ALL of the sub damp, and you CAN let it dry out from time to time, especially considering you have a water dish.

Mold is generally a response to too much moisture, combined with inadequate ventilation. If you continually see mold, you have too much moisture and need to increase your ventilation.

Are you talking widespread mold, or just little spots? I ask because mold isn't really any kind of an issue unless its out of hand. Spots can just be picked out with a tweezers.

Now, judging by "If I move it today I will bake the substrate and leave out the hide", I'm guessing its widespread....and if you baked the sub prior to using it, that's your issue right there...NEVER bake your substrate, not only is it completely unnecessary, but it actually causes mold issues. See, as soon as your sterilized sub touches air, it will instantly begin being colonized by all kinds of things (albeit at different rates). When a substrate is sterilized, now the first thing to colonize it, has it all to themselves and will cause an almost instant boom to whatever population colonizes first...in your case, mold.

I keep my albo on dry sub with a water dish (probably about the same size or bigger now), and only when it looks too dry do I moisten, then I just let it dry out and repeat the process.

There is NO t on the planet that requires number specific humidity, if that were the case, they would only be found in subterranean caves (as that's really the only place you find such consistency). Specific temps are just as ridiculous, with most ts having a wide range of acceptable temps. General rule, keep it over 70 and just about every t on the planet will do just fine.

 

[ErinM31]

@ErinM31
B.albopilosum is not a desert species, their natural habitat is tropical scrubland and forests, located in Central America. Mine enjoy a bit of 'rain' now and then.

Thank you for the correction! I have perhaps dichotomized my terrestrials too much as either dessert or swamp with naught in between! Since my B. albopilosum has more space now, I may add some damp moss to one side and see how it is received. I expect my little architect will make use of it if nothing else!

 

[viper69]

I may add some damp moss to one side and see how it is received.

Probably not well as they are a scrubland species. However once dry, it's just another surface to web on.

 

[viper69]

I have perhaps dichotomized my terrestrials too much

Indeed you have. Remember, dry areas are not necessarily desert (like sand dunes and nothing else more/less). In the USA, we typically refer to forest, just as forest, w/the exception of the PNW's temperate rain forest. Once you travel to tropical areas, you find the natives often refer to what we call forest, as "dry forest", to differentiate from their native "rain forest" as well.

 

[ErinM31]

Probably not well as they are a scrubland species. However once dry, it's just another surface to web on.

Indeed you have. Remember, dry areas are not necessarily desert (like sand dunes and nothing else more/less). In the USA, we typically refer to forest, just as forest, w/the exception of the PNW's temperate rain forest. Once you travel to tropical areas, you find the natives often refer to what we call forest, as "dry forest", to differentiate from their native "rain forest" as well.

I am confused. Am I right or wrong in keeping my B. albopilosum sling in a dry environment with a waterdish?
Or what changes do I need to make?

 

[antsman]

Thank you all for the great information.

I will try to remove all the mold and add more ventilation, let the substrate dry out and go from there.

 

[Andrea82]

I am confused. Am I right or wrong in keeping my B. albopilosum sling in a dry environment with a waterdish?
Or what changes do I nee to make?

I think it is enough if you just overflow the waterdish a little, or dribble water along the sides, making it a little more humid. A piece of wet spaghnum moss is a
little overboard i think, that is more for like E.murinus or really small slings in enclosures too small for a waterdish. You could run a little test, moisting half and let the other half dry, see where your sling hangs out most

 

[ErinM31]

I think it is enough if you just overflow the waterdish a little, or dribble water along the sides, making it a little more humid. A piece of wet spaghnum moss is a
little overboard i think, that is more for like E.murinus or really small slings in enclosures too small for a waterdish. You could run a little test, moisting half and let the other half dry, see where your sling hangs out most

Makes sense -- thank you!

 

[cold blood]

When any of my Brachys get too dry for too long, I pour water onto the substrate. I do it more in the winter, because the air is very dry here at that time...sometimes they avoid it, sometimes they plant right in the damp spot.....me, I never liked the damp spot.

 

[louise f]

I never liked the damp spot.

Are you like an .....