Purchased a damon medius yesterday at repticon at the animal expo in Costa Mesa. He or she is in a deli cup with a metal trellis and moist paper towel and soil substrate. Have kept him in the 70s with a heat pack. Am terrified i wont be able to care for him until i can drive home tomorrow afternoon. There is a spot of furry mold in his cup. Should i remove that? I put a medium cricket in his container but dont know if he ate it. Im trying not to keep looking at him constantly. Willset up a home for him first thing tomorrow afternoon. The seller said to use half peat moss and half activated charcoal, half screen top, vertical cork bark on the insides.
Care of damon medius en route
- Thread starter cwebster
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Your new pet should be fine as long as you keep him somewhere climate-controlled. Just don't leave him in a hot car if you stop off for lunch on your way home.
I keep Damon diadema which are closely related and have basically the same care requirements. I wouldn't worry about the spot of mold for just one day. I've had mold in my enclosures with my diadema - and even mushrooms a couple of times! - but I just clean it up as I find it and they've never suffered any ill effects. It's just one of the ongoing battles with humidity-loving species.
The cups they had them in at the show are fine for a few days, as long as they don't try to molt - and even then, since the cups are fairly tall (32 oz. I believe?) they may do all right, as long as they aren't jostled too much.
When you get him home, you want a tall enclosure with good ventilation and vertical or angled cork bark. (I like to angle my cork slabs against the side of the tank, with the top side facing toward any light sources. That allows the whip spiders to hang underneath it to molt and also gives them a dark/shady side to hide on during the daytime, but vertical works, too.) The substrate isn't too important since your D. media won't spend much time on it. I use coconut fiber (eco earth) and/or peat moss for most of mine - but I've actually got a few on a sand/coconut fiber desert mix (mostly sand) and they're doing just fine, too. I've never tried the activated charcoal, but someone (probably the same seller!) was telling me that it helps prevent mold, so I might try adding some to a few of my enclosures and see how it goes.
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They're great pets! It took me a year or two to finally find mine, too - but since I got them they've consistently been among my favorite inverts. Well worth the wait!
Got home this afternoon and got him into his new home. He went behind a hiding place. Hope he will be all recovered soon from the drive and trauma. There is a shallow cup of water there..should i remove it?