Centipede substrate moldy

kevinlowl

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Aug 21, 2015
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Anyone facing mold forming on your centipede substrate, not coming from any leftover food? I have never fed my centipede since I got it two weeks ago as it was really fat but I started to see patches of mold form on the substrate. Could it be coming from the poop? Do I increase the ventilation? I'm afraid my centipede might dehydrate.

This never happened with my smaller species.
 

basin79

ArachnoGod
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Sep 14, 2013
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Anyone facing mold forming on your centipede substrate, not coming from any leftover food? I have never fed my centipede since I got it two weeks ago as it was really fat but I started to see patches of mold form on the substrate. Could it be coming from the poop? Do I increase the ventilation? I'm afraid my centipede might dehydrate.

This never happened with my smaller species.
I have springtails in with my pede. Never had any mould and I leave all the scraps and crap in.
 

Chris LXXIX

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Dec 25, 2014
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S.subspinipes.

A 0.1 obviously WC that arrived gravid and kicked out a good 26 pedelings (24 are the ones I've caught, packed and shipped. 1 sadly died, 1 lives in my garden... probably there's more around me ain't aware of but oh well).

No 'cleaning squad' at all, no mold.

Top notch ventilation, especially in the case of Asian Scolopendridae, is your best ally :-s
 

BishopiMaster

Arachnobaron
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Jul 12, 2007
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S.subspinipes.

A 0.1 obviously WC that arrived gravid and kicked out a good 26 pedelings (24 are the ones I've caught, packed and shipped. 1 sadly died, 1 lives in my garden... probably there's more around me ain't aware of but oh well).

No 'cleaning squad' at all, no mold.

Top notch ventilation, especially in the case of Asian Scolopendridae, is your best ally :-s
Chris its important to consider the humidity in the air of where you live, which allows you to keep your specimens substrate dryer because you are not relying on evaporation
 

Chris LXXIX

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Dec 25, 2014
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Chris its important to consider the humidity in the air of where you live, which allows you to keep your specimens substrate dryer because you are not relying on evaporation
Ah, of course... where someone lives is IMO always to consider, but I don't keep my S.subspinipes on a "dry" substrate at all.

My point is that, sometimes, I had/have the impression (I'm not talking about kevinlowl btw) that when Scolopendridae are concerned, people do not always provide the right ventilation that, combined with moist substrate (due to the fact that "... centipedes tend to dessiccate" etc) is a recipe for mold.
 

BishopiMaster

Arachnobaron
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Jul 12, 2007
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Ah, of course... where someone lives is IMO always to consider, but I don't keep my S.subspinipes on a "dry" substrate at all.

My point is that, sometimes, I had/have the impression (I'm not talking about kevinlowl btw) that when Scolopendridae are concerned, people do not always provide the right ventilation that, combined with moist substrate (due to the fact that "... centipedes tend to dessiccate" etc) is a recipe for mold.
Through accident ive found that a little bit of temperature differential creates moisture on the sides even with good ventilation, which people often use as a crux for humidity
 

basin79

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Pure coco fiber.


Maybe I should dump a few isopods in there. I don't have any springtails.
I've never used those. So long as they won't attack the pede whilst it's moulting they'll do the job.
 

Jesse James

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Aug 3, 2016
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Pure coco fiber.


Maybe I should dump a few isopods in there. I don't have any springtails.
Mold growing on coco fiber.. weird. I've had mushrooms grow but never mold. Is the mold growing on something decaying or just on straight coco fiber?
 

kevinlowl

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Aug 21, 2015
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222
Mold growing on coco fiber.. weird. I've had mushrooms grow but never mold. Is the mold growing on something decaying or just on straight coco fiber?
It looks like it's growing on the coco fiber but I see traces of some kind of substance on the enclosure walls which leads me to suspect it's centipede poop.
 
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