Is White element harmful??

[doctrin13th]

I keep my juvenile P cambridgei in a plastic container. With holes on both sides for ventilation. The tree bark in the middle produced white elements..seems like molds...How can i prevent that? I keep the cage humid because it's an arboreal setup

 

[Bosing]

Its either you regularly do a clean up of his/her plastic container. This includes a change in substrate. This is because you may have kept it too wet. In my experience, we have a relatively high level of humidity already in the Philippines and so the Ts can generally survive with damp to almost dry substrates.

 

[doctrin13th]

I'm sorry for the under-info.
Actually, I'm not over wetting the enclosure. Is misting the surface of the substrate and the sides of the cage once or twice(rarely) a month not appropriate for arboreal species?

I'm aware that too much humidity for a long period will trigger molds that's why it's weird for me and unsure if it is molds.Thus, my query. Anyway, is there types of wood that's prone to mold even if it's not expose to wetness?

 

[gmrpnk21]

Switch to fake wood or corkwood. I like the bendable vines for my avicularia avicularia.

 

[shanebp]

I agree with the above post, natural wood is hard to keep from molding unless you keep the moisture away from it. Most people use cork bark, but that bendable vine is a good idea too.

 

[webbedone]

Swich to cork rounds/slabs or if you are sentimental to the current piece boil it in a pot, it will kill off any remaining mold spores and will prevent mold from resurfacing for a while.

 

[curiousme]

Since I do not know how available cork bark is where you are, I would suggest to just add a large/er water dish, block off some of the ventilation and stop misting anything. You will still accomplish a humid enclosure this way. To get rid of the mold, you could either remove the wood to get rid of the mold directly and quickly; or you can increase ventilation for a week or so and let it dry out while removing the mold with a spoon/ other instrument. It depends on how much of a hassle it is to take the wood out, how much you feel it will affect the T and what you feel is an acceptable amount of stress to put the T under for this situation. If it is a smallish enclosure and the T has webbed on the wood to make its home, I would let the enclosure dry out until I saw no more mold and then I would add the large/er dish and block off ventilation. If the wood isn't being used by the T and you can just pluck it out, then I would do that and then the dish and ventilation.

 

[gmrpnk21]

Since I do not know how available cork bark[YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] is where you are, I would suggest to just add a large/er water dish, block off some of the ventilation and stop misting anything. You will still accomplish a humid enclosure this way. To get rid of the mold, you could either remove the wood to get rid of the mold directly and quickly; or you can increase ventilation for a week or so and let it dry out while removing the mold with a spoon/ other instrument. It depends on how much of a hassle it is to take the wood out, how much you feel it will affect the T and what you feel is an acceptable amount of stress to put the T under for this situation. If it is a smallish enclosure and the T has webbed on the wood to make its home, I would let the enclosure dry out until I saw no more mold and then I would add the large/er dish and block off ventilation. If the wood isn't being used by the T and you can just pluck it out, then I would do that and then the dish and ventilation.

+1 I use a large water dish for my avicularia and the humidity stays above 60%

 

[eightkal]

thanks a bunch.

yeah i bought a macs creature wood form petco and i noticed some white stuff forming on top. good thing it was new to enclosure and easily removed without any stress. is it difficult to get cork bark in Massachussetts? also were could i find that bendy vine?


Thanks, Rich