Just noticed that the two new round cork bark hides we put in with our young amblygi have bluish mold inside. I have been misting the 10 gallon aquarium daily to keep humidity at about 80% and is mostly covered with a terry towel to keep the humidity in. The tall straight cork bark seems ok. Should i bake the cork rounds and stop misting them? Is there a better hide? The spider was hanging outside one of the round cork bark hides. She is a daemon medius according to the person at the reptile show where i got her a few months ago.
Mold on cork bark ok or dangerous to ambyplygi?
- Thread starter cwebster
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- Apr 20, 2005
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- 615
Fungus development in enclosures is INEVITABLE.
There are spores all around us, just waiting for the right humidity and substrate (and the right food source too) to pop up.
Whether it is dangerous for your animal - in most cases I would say no. It only becomes dangerous if the fungus starts growing on the arthropod's exoskeleton. Even then it is not a huge problem but it can affect its behavior and perception if it grows on the eyes or on the antenniform legs.
If you are bothered by the presence of mold, try to add a "cleaning crew" to you enclosure like collembola or isopods. They usually do a good job eliminating the conditions required for mold development. I would also recommend having a slightly less humid spot in the enclosure, to keep some humidity level gradient, in case your whip spiders prefer it on the drier side. Some of them do.
There are spores all around us, just waiting for the right humidity and substrate (and the right food source too) to pop up.
Whether it is dangerous for your animal - in most cases I would say no. It only becomes dangerous if the fungus starts growing on the arthropod's exoskeleton. Even then it is not a huge problem but it can affect its behavior and perception if it grows on the eyes or on the antenniform legs.
If you are bothered by the presence of mold, try to add a "cleaning crew" to you enclosure like collembola or isopods. They usually do a good job eliminating the conditions required for mold development. I would also recommend having a slightly less humid spot in the enclosure, to keep some humidity level gradient, in case your whip spiders prefer it on the drier side. Some of them do.
Thank you. There are already springtails in the substrate. Will set up a humidity gradient asyou suggest. Will probably bake the rounds before putting them back in. Am worried she may have hurt herself racing to climb behind the large flat cork bark. Hope she is ok as we dearly love her. She is quite reclusive and usually hides underneath a flat horizontal wood piece but want to get some vertical surfaces in there in case she wants to molt.