Mold on Moss?!

[FASSETT]

I have white mold it looks like with spiderling. HELP!

 

[Ranitomeya]

The picture's a bit too blurry to make out what's going on.

The most commonly obtainable mosses require a great deal of light to grow and survive. If the moss was alive to begin with, it'll die in poorly lit conditions and mold will begin growing if it remains damp or wet. You should remove the moss before the mold spreads, produces spores, and becomes a potential hazard to your tarantula's health.

 

[Gaherp]

Agree with ranitomeya, moss needs good light in the 6700k range to flourish. Although pic is blurry that is a few strands of some sort of moss that will die in dark conditions. I have been breeding darts and T's for the better part of 20 yrs and can tell you from experience moss can be a pain unless kept under the right conditions. Not to mention if it's a temperate variety it can go dormant (desiccate).

 

[EulersK]

I very much doubt that he's trying to grow moss... I think he's just using peat/sphagnum moss and is having a mold outbreak. Very rare, but I've had it before as well, although only when I've mixed sphagnum moss with topsoil.

Mold isn't a death sentence to spiders. I'd rehouse, yes, but don't freak out. When I use topsoil, it always breaks out in a carpet of thin white mold. It dies out within a week having used up its resources, and it never comes back. The spider lives in the enclosure during that process.

The better question is why you're getting mold at all. Poor ventilation will kill a spider much faster than any mold, and this is likely what's causing your mold. Sorry, but that picture is useless. Can we see how much ventilation you have? A clearer picture of the mold as well would help.

 

[viper69]

Maybe the CIA's image analysis division can figure out the details in that pic.

Try focusing the camera, and BEFORE posting checking the image.

 

[FASSETT]

Hahaha funny comments. Really tho i did screw up the pic. i tryed to take a better one but failed to wait for it to load and went to bed. Luckily i have a sence of humor. Thanks for those who commented.

 

[FASSETT]

Its peat moss and molded white in 3 terrariums i put it in wasnt bad but took it out this morning before it got worse. Ventilation is definitely not a issue tho. Thinking it may be the moss.

 

[dopamine]

Was just about to start a new thread on this. I'm just now noticing little bits of mold in a few of the tanks I use sphagnum moss in. Done with the stuff.

 

[Moonohol]

Was just about to start a new thread on this. I'm just now noticing little bits of mold in a few of the tanks I use sphagnum moss in. Done with the stuff.

You may want to consider a different source for that mold. This is anecdotal, but I've only ever had mold issues in enclosures that I didn't put sphagnum moss in. I've found that mixing shredded sphagnum moss with my substrate has completely rid me of any mold issues, even in the enclosures I keep on the moister side like my P. metallica. Stagnant air and overwatering are far more likely to stimulate mold growth.

 

[Bugmom]

I've had moss mold as well lately. I had it in the tank with my hissers and within days, mold. Ugh. I'm using coco fiber for the hissers, so not topsoil. I plan to re-do my hisser tank today or this week, make it look real nice for them, but I'm unsure of using any moss in it. I like that the moss holds in moisture well, but I don't like this molding business. I also want to use it in my barred tiger salamander tank, which I'm about to redo, but again, I don't want to deal with mold.

Mold is the bane of my existence, I tell ya. I bought a culture of springtails yesterday to help. My previous springtail and orange isopod culture has been overrun with soil mites so I get to dig out little orange bugs and rehouse them in a mite-free tub. The soil mites took over so much that there's no springtails left

 

[dopamine]

You may want to consider a different source for that mold. This is anecdotal, but I've only ever had mold issues in enclosures that I didn't put sphagnum moss in. I've found that mixing shredded sphagnum moss with my substrate has completely rid me of any mold issues, even in the enclosures I keep on the moister side like my P. metallica. Stagnant air and overwatering are far more likely to stimulate mold growth.

Well my enclosures are all pretty well ventilated, i'm using eco earth coco fiber as sub. Idk what's going on. I'm assuming it's the sphagnum moss because i'm not having any issues in the tanks that have none. Do you wet and wring out your moss before putting it in? I've been doing this and suspect this might be why.

 

[Moonohol]

Well my enclosures are all pretty well ventilated, i'm using eco earth coco fiber as sub. Idk what's going on. I'm assuming it's the sphagnum moss because i'm not having any issues in the tanks that have none. Do you wet and wring out your moss before putting it in? I've been doing this and suspect this might be why.

That could be having an effect on it. I put it in to the enclosures dry and periodically drop water on it with a syringe after that.