Mould or Webbing??

Rookie

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
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Aug 16, 2002
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283
Hey all,
I'm kinda panicky because I peeked in on Peso today to see that there was a blossom of a whitish substance in his enclosure. I immediately freaked out, and grabbed it to show to one of my smart Bio friends. When I picked it up, it tapered away and I was left with peat. Is it mould or webbing? There's more around. it's a clear whiteish, and it's kinda like a blanket on the substrate. it's really fine, and i don't think a picture would help.
could you tell me how mould develops, and how i can figure out which it is: mould or webbing?
Paul
 

atavuss

Arachnoprince
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Aug 16, 2002
Messages
1,031
IME, webbing will come up when lifted in one piece, kinda like a bathroom rug......mold will not do so. if it bothers you, just change out the substrate and or enclosure. I have had cork bark change to completly green in color from fungus/mold in amblypigid enclosures........I added more ventilation holes and the mold went away with apparantly no ill effects to the amblys.
Ed
 

Rookie

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
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Aug 16, 2002
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283
Webbing. Sorry, just the Rookie up to his old tricks again. It sure looked like mold...but i don't think mold holds peat together quite that well..
Paul
 

Botar

Arachnoprince
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Aug 27, 2002
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1,441
Rookie,

I've seen a white mold that looks similar to what you are talking about. It is typically the mold/fungus that I find growning on my meal worm parts a day or two (if I leave it that long) after I've fed my slings. One thing I've noticed that makes it distinctly different from webbing is that it will grow "up" from the substrate. Webbing, unless attached to something, will blanket the substrate.

Botar
 

Tranz

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
320
Originally posted by Rookie
Hey all,
I'm kinda panicky because I peeked in on Peso today to see that there was a blossom of a whitish substance in his enclosure. I immediately freaked out, and grabbed it to show to one of my smart Bio friends. When I picked it up, it tapered away and I was left with peat. Is it mould or webbing? There's more around. it's a clear whiteish, and it's kinda like a blanket on the substrate. it's really fine, and i don't think a picture would help.
could you tell me how mould develops, and how i can figure out which it is: mould or webbing?
Paul
I've found with mine that laying down thin sheets of webbing is the first sign of a pre-molt.
 

JacenBeers

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 1, 2002
Messages
1,264
Lots of spiders lay down webbing on the sunstrate when they feed. My H maculata, L parahybana, G rosea and A seemani all do it and when they have really loose substrate it acts almost like a rug and can be lifted right off.
 

Rookie

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
283
molt shmolt

I've found with mine that laying down thin sheets of webbing is the first sign of a pre-molt
Peso can't go into pre-molt, he has a plane ride in two weeks! If he goes into a molt at any point around there it will be a disaster!
Paul
 

Tranz

Arachnobaron
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Sep 18, 2002
Messages
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Re: molt shmolt

Originally posted by Rookie
Peso can't go into pre-molt, he has a plane ride in two weeks! If he goes into a molt at any point around there it will be a disaster!
Paul
How's his appetite? Also, I don't know that it has to be a disaster, even if it happened. When it molts, it probably won't take more than an hour to do it. I imagine that if you had him in a fairly large pill bottle, surrounded by plenty of paper towel, and tried to keep the bottle from being jostled or moved except when necessary, then Peso's odds of surviving an in-transit molt would be very high. Others with more experience may see a flaw in my reasoning.
 

Gillian

Arachnoblessed
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Aug 13, 2002
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Re: Re: molt shmolt

Originally posted by Tranz
How's his appetite? Also, I don't know that it has to be a disaster, even if it happened. When it molts, it probably won't take more than an hour to do it. I imagine that if you had him in a fairly large pill bottle, surrounded by plenty of paper towel, and tried to keep the bottle from being jostled or moved except when necessary, then Peso's odds of surviving an in-transit molt would be very high. Others with more experience may see a flaw in my reasoning.


My cute A. anax was given to me by a very good friend. He appparently went into molt, in-transit. He was fine.


Peace,
Gillian
 
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