Seeking Advice regarding my T. Apophysis's substrate

[NurseDialyzer]

Seeking Advice regarding my T. Apophysis's substrate potentially being too wet, and questionable mold on log

Hello!
Got back from vacation and noticed the log in my Apophysis's enclosure appears to have some small spots that are white and semi-furry, the log is not cork bark but I believe spider wood I got from an expo a while ago. I'm leaning towards it being mold, but no smell so far.

Upon further inspection, the substrate does seem more wet than I expected. I can see all layers of the substrate are wet and I can see in her Burrow that the substrate inside appears to glimmer when light is shined on it.

This is my first Humidity-dependent Tarantula, so I'm pretty sure I went a bit Overboard with the moisture. I had put spring tails in once I set her up in the enclosure a month ago, and they are present in her burrow but mainly a lot of them are in her waterbowl for some reason.

I would appreciate any advice on what to do at this point because I don't know whether to bite the bullet and order a new enclosure to rehouse her, or hold off on adding more water/seeing if the substrate dries out a bit more, OR if I should leave the substrate alone and pull that log out and replace it with corkbark.

Also any advice from y'all regarding moisture or general care for the Theraphosa's would be appreciated

I these are pics I took of the enclosure and the log in question.

 

[KillBoxSpider]

i wouldnt keep it that wet but im not saying its wrong either way what u need is white dwart isopods and springtails together pretty easy sense u got one in now they just eat the mold and keep it clean bioactive set up good for theraphosa mine are all bio active

 

[ChaniLB520]

Springtails will definitely congregate in the water bowl, they do in my T. apophysis enclosure as well, so I wouldn’t worry about that part. But the substrate does look a bit too wet. I think, giving it some time and letting it dry out a bit will probably be fine as long as you have adequate ventilation. Just don’t add so much in the future. Focus on keeping the bottom layers moist, maybe have some tufts of sphagnum moss in there to retain some of the excess moisture. Not sure about the mold, someone with more experience about that might want to chime in, but I understand that most molds are not that dangerous. This thread is usually recommended:

All you need to know about mold

Well, I made a similar post about mites and it seemed quite popular, and since questions about mold pop up again and again I thought maybe I can shed some light on this topic, too. The thing is: with mites it was easy. They are harmless, period. With mold it’s not that easy, because there are...

arachnoboards.com

 

[Isaax Critterz]

For slings: moist
For juveniles: slightly moist
For sub-adults: somewhat moist
For adults: like sub adult...

 

[ChaniLB520]

For slings: moist
For juveniles: slightly moist
For sub-adults: somewhat dry
For adults: dry...
This species is nowhere near moisture dependent as others like Theraphosa species etc.

This is a Theraphosa species.
Theraphosa apophysis…

 

[NurseDialyzer]

i wouldnt keep it that wet but im not saying its wrong either way what u need is white dwart isopods and springtails together pretty easy sense u got one in now they just eat the mold and keep it clean bioactive set up good for theraphosa mine are all bio active

Thank you! I have only been adding water to the dish to let substrate air out a bit, and it definitely looks better! the spring tails have made their way to the areas on the wood where the mold was, but still no smell, so I was thinking of monitoring it more.

Springtails will definitely congregate in the water bowl, they do in my T. apophysis enclosure as well, so I wouldn’t worry about that part. But the substrate does look a bit too wet. I think, giving it some time and letting it dry out a bit will probably be fine as long as you have adequate ventilation. Just don’t add so much in the future. Focus on keeping the bottom layers moist, maybe have some tufts of sphagnum moss in there to retain some of the excess moisture. Not sure about the mold, someone with more experience about that might want to chime in, but I understand that most molds are not that dangerous. This thread is usually recommended:

All you need to know about mold

Well, I made a similar post about mites and it seemed quite popular, and since questions about mold pop up again and again I thought maybe I can shed some light on this topic, too. The thing is: with mites it was easy. They are harmless, period. With mold it’s not that easy, because there are...

arachnoboards.com

Thank you so much for the information! I was hoping there was a thread of molds!

For slings: moist
For juveniles: slightly moist
For sub-adults: somewhat moist
For adults: like sub adult...

Thank you! definitely going to keep this in mind