Spider Wood in enclosure growing fungus

sl33pysp1d3r

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 25, 2023
Messages
2
I have a Dominican Purple (Phormictopus sp.) in an acrylic enclosure with slightly higher humidity than my other Ts. The spider wood ( I knew spiderwood is prone to do this) is growing a little bit of white fungus on it. I heard that as long as a tarantula is healthy it shouldn’t harm the book lungs of the tarantula, but I was wondering if I should move it just in case? This would require redoing its enclosure and I didn’t want to do that if it was unnecessary, I don’t want to stress out the T too much,
 

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viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
19,115
Stress is overly used with Ts- they aren’t that delicate 😉

you could spot clean

or leave it

only time I mess with fungi is if there’s a carpet that’s about to grow- because moist humid environments in captivity kill Ts
 

jbooth

Arachnobaron
Joined
Nov 24, 2022
Messages
506
I don't see it.. but if stuff is molding the humidity is higher than you think in there. Ease up on moisture a bit and/or drill holes. I have heard it doesn't take much for spiderwood though, maybe reserve it for dry species if the humidity is really ok. The mold won't likely hurt it, but conditions that promote mold will.
 

sl33pysp1d3r

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 25, 2023
Messages
2
I don't see it.. but if stuff is molding the humidity is higher than you think in there. Ease up on moisture a bit and/or drill holes. I have heard it doesn't take much for spiderwood though, maybe reserve it for dry species if the humidity is really ok. The mold won't likely hurt it, but conditions that promote mold will.
Okay, I’ll stick a humidity gauge in there and get a read. If it’s too high, I’ll replace some of the soil and redo the enclosure. I might have to reposition it too because some of the holes are adjacent to a wall. I was going to get springtails too, it really doesn’t take much for spiderwood. I always had issues with it in my aquarium for the first few weeks because it would ALWAYS grow fungus, but the fungus would eventually go away. I just didn’t think about that in this setup unfortunately. The moss is mostly dry and it shouldn’t be too humid in there considering I haven’t misted and it’s been warm but better safe than sorry. I would be really upset if this sling keeled over
 

jbooth

Arachnobaron
Joined
Nov 24, 2022
Messages
506
Right out of the bag, most sub is too moist, and takes days to weeks once it's in the enclosure to get right. Then you add a moist corner to that or something and it's overkill. I like to let the sub pre-dry and then add a little moisture, poured down a corner so it's underneath and can be dug for, and top is dry. If it's a sling you always want humidity and a drinking source, but too wet with inadequate ventilation is just as bad. You might surprise yourself with a hygrometer and see a 9 in front when you thought it would be an 8 or high 7...
 
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