Urgent! Mold Situation

Nephrite

Arachnoknight
Joined
Mar 1, 2016
Messages
151
Okay, I made a post earlier about my slings bringing food down into their burrow leaving much excess food. I was worried it would mold one day and it did. I need to clean his enclosure and get him out immediately. How should I go on about fishing him out of his burrow?
 

Sana

Arachnoprince
Joined
Oct 26, 2014
Messages
1,139
How bad is the mold? If it's just patches I remove it and a little of the sub around it.
 

Nephrite

Arachnoknight
Joined
Mar 1, 2016
Messages
151
Well it's in it's burrow. So I took the T out and now it's on this little container
I'm guessing the poor thing is scared to hell because it's not moving and won't budge
 

Arcana

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 14, 2016
Messages
43
I have mold problems as well and this happens only in the enclosure of B. vagans sling. Other slings I have tend to toss food remains outside their burrows and make it easy for me to keep enclosures clean... Or there's no food remains left to mold.

I contacted breeder and told about this problem and he recommended to get spingtails to tarantulas enclosure. They eat, as far as I've been told, food remains and mold too! I don't have those yeat, meanwhile I have to follow this mold situation and when it gets bad enough, I remove sling to new enclosure. I have removed her already twice within 3 months. For growing sling that isn't that big trouble becouse it gets bigger enclosure each time :D

I've heard mold isn't that dangerous for Ts (?) but please correct me if I'm wrong :)
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
3,292
I've heard mold isn't that dangerous for Ts (?) but please correct me if I'm wrong :)
Mold is not bad for T's, but excessive mold is. When using straight topsoil as substrate, I always have a breakout of mold. Without fail, the entire enclosure looks like it has a thin white carpet... for about a week. The mold exhausts all of its resources and promptly dies off. From there, it's a matter of removing boluses, as that would be a source of nutrients for the mold.

A spot of mold is never need for concern in my collection. If it were, I'd be freaking out daily. I spot clean every few days, and the only time that I do a complete rehouse is if I see black mold. That is terrible for any living creature (including you!) and should be removed immediately. The mold that I let go is the typical white fuzzy stuff - anything else I eliminate with extreme prejudice.
 

Andy00

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Messages
153
My c marshalli has a trash pile at the bottom of his/her burrow. There's literally a pile of a shredded up molt, poop, and boli. I'm pretty worried about mites and mold aswell, so I think I might rehouse him/her soon. I keep the substrate bone dry, and it's peat moss so I think that greatly lowers the chance of it molding, but I'm not sure if that keeps away mites too. What substrate are you using? Peat moss usually can't mold because it basically is mold/moss.
 

Arcana

Arachnopeon
Joined
May 14, 2016
Messages
43
Mold is not bad for T's, but excessive mold is. When using straight topsoil as substrate, I always have a breakout of mold. Without fail, the entire enclosure looks like it has a thin white carpet... for about a week. The mold exhausts all of its resources and promptly dies off. From there, it's a matter of removing boluses, as that would be a source of nutrients for the mold.

A spot of mold is never need for concern in my collection. If it were, I'd be freaking out daily. I spot clean every few days, and the only time that I do a complete rehouse is if I see black mold. That is terrible for any living creature (including you!) and should be removed immediately. The mold that I let go is the typical white fuzzy stuff - anything else I eliminate with extreme prejudice.
I've never seen black mold, thank God for that! There's some white tiny spots that appear and disappear irregulary... And that's the only type of mold I have in enclosure.
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
3,292
My c marshalli has a trash pile at the bottom of his/her burrow. There's literally a pile of a shredded up molt, poop, and boli. I'm pretty worried about mites and mold aswell, so I think I might rehouse him/her soon. I keep the substrate bone dry, and it's peat moss so I think that greatly lowers the chance of it molding, but I'm not sure if that keeps away mites too. What substrate are you using? Peat moss usually can't mold because it basically is mold/moss.
Sphagnum ("peat") moss is... moss, not mold :D Like many species of moss, it is slightly acidic. This makes mold almost an impossibility, fruit fly larva an impossibility, and mites to be unlikely.

I've recently taken to using 50-50 sphagnum moss/topsoil mix. Topsoil allows for easy burrowing (and it looks better, IMO), and sphagnum keeps mold away while holding moisture for the humid species.
 

Andy00

Arachnoknight
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Messages
153
Sphagnum ("peat") moss is... moss, not mold :D Like many species of moss, it is slightly acidic. This makes mold almost an impossibility, fruit fly larva an impossibility, and mites to be unlikely.

I've recently taken to using 50-50 sphagnum moss/topsoil mix. Topsoil allows for easy burrowing (and it looks better, IMO), and sphagnum keeps mold away while holding moisture for the humid species.
Thanks for the info ;) yeah I was going to try mixing topsoil and peat moss, but sadly the bag of topsoil turned out to be 90% sand haha. I made sure it was the recommended kind too! Now I just stick with plain peat moss just to keep it simple and I agree it doesn't look as natural but it does the job. Here's a picture of my c marshalli's burrow and the trash pile is in the bottom right, it's hard to see. image.jpeg
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
3,292
Thanks for the info ;) yeah I was going to try mixing topsoil and peat moss, but sadly the bag of topsoil turned out to be 90% sand haha. I made sure it was the recommended kind too! Now I just stick with plain peat moss just to keep it simple and I agree it doesn't look as natural but it does the job. Here's a picture of my c marshalli's burrow and the trash pile is in the bottom right, it's hard to see. View attachment 217431
My C. darlingi has been in one of those picnic tea jugs for well over a year. I can see her trash burrow in the side... it's vile. Moldy right after a meal, even. Old exuviae, boluses, sticks she didn't want, you name it. I don't worry about it at all. Your peat moss will keep the mold from spreading, I wouldn't worry.
 

mistertim

Arachnobaron
Joined
Sep 4, 2015
Messages
548
My C. darlingi has been in one of those picnic tea jugs for well over a year. I can see her trash burrow in the side... it's vile. Moldy right after a meal, even. Old exuviae, boluses, sticks she didn't want, you name it. I don't worry about it at all. Your peat moss will keep the mold from spreading, I wouldn't worry.
Did you tell her that that is terrible hygiene? That's like a person pooping and leaving their trash in the corner of their room.
 

Quixtar

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 22, 2007
Messages
513
I have a habit of digging out burrowers whenever I see a trash pile and cleaning up regardless of whether I see mold. It doesn't harm them but it's just unsightly.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
How should I go on about fishing him out of his burrow?
What kind of T is it? Some people dig them out with a spoon, some use a straw-plastic. In various countries people just use a grass blade for adult females/males. For people with OW burrowers, some slowly pour water into the burrow.

but I'm not sure if that keeps away mites too.
I can speak from experience, it definitely DOES NOT keep mites away. I strongly believe that mites are attracted to T poop not just moisture. I have various observations for this, but definitely no scientific data to support it in a controlled situation. Your setup is a mite infestation recipe.

and sphagnum keeps mold away
HOW ?
 

Nephrite

Arachnoknight
Joined
Mar 1, 2016
Messages
151
What kind of T is it? Some people dig them out with a spoon, some use a straw-plastic. In various countries people just use a grass blade for adult females/males. For people with OW burrowers, some slowly pour water into the burrow.



I can speak from experience, it definitely DOES NOT keep mites away. I strongly believe that mites are attracted to T poop not just moisture. I have various observations for this, but definitely no scientific data to support it in a controlled situation. Your setup is a mite infestation recipe.



HOW ?
It's a very little Eauthlus sp. red. Everything's fine now, I just over reacted, as this was my first mold case in enclosures. I thought mold near tarantulas was instant death. Silly me. I just waited for him to go up on the surface, and coaxed him out to another container. Just threw away the coco-fiber in the container and redid his enclosure. He's back in there now, and I'm feeding the slings a little less than I did before, so I don't have to deal with the uneaten food situation again.
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
Staff member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
3,292
Interesting..I'll have to think about this.
I'm surprised you didn't know about this. Utilizing moss in vivariums is a common way to fight and prevent mold. Now, not all moss is acidic, but you get the idea.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
I'm surprised you didn't know about this. Utilizing moss in vivariums is a common way to fight and prevent mold. Now, not all moss is acidic, but you get the idea.
So am I.
 
Top