Water sponge is molding

[Alex T Newbie]

Hi everyone,

I keep a couple of madagascar hissing cockroaches. All of the research I've done has said that they need a sponge in their water dish, but here's the problem. The sponge keeps getting moldy from being wet all the time. Should I stop using a sponge or is there anything I can do to prevent the mold?
Thanks!

 

[chanda]

I don't give my Madagascar hissing cockroaches a water dish at all. They get their water from the fresh fruits and veggies I feed them. To prevent mold, I just try not to give them excess food. It means I need to feed them more frequently - but also means less cleaning because there's no uneaten food left to mold, decay, or attract mites or flies.

Another option, if you want to keep the water dish, would be to put a few pebbles in the dish instead of the sponge. That helps to prevent drowning, while being less prone to mold. (You'll still need to take out the dish and rinse both dish and pebblesperiodically, so you don't get a bunch of substrate, poop, or other debris accumulating in your dish, under or between the pebbles.)

 

[Alex T Newbie]

I don't give my Madagascar hissing cockroaches a water dish at all. They get their water from the fresh fruits and veggies I feed them. To prevent mold, I just try not to give them excess food. It means I need to feed them more frequently - but also means less cleaning because there's no uneaten food left to mold, decay, or attract mites or flies.

Another option, if you want to keep the water dish, would be to put a few pebbles in the dish instead of the sponge. That helps to prevent drowning, while being less prone to mold. (You'll still need to take out the dish and rinse both dish and pebblesperiodically, so you don't get a bunch of substrate, poop, or other debris accumulating in your dish, under or between the pebbles.)

I was recommended to feed them fruit and dry dog kibble. Do you also feed them dog food?

 

[chanda]

I was recommended to feed them fruit and dry dog kibble. Do you also feed them dog food?

Yes, I feed them dry dog or cat food and fresh veggies (and sometimes fruits as a treat). They really like romaine lettuce, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, apples, and oranges - all raw, of course!

 

[Bob Lee]

All of the research I've done has said that they need a sponge in their water dish

Then you pretty much haven't done anything
It's is very common knowledge to NOT use a sponge... It will culture bacteria and grow mold unless you change it frequently.

 

[Alex T Newbie]

Then you pretty much haven't done anything
It's is very common knowledge to NOT use a sponge... It will culture bacteria and grow mold unless you change it frequently.

What do suggest I should do instead?

 

[Bob Lee]

What do suggest I should do instead?

Well, generally speaking you can use a water bowl or just provide all the moisture with vegetables/fruits

 

[BepopCola]

Some people use those gel balls/crystals (polyacrylamide copolymer) as their water source.
I've been using Cricket Drink w/ calcium (hydrolyzed polyacrylamide) for my roaches, and I keep it available for my beetles and toss some in with my millipedes sometimes.

 

[The Snark]

If you are using a sponge it should take a trip through the microwave very few days. Get it wet to almost dripping, place in microwave, cover with plastic hat/bowl and cook for 1 minute or so - until steaming and burns your hands. Must be repeated often.

 

[Feral]

Please don't put stuff in the water dish like sponges, pebbles, moss, gravel, etc. You see, every available surface of everything in water grows a slimy biofilm of microorganisms (both good ones and bad ones). So, when you add things to the water dish that increase available surface area like sponges and pebbles, you're multiplying the surface area on which organisms can grow (including bad bacteria) which effectively multiplies the amount of bad organisms you have in your water dish. And then anything additional that contaminates the water, like feces or boli or soil, just compounds the issue.

Essentially, more surface area = more badness.

People just aren't going to clean sponges or pebbles as thoroughly and as often as they actually need. So...

No tarantula enclosures should have anything in their dish, but if we absolutely have to use something in insect/feeder enclosures, then...
The healthiest thing we can do is either use a single large, smooth, non-porous, glass marble/cabochon* which gets scrubbed, along with the water dish, in chlorinated tap water and scrubbed with a clean cloth/paper towel at least once a week... Or use a very small number of the aforementioned polyacrylamide copolymer "gel crystals" which then get thrown out weekly (and the dish rinsed in chlorinated tap water and scrubbed with a clean cloth/paper towel at least once a week).

*Rock is a distant second choice to glass. Glass is a much smoother surface than even the most polished stone, and is therefore colonized by less bacteria. Also, some rocks are not inert in water and can affect the chemistry of water, and since I have no idea how this might affect the health of our little friends, glass is the obvious best choice.

Personally, since I prefer to throw out the whole dish and I have a small colony, so I hydrate 7-10 crystals in a Gatorade-sized lid every week for my lats, then throw it out and make a new one each week.
But that'll give you an idea.

 

[BepopCola]

Personally, since I prefer to throw out the whole dish and I have a small colony, so I hydrate 7-10 crystals in a Gatorade-sized lid every week for my lats, then throw it out and make a new one each week.

Where do you get your lids?
I've been searching for things of this size for a while now!

 

[moricollins]

Where do you get your lids?
I've been searching for things of this size for a while now!

I'm going to guess @Feral uses literally Gatorade or similar drink product lids. That's what I do for my inverts: Reuse milk or orange juice container lids

 

[Feral]

I'm going to guess @Feral uses literally Gatorade or similar drink product lids. That's what I do for my inverts: Reuse milk or orange juice container lids

Exactly, yes. For me, it's brown lids from Bolthaus Farm chocolate protein drink, lol But yeah, I was meaning any drink container lids like that.

I love the size and look of the clear acrylic dishes from Jamie's Tarantulas, and they're great for Ts, but they don't work for my lateralis in practice. Too smooth.
With the drink product lids, I like how the exterior of those kinds of caps are textured, and the interior has the little ridges of corkscrew, so it's easy for even my tiniest nymphs to get in and out.
But on the flip side, all those textures and ridges and crevices that help them climb are one reason I throw them out weekly- crevices also harbor hard-to-clean bacteria. So out they go!

 

[Andrea82]

I don't have a waterdish in my hissers' enclosure either. They get veggies and fruit for hydration, every now and then I give them a beetle jelly. The young ones love those, especially the banana flavour.
If it is really dry or hot (in summer or middle of winter) I will mist a little water for easy access.

 

[Vanisher]

Well, generally speaking you can use a water bowl or just provide all the moisture with vegetables/fruits

Those guys can survive a nuclear holocost, and the zombie apocalypse that follows, so YES, they will not drown in a waterdish, with some water in it! But i say, only provide some fresh fruit or veggies! The got enough moisture from that!