What is this?

[KezyGLA]

Natural wood will not mold under the circumstances:
It must be completely dry. like driftwood or something.
Wood that was used in aquariums will never mold.
Tree roots will never mold. - roots are designed to live underground in moist conditions.

I have have used wood sold in petshops many years ago that was treated and bone dry but mould still easily built up with a slight bit of mousture. Pro Rep, Exo terra and Zoo Med all sell this vivarium wood. Pet shops often sell it to people who are buying Ts as part of decor.

It may not be this but it was just a suggestion.

 

[moose35]

is that where the spider molted?
if so its most likely a molt mat

 

[Andrea82]

There is no failsafe way to be completely free of mold.
Keep the substrate dry, with a full waterdish. Sometimes the water will splash on the sides and there is usually where the mold starts. Try to spotclean every time you see it building. A few spots of mold are no danger to your tarantula, but it can be a hint that your ventilation isn't what it's supposed to be. Maybe some vents are blocked by leaves/webbing/substrate.

Those bricks are a pain in the behind as you've noticed, since they take forever to dry. You can put it in a large baking pan and in the oven for ten minutes or so. Only the substrate though, not the whole enclosure .
You can clean the enclosure with a solution of one part bleach and four parts water. Rinse well with hot water.
@KezyGLA , corkbark comes in light and dark colours.

 

[KezyGLA]

@KezyGLA , corkbark comes in light and dark colours.

Agreed. I should have been clearer. I meant it is darker in comprison to the bleeched wood I was referring to.


This is the treated wood on the left and cork on the right for comparison...



I thought it looks more like the wood than the bark, thats why I mentioned it.

 

[Edman]

Thank you guys for all your help! It really helped me! I hope my new substrate and clean cage will keep the mold away! Here's the pic of the lil' fella who had to deal with all this mess. Poor guy (or girl) :/

 

[Andrea82]

Agreed. I should have been clearer. I meant it is darker in comprison to the bleeched wood I was referring to.


This is the treated wood on the left and cork on the right for comparison...

View attachment 226204

I thought it looks more like the wood than the bark, thats why I mentioned it.

I see what you mean, thnx!

 

[Andrea82]

Thank you guys for all your help! It really helped me! I hope my new substrate and clean cage will keep the mold away! Here's the pic of the lil' fella who had to deal with all this mess. Poor guy (or girl) :/

He/she looks healthy enough en none the worst for it

 

[KezyGLA]

Thank you guys for all your help! It really helped me! I hope my new substrate and clean cage will keep the mold away! Here's the pic of the lil' fella who had to deal with all this mess. Poor guy (or girl) :/

Looks nice and healthy. Once in new setup it will thrive

 

[viper69]

What I am wondering is what the grey stuff is on the substrate. Is it webbing or is it something else?

Why would you ask us if it's webbing, when you are the person in front of it and can actually come in contact with it? Your approach is rather backwards.

How can I be 100% sure there are no more spores in the cage?

You can't.

Take your Eco-Earth and heat it in the over for fastest dry out method.

 

[saturnthegrey]

Yeah it's hard to tell but either way it doesnt look good.

 

[cold blood]

It looks too dark for me to be webbing. l think its mold. it seems to be creeping towards her hide too. i'd rehouse asap.

Re-house for mold...hahahahahahahahahaha. Why? Just pick it out.

I agree. It looks like mold. Rehouse ASAP or your T might die...

Mold might kill your t...what??? This is just not true, mold would have to be to ridiculous levels to have a detrimental effect.

Like my previous post I use coconut fibre as my substrate. I don't shower my cage at all if it's that what you mean. And she hadn't eaten ever since I got her because she was in pre-molt. So the only answer I could think of was that the substrate was too moist

Mold is caused by a combination of 3 things. Moisture, ventilation (lack of) and at times, a source...like zeppelin said, uneaten prey items that aren't removed will be an instant source.

How can I be 100% sure there are no more spores in the cage? I rather not go through this process again, atleast not in a close future :s

Mold spores are everywhere, you can't worry about them, worry about the husbandry that protects against big outbreaks.

Well you could try either boiling the substrate for a few hours, which will take you a lot of time to dry afterwards, or you could scatter it on a tray and put it in an oven for a few hours.. If you choose an oven, please be careful not to burn your house down I don't want to be responsible for that

Sterilization of substrate is a straight up great way to invite mass molding. Never, and I can't stress this enough, NEVER sterilize your substrate. The instant you expose it to air it will be colonized by various things...sterilization merely gives the first thing to colonize it all to its self, meaning whatever colonizes first, will have instant population explosions.

Exo Terra Vivariums arent the best for terrestrial Ts either as risk of casualty from a fall. Exo terra large faunariums do fine for adult smithis. A medium would be perfect size for your smithi just now. They arent too expensive either.

This right here is the single most important post in this thread. That enclosure is 100% not appropriate for a terrestrial, its arboreal housing. The front doors will prevent you from being able to add enough substrate for a safe home. To use an exo-terra for terrestrials, the entire enclosure needs to be modified so that the door is on the top. The top ventilation also needs to be replaced and mostly dammed.

Natural wood will not mold under the circumstances:
It must be completely dry. like driftwood or something.
Wood that was used in aquariums will never mold.
Tree roots will never mold. - roots are designed to live underground in moist conditions.

Not sure where you get this, but if you give pretty much any wood the right conditions, it will mold. I use root systems as well because they look great, but because of their moisture, there is always a huge outbreak that takes a good month to settle down. Under the right (well ventilated) conditions is eventually goes away, but if kept moist and not well ventilated, roots can be a constant source of mold.

The key to using wood is removal of all internal moisture.

 

[Quixtar]

I've seen that type of mold plenty of times. In my experience, scooping out the moldy substrate and letting that patch dry up usually stunts mold growth in at least that area over the course of the next two weeks. No need to change substrate.