Help!!! Mold!!!

[TortLaw]

Hi all. My tort comes tomorrow, and I tried to get his rubbermaid enclosure set up before he got here. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get it all figured out like I wanted, but I have had the sphagnum moss substrate soaked and then the water squeezed out and placed into the rubbermaid bin, and now I have left it in there with the lid closed for 2 1/2 days which has maintained the humidity nice, but now tonight I just noticed that there is mold growing in the moss. Obviously, I have to throw out all the moss and rinse out the bin with hot water and start over again, but I want to make sure this doesn't happen again.

A few details, the bin has been completely closed since I put the moss in. I have not had the UVB or CHE on at all. I am also having a problem with fruit flies in my house lately, and I don't know if that could be related or causing the mold because I really don't know anything about fruit flies.

Please advise as soon as possible as my tort comes tomorrow! Thanks.

 

[zenoandthetortoise]

Fruit flies don't cause mold, but mold growth could be attracting fungus gnats (the gnats are annoying but don't hurt anything).
I set up my substrate like a lasagna; pea gravel about 2 inches for drainage, coco coir about 4 inches. The top layer is 1/4 moistened sphagnum moss, 1/4 top soil with clover, grasses and violets planted and 1/4
Orchid bark for dry area. I have added pill bugs and earthworms. Humidity is 80%+ and no mold.

 

[mikeh]

You need fresh airflow in the bin, even if its closed chamber. This will also help with mold.

The moss you bought may have lots of mold spores in it. You could bake it at 220F-240F for half hour to kill the spores.

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[Beck]

Happened to me as well, in the same situation with moss. I setup the enclosure, made sure my temps were correct, then shut everything down waiting for my tortoise. With the heat off, I got mold.

I did two things to rectify the situation, so I can't say which was most effective. First, I made sure I never made the combo of moist, cold, dark again. Second, for other reasons, I made plain top soil as my main substrate, with the moss as secondary.

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