White fuzzy mold??

[spuddy91]

Hi everyone I'm looking to get my first tortoise soon (baby hermann's) and i'm in the process of getting his setup ready. However after coming back home from a weekend trip, I've noticed there is some white furry mould along the edges growing from the coco coir. Is it too wet? I have the bottom lined with plastic sheeting. And as you can see it is starting to dry out and become patchy. Is it supposed to be more dry like the lighter colour? The basking spot is ok (32c) but the humidity is in the high 80's. How do I go about clearing the mould? Also I plan to put these cactus in the enclosure, the guy at the pet shop said they were fine but I dont always trust what they say so thought I'd ask here. Any help very much appreciated.

 

[wellington]

First if you are getting a hatching, it needs to be in a closed chamber not an open top table.
Basking needs to be between 95-100F
The white stuff seems to be from the wood not coir or it would be all over. Plus have never seen or heard of coir molding, that why it can take the high humidity.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
Mold prefers darker colder and damp places. Perhaps, two days without light and in the room temperatures with stale air were perfect for mold to grow.

You can try following in order:
1. Just switch on the lights - basking and UVB for a couple of days and see if mold stops growing. Spot clean large mold patches.
2. Add in "the cleaning crew". There are tiny bugs called springtails who eat mold, food leftovers and other debris in the enclosures. Probably, you already have them - take a closer look a wet substrate patches and under the bowls. If not - you can buy them and add to the enclosure. In 2-3 weeks their population should be booming and then diminish when they finish cleaning things up.
3. Remove the substrate, clean the enclosure with reptile desinfectant and put in fresh substrate.

Some more considerations about setup:
1. 32C is a bit low for the basking zone. Aim for 38-39C. Make sure you are using a flood lamp.
2. Humidity of 80% in the open top enclosure is unusually high. Perhaps, you are right and substrate is too wet. Make a "turn over" - steer the substrate and hand-pack it to make more firm.
3. Consider getting a greenhouse top to maintain humidity and temperatures in required range without adding too much water to substrate and using overpowered lamps.
4. If you leave cacti in pots so they stay in a well-drained soil, probably this will keep them alive. Place the pots closer to the warm end so they have a lot of light and less humid environment.
5. Add a pair of small hides in the cold and warm ends of the enclosure.

 

[wellington]

As for the cactus, it's fine they are in the enclosure in pots, I'm not sure they all are safe to eat.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

First if you are getting a hatching, it needs to be in a closed chamber not an open top table.
Basking needs to be between 95-100F
The white stuff seems to be from the wood not coir or it would be all over. Plus have never seen or heard of coir molding, that why it can take the high humidity.

Usually coir is resistant to mold, but with some luck it can bloom too:

Oh no! A giant mold outbreak!

Well this sucks! I'm not exactly sure why the mold exploded all of a sudden. Mabey it's because I put some wild apples in there... but it's huge! What do I do about this? Just remove it all ? If I keep any of the old substrate will it contaminate the new soil? Bummer. What do I clean up the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[wellington]

Usually coir is resistant to mold, but with some luck it can bloom too:

Oh no! A giant mold outbreak!

Well this sucks! I'm not exactly sure why the mold exploded all of a sudden. Mabey it's because I put some wild apples in there... but it's huge! What do I do about this? Just remove it all ? If I keep any of the old substrate will it contaminate the new soil? Bummer. What do I clean up the...

tortoiseforum.org

But only along the wood? Seems like it's the wood not coir.
Also in the link, sounds like it was the apples, seeing nothing before and then boom mold after the apples.

 

[spuddy91]

First if you are getting a hatching, it needs to be in a closed chamber not an open top table.
Basking needs to be between 95-100F
The white stuff seems to be from the wood not coir or it would be all over. Plus have never seen or heard of coir molding, that why it can take the high humidity.

Ah I see, I wasn't aware that babies needed to be in a closed setup, the breeder im getting him from said they are 7cm in size, are these considered hatchlings? He didnt specify how old they were. I have adjusted the dimming Stat and the basking spot now sits at 36c. Would you recommend I get a different enclosure completely or is there a way I can modify this table to maintain suitable humidity levels?

 

[wellington]

You can fairly easily convert this enclosure. Either buy a pop up portable greenhouse that will fit over it or you can possibly drape plastic over it with the way you have the uvb light attached.

 

[wellington]

Sounds like still a hatching and needs the closed chamber for around 3 years of age or so.

 

[spuddy91]

Hello!
Mold prefers darker colder and damp places. Perhaps, two days without light and in the room temperatures with stale air were perfect for mold to grow.

You can try following in order:
1. Just switch on the lights - basking and UVB for a couple of days and see if mold stops growing. Spot clean large mold patches.
2. Add in "the cleaning crew". There are tiny bugs called springtails who eat mold, food leftovers and other debris in the enclosures. Probably, you already have them - take a closer look a wet substrate patches and under the bowls. If not - you can buy them and add to the enclosure. In 2-3 weeks their population should be booming and then diminish when they finish cleaning things up.
3. Remove the substrate, clean the enclosure with reptile desinfectant and put in fresh substrate.

Some more considerations about setup:
1. 32C is a bit low for the basking zone. Aim for 38-39C. Make sure you are using a flood lamp.
2. Humidity of 80% in the open top enclosure is unusually high. Perhaps, you are right and substrate is too wet. Make a "turn over" - steer the substrate and hand-pack it to make more firm.
3. Consider getting a greenhouse top to maintain humidity and temperatures in required range without adding too much water to substrate and using overpowered lamps.
4. If you leave cacti in pots so they stay in a well-drained soil, probably this will keep them alive. Place the pots closer to the warm end so they have a lot of light and less humid environment.
5. Add a pair of small hides in the cold and warm ends of the enclosure.

Hi, thanks for your reply

I have now adjusted the basking spot accordingly. The bulb im using is a 75w arcadia floodlight. I have heard of springtails, so I will definitely look into adding these also. I'll do as you suggested and spot clean the mouldy parts then turn over the substrate and try to dry it out more. Yeah I have a couple of flexi log things but im gonna buy a couple of more hides too. I also have some sphagnum moss which I can use to maintain humidity. Would this be a good idea? Great news about the plants, I really like the look of those

 

[spuddy91]

You can fairly easily convert this enclosure. Either buy a pop up portable greenhouse that will fit over it or you can possibly drape plastic over it with the way you have the uvb light attached.
View attachment 378776

That's a great idea! I will definitely look into getting one of these. Thankyou

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hi, thanks for your reply

I have now adjusted the basking spot accordingly. The bulb im using is a 75w arcadia floodlight. I have heard of springtails, so I will definitely look into adding these also. I'll do as you suggested and spot clean the mouldy parts then turn over the substrate and try to dry it out more. Yeah I have a couple of flexi log things but im gonna buy a couple of more hides too. I also have some sphagnum moss which I can use to maintain humidity. Would this be a good idea? Great news about the plants, I really like the look of those

1. The basking bulb is a good one. Usually, you don't need to run it on a thermostat: adjust the height once and leave it.
2. Often you don't have to buy springtails, they are just coming out of nowhere and settle down nicely in the enclosure. I have no idea how, because they can't live outside damp organic-rich soil
3. No, there is no need to use sphagnum moss. In a closed type enclosure humidity stays high enough without it. There were cases when tortoises get tangled in it or eat and get impacted. Not worth the risks.