Green mould. Lack of cross ventilation and a digging Tarantula.

[WolfieKate]

I am a beginner so just sharing my mould/moldy experience. I got an A Geniculata and I made it a lovely rain forest enclosure which it promptly redesigned with digging and tall turrets of substrate. But the more she dug, the more soil was above ground keeping the moisture below ground instead of drying out. She dug so much there was more soil on top and I should have removed more of the heaps. The surface soil dried out but made her cork bark go mouldy and the inside of her tunnel. Even though i’d stopped adding water weeks ago to dry it out it couldn’t.

It was only when i got in there deep with a torch that i could see how bad it had got - mold everywhere through her tunnel. so i rehoused her this morning (sorry Iris). Lessons in a lack of cross ventilation and bark with soil on both sides will rot.

 

[siege]

I am a beginner so just sharing my mould/moldy experience. I got an A Geniculata and I made it a lovely rain forest enclosure which it promptly redesigned with digging and tall turrets of substrate. But the more she dug, the more soil was above ground keeping the moisture below ground instead of drying out. She dug so much there was more soil on top and I should have removed more of the heaps. The surface soil dried out but made her cork bark go mouldy and the inside of her tunnel. Even though i’d stopped adding water weeks ago to dry it out it couldn’t.

It was only when i got in there deep with a torch that i could see how bad it had got - mold everywhere through her tunnel. so i rehoused her this morning (sorry Iris). Lessons in a lack of cross ventilation and bark with soil on both sides will rot.

Try adding springtails to her new tank. They can nip that mold in the bud. I have had the same problem with my H. Gigas. They live on riverbanks and want lots of dampness. Even when I supplied her with a ‘pool’ to keep the soil from saturation, she piled dirt in the pool and in the morning all the water was back out in the tank and only mud was in her bowl. Lil bugger. Spring tails have helped a lot but I have often found mushrooms growing in her tank :/

 

[Tarantula Trooper]

I hate mould! Keep moisture dependent species and sooner or later your paths will cross!! Springtails can definitely help! Isopods as well. Though the T might not be crazy bout the isopods..lol. Had a male P. Cambridgei that declared war on them. Had some orange isopods in with him and were reproducing and boom all gone in a day or two. Too small for him to eat but I believe he wiped them out.lol