| Member |
Message |
|
#2250005
Lunchbox0285
View Profile
|
Anole habitat growing mold 
A little over a week ago I set up a living terrarium to house my green anole zip. It’s in a 10 gallon tank that I modified to stand on end. There is a layer of repti-balls in the bottom with cheap furnace filter and then several inches of sterilized potting soil on top. Along with some plants and a table top waterfall. This morning I noticed some white cobweb mold growing on the dirt near one of the plants and in a few other places on top of the dirt.
After reading atrax’s care sheet I realized I had the humidity too high (70+) and as part of my trying to keep up the humidity I think that there wasn’t enough ventilation. I had most of the side (formerly the top screen) covered with a towel. Also I have a heat pad under the cage. I don’t know if it is needed so I unplugged it. Does anyone out there have any ideas how to safely kill the mold without hurting zip or the plants? Also do I need the heating pad?
|
|
01/06/12 03:30pm
|
|
|
#2250229
Weejimmy
View Profile
|
Message To: Lunchbox0285 In reference to Message Id: 2250005
Anole habitat growing mold
Well if i was you i would put zip in a separate holding tank and thouroughly clean the whole terrarium to make sure the mold is gone. If it is on a wall or something i would still clean the whole terrarium but i would use the hottest water you can get to make sure that it is gone. I would suggest a chemical like bleach to kill it but i have never used that on anything in my anoles enclosure because i would never want to take the chance. No you do not need the heating pad. It is acrually not recomended for anoles. Just a 50 watt heat lamp will keep them warm if you have a nice basking spot. And be sure to have a UVB lamp too. I am not sure how to kill the molds without harming the plants. To keep the mold from coming back just make sure that the ventilation is not completly blocked and keep from totally soaking the substrate.
|
|
01/08/12 12:48pm
|
|
|
#2259818
Rudyolph
View Profile
|
Message To: Weejimmy In reference to Message Id: 2250229
Anole habitat growing mold
It is not uncommon for a live terrarium to get mold after they are first setup. The reason for this is because the ecosystem has not been given enough time to establish the natural bacteria necessary to combat molds etc. If the mold is only in small patches you can just monitor it to make sure it doesn’t grow out of hand and spot clean large patches. Give it a few weeks and it should eventually go away. Another option you can consider is to add a few wood lice or springtails to your setup. As weejimmy mentioned too...good air circulation is very helpful for avoiding mold.
|
|
03/23/12 02:03pm
|
|
|
#2259839
Atrax27407
View Profile
|
Message To: Rudyolph In reference to Message Id: 2259818
Anole habitat growing mold
What I did several years ago was to add a small computer muffin fan mounted above the screen mesh and configured to exhaust the air out of the enclosure. It creates air movement which takes care of any mold problems. Mold usually forms in poorly-ventilated enclosures. You can pick up a fan for a couple of $$ at a computer junk shop.
|
|
03/23/12 04:45pm
|
|
|
#2260345
Rudyolph
View Profile
|
Message To: Atrax27407 In reference to Message Id: 2259839
Anole habitat growing mold
Atrax...how did you power that fan?
|
|
03/27/12 02:47pm
|
|
|
#2260374
Atrax27407
View Profile
|
Message To: Rudyolph In reference to Message Id: 2260345
Anole habitat growing mold
It is plugged into a 12V "wall wart" which is, in turned plugged into the power strip with the lighting.
|
|
03/27/12 07:45pm
|
|
|
#2260416
Rudyolph
View Profile
|
Message To: Atrax27407 In reference to Message Id: 2260374
Anole habitat growing mold
how did you find the fan affected your humidity levels?
|
|
03/27/12 11:04pm
|
|
|
#2260435
Atrax27407
View Profile
|
Message To: Rudyolph In reference to Message Id: 2260416
Anole habitat growing mold
It didn’t reduce the overall humidity level much but significantly reduced the wetness of the substrate and thus eliminated the mold.
|
|
03/28/12 07:35am
|
|
