Mold In High Humidity Enclosure

[mrmikes21]

Hello all, I just the other day re set up my Indonesian to adjust the temp and humidity, Humidity is about 90% with Temp ambient in the high 80s to 90s with a hot spot of 100. Because of the humidity the entire enclosure is always quite damp and I noticed it only takes a couple hours before his half log and other non cypress wood start to get fuzzy mold on them. Anyone have a way to get rid of or mitigate the mold, or suggestions as to alternative hides that look wooden but wont mold?

[splashy07]

Possibly a little more ventilation is needed, and there are plenty of resin type and plastic hides on the market. Also the addition of springtails will help control mold if you want to go a little bioactive..I use those in my Isopod tubs for that reason.

[mrmikes21]

Possibly a little more ventilation is needed, and there are plenty of resin type and plastic hides on the market. Also the addition of springtails will help control mold if you want to go a little bioactive..I use those in my Isopod tubs for that reason.

Won’t adding more ventilation lower the humidity as well? I’m going to the New England Reptile Expo this weekend so I will take a look around for some resin hides, I’m sure there will be springtails as well! Obviously I’m cleaning up the mold from the wood, but will it hurt him if there is a bit of it in there for a day, I can’t be home to clean it every couple hours.

[splashy07]

Yes, more ventilation would cause drier air that's where you have to experiment until the balance is correct. A large water bowl or even an extra one if you have the space will help. Coco husk substrate does not mold unless there is some material on it such as feces or food spills that attract mold. I would switch the wood for a ceramic or resin piece.

[mb606587]

Agreed, those wooden half logs don't do well with high humidity. Look to either cork bark tubes or resin piece as splashy suggested.

[mrmikes21]

Just a quick update I switched out all the wood for cork and have not had an issue with mold, I did add a little more ventilation and spring tails as well. Seems like it should be good!