Moss on driftwoof?

AndrewM1217 · 09-16-15, 08:05 PM

DriftWOOD, not driftwoof...

Posted this in enclosure discussion and can't seem to get any replies, so I'm reposting it here. If a forum moderator could please delete the thread in Enclosure Discussions that would be great.

Anyway, I can't seem to utilize natural driftwood in my spotted python's viv without growing moss/mold on it. The humidity is between 40 and 50 percent. I have a screen lid with tin foil covering about half of the total length of the lid, with some exposed screen on either side of the piece of tin foil for ventilation. But yet, mold seems to form on the wood. Any suggestions to prevent this?

prairiepanda · 09-16-15, 08:24 PM

Try baking the wood to sterilize it, if you haven't already. Some types of mold spores will survive that, though. Do you know what kind of wood it is? I have pieces of grapewood I use in my tarantula enclosures and they always get a grey-green mold without fail, so I just let them grow mold. Eventually the molds run out of nutrients to pull from the wood and die off, leaving behind clean dry wood. The mold that grows on them isn't harmful to the tarantulas, so it's mostly an aesthetic thing. If you're worried about it harming your snake, though, you could put the wood in its own bin for a while(keep it moist to promote mold growth) and just wait for the mold to deplete its resources.

Mikoh4792 · 09-19-15, 12:19 AM

It's probably mold/fungi and not moss. Moss is a plant, and most varieties are harmless.

jjhill001 · 09-19-15, 07:50 AM

Moss is very hard to grow in a terrarium unless you have decent lights. I wouldn't worry too much about the mold it will go away eventually.

Brylee1233 · 09-20-15, 09:08 AM

wait. so your saying the black, green, or sometimes white moss that grows on wood doesn't harm the snake in any way (sickness etc.)? If so, I don't have to take out the wood in my BRB cage because it molds? Everywhere else I was under the impression, if it molds, take it out (basically)…

prairiepanda · 09-20-15, 09:24 AM

Moss and mold are different things. Moss is a plant, mold is a fungi. They grow under different conditions and in a terrarium I would normally assume it's mold and not moss. Usually if people have moss it's because they've grown it intentionally.

Whether to be worried about mold depends on the type of mold. Anything black I would definitely toss just to be safe. Green on wood I leave in as it will get spent eventually. Quite often the green stuff on wood is accompanied by a flat mat of white mold as well which I also leave. If there's white mold that grows with strands sticking out or little knobs all over I'd get rid of it, though. And any green mold that isn't on wood I would promptly remove. Also any mold growing on substrate I'd get rid of as it can take over the terrarium. Basically it's just the smooth white and green stuff that grows on driftwood that I keep.

havoc_vulture · 09-20-15, 09:48 AM

Pics or it didn't happen

Brylee1233 · 09-20-15, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prairiepanda

Moss and mold are different things. Moss is a plant, mold is a fungi. They grow under different conditions and in a terrarium I would normally assume it's mold and not moss. Usually if people have moss it's because they've grown it intentionally.

Whether to be worried about mold depends on the type of mold. Anything black I would definitely toss just to be safe. Green on wood I leave in as it will get spent eventually. Quite often the green stuff on wood is accompanied by a flat mat of white mold as well which I also leave. If there's white mold that grows with strands sticking out or little knobs all over I'd get rid of it, though. And any green mold that isn't on wood I would promptly remove. Also any mold growing on substrate I'd get rid of as it can take over the terrarium. Basically it's just the smooth white and green stuff that grows on driftwood that I keep.

Okay thank you for answering my question. I did not mean to say moss, I meant mold. Sorry.