Moldy Mazuri 6f

[knoxpython]

I just wanted to get an opinion from everyone concerning an issue I am having with Mazuri 6f that I feed my rats. I am having constant issues with it growing blue and white mold like you see on bad bread. The mold growth is a spotty thing, just here and there from time to time. My rodents are housed inside a 6X6 rodent room that has it's own air conditioner AND a bathroom fan that is electronically controlled to come on every two hours for 15 minutes a time. I have a 6 bin rack that houses 1 male and two females and is just like every rack I see here where the food is on metal screening. The humidity is not bad in the room because of the air conditioning and the temps are kept between 72-74 all the time. I used to house my rodents inside my garage which would occasionally get humid but I never had this problem before and now it just seems to jump from tub to tub. Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks in advance for your replies.

[jbean7916]

I don't breed rodents but I can tell you that once mold spores are in the air, they are just waiting for the right time/place to bloom. I would scrub everything in the room with a bleach solution and try and rid the spores from EVERYTHING.

[L.West]

I was told to keep the rodent food in the freezer to avoid this. I don't know what size bags you keep but if possible - keep it in the freezer - works great.

[knoxpython]

I did have a flood in the past over the summer and some things got wet but I bleached everything and it seemed to solve the problem for about a month. It is just very frustrating dealing with constantly having to check the food and remove 5 or 6 pieces of moldy food from a hopper or two. I may try another food soon because of this. I clean each of my bins every 4 days and use pine bedding that does not seem wet so that is not the issue. I am really wondering if anyone else has ever experienced this with Mazuri. Thanks for the responses- keep them coming.

[jasbus]

I occasionally get a bag of block that's alreay molded, but it sounds like your problem is with it getting moldy after you have had it a while.. I'd suggest that mayeb you could get a small dehumidifier...
And store the excess in a deep freeze, or store it in air tight containers..

[Shadera]

Never seen mold, and have probably gone through a hundred bags of the stuff.

[Highline Reptiles South]

i had one bag of mazuri like that - but it was particularly humid that month..

[Simple Man]

Mold needs spores and moisture. So you probably have a few issues going on there like a few people pointed out already. If you address the two of them you should be able to fix it.

Regards,

B

[adamjeffery]

not sure how many bags you keep on hand but i bought a container for housing dog food. it holds 50 lbs at a time. ive not had mold issues on that food. now i did have issues when my basement flooded but only the food in the hoppers started to mold and only on the lowest shelf of the rack.
adam jeffery

[Rhasputin]

dehumidifier, and put less food out for the rats. Should help.