Furry tank?!!

[severe_bomber]

Had a problem getting my humidity high enough. Switched to coconut fibre mixed 50/50 with chippings last weekend and the humidity rocketed! Great - staying in the 70% range.

However, last night I noticed a layer of 'fur' around the floor and the logs. In addition to it being really late at night, my BP also decided to shed, so I simply took out the logs and gave them a quick wipe over and stirred up the subtrate and left him til this morning.

He's shed nicely in one piece but my question is how dangerous is this 'fur' to the snake and why did it appear in the first place? Is the tank now TOO humid? (I'm checking levels with a decent digi-thormometer)

I'm guessing I've now got to strip it all out and start again...what a pain

Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks.

[nicktreb]

Had a problem getting my humidity high enough. Switched to coconut fibre mixed 50/50 with chippings last weekend and the humidity rocketed! Great - staying in the 70% range.

However, last night I noticed a layer of 'fur' around the floor and the logs. In addition to it being really late at night, my BP also decided to shed, so I simply took out the logs and gave them a quick wipe over and stirred up the subtrate and left him til this morning.

He's shed nicely in one piece but my question is how dangerous is this 'fur' to the snake and why did it appear in the first place? Is the tank now TOO humid? (I'm checking levels with a decent digi-thormometer)

I'm guessing I've now got to strip it all out and start again...what a pain

Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks.

possibly mold?

[Repsrul]

I would say it is the start of some type of mold. But that is the problem using the half logs as hides in an environment that requires humidity. Reptile Basics sells plastic ones of various sizes and they work great. The prices are very good as well.

I am not to sure about the coconut fiber for BP. I use Breeders Choice and have no problem at all. If the tub is a little drier then it should be I just spray it down a little. Humidity and temps are always a fighting battle. If you have a rack system two tubs will be just right then you check the third one and the temp is lower and humidity is high. UHG! What to do now? Something will always come up. But that is what makes it so much fun

[severe_bomber]

Thanks guys. Had realised it was some sort of mould, but didn't appreciate that it's obviously more of a common problem than I thought. Perhaps I'll try less of the coconut.

But can anyone tell me if this mould is dangerous to the snake?

[BPelizabeth]

Yea sounds like mold and that is bad news. I know allot of ppl on here use aspen and have pretty good experience with that. We have NO humidity here in AZ so we would mist once a day. But when they went blue and it was time to shed we would add a moist moss hide. We would also try to foil the top of the screen part of the cage and you can also take a wet wash cloth and put it on top of the hot hide. All of these things assisted us in having perfect sheds. Good luck!

[Repsrul]

Yeah, mold is a bad thing to have inside the enclosure. In my opinion the first thing that come to mind is the snake could become sick. It could cause a RI or things of that nature. I would remove all of the bedding that was in contact with the mold and make sure no more grows. If it does continue to grow remove all of the bedding are clean the entire enclosure.

Throw away that wood hide.