Reptile & Amphibian Forums

how can you keep mold out of an enclosure that has to keep up high humidity? I am currently testing out a soil,sand & forest floor mix with grass growing. I am noticing what looks to be like mold on some bare patches of soil. Any ideas on how to keep this from happening in the future?

When you have to much mold growing your enclosure isn't ventilated enough. One nice thing about having live plants is even with alot of ventilation you can still keep the humidity up.

What Species are you keeping and in what kind of enclosure?

Nate

I have 2 ackies,that I will house in custom built biodome style enclosure, live plants and grass, bioactive soil and mulch, flourescent bulbs for lighting, basking is provided by uva/b and heat bulb on one part of the enclosure. I have to keep the the humidity especially the soil as high as I can possible keep it. I have read many articles stating that such mold growth are common and not harmful. Any ideas?

I have built vivariums for dart frogs which obviously maintain very high humidity. Once their are set up, you experience a mold bloom which eventually goes away.

I am no ackie expert but I am not sure you want to maintain constant high humidity with them. If you are getting a mold bloom with a herp enclosure, I agree you need to increase ventilation and give the enclosure a dry period during the 24 hour cycle where the humidity is allowed to drop and the enclosure is allowed to dry out. I glanced at a few ackie care sheets and none suggest constant high humidity. I keep chondros and have kept emerald tree boas. These require high humidity but even with them, constant high humidity can lead to health issues.

Good luck,
Bart