|
|
Post by cheesealicious on May 13, 2022 0:57:32 GMT
 Hello! I have a little garden snail named Hugo, and for some reason his tank has been repeatedly taken over overnight by a mold I have never seen before. Up until this week he was living happily in his tank, but on monday I woke up to his tank covered in mold that looked like those dense webs that funnel spiders weave (see pictures attached). I immediately threw everything out including his tank. I bought him nicer and bigger tank, new furniture, and a nice moss kit since I decided to let more air into the tank and trap less moisture, and I only left his food in the tank for a day. I switched to giving him food every other day too (He's an old guy, he's only interested in food once a week, I used to leave it in there for him for a week for him to munch on). Everything was fine for two days, and then today when I came back from work the tank was overridden with mold again. I've been using the same bedding for a year now with no problems. Woodchips on the bottom, a thin layer of moistened coconut substrate, and moistened orchid moss. I usually feed him bits of cilantro, usually I save an old dried out bunch of cilantro since it rarely gets moldy in his tank compared to fresh cilantro. Typically I plastic wrap the top of the tank to keep moisture in, with small slits for air. Never had a problem with this before.
It's quite possibly the most aggressive mold I've ever seen, as it only needs a matter of hours to smother the whole tank, and I'm at my wits end trying to figure out how to stop it from coming back. All I can do is get him out of his tank as quickly as possible and boil all of his furniture and his tank (I try to avoid using cleaner or bleach because I don't want him to absorb anything through his skin). ![]() ![]() He's a pretty old guy so I fear he might be particularly vulnerable to mold. |
|
Cashell
Archachatina puylaerti
Posts: 1,124
|
Post by Cashell on May 13, 2022 22:41:40 GMT
Sounds like your room where you're keeping him might be too humid and thus full of spores itself. Either that, or you should stop plastic wrapping the tank. Garden snails do not need that much humidity.
|
|
|
|
Post by SuspiciousBagel on May 14, 2022 18:11:35 GMT
Could it be cobweb mould? I get that sometimes in my snail tank. It is definitely very fast spreading and often just pops up overnight. Its harmless to snails as far as i know. Not great for humans though as the spores aren't great to inhale especially if you have a pulmonary issue like asthma. There's no need to disinfect the whole tank, if you replace food more frequently I assume you'll see less of it and try feeding foods that last longer too like sweet potato , parsnip or carrot as those seem to mold less from what I've seen. Always good to have a varied diet with snails!
|
|
|
|
Post by cheesealicious on May 15, 2022 5:31:35 GMT
Sounds like your room where you're keeping him might be too humid and thus full of spores itself. Either that, or you should stop plastic wrapping the tank. Garden snails do not need that much humidity. Oddly enough he doesn't like coming out of his shell unless the air itself is humid. He has a hairline crack from a nasty fall two years ago so I've been extra conscious of moisture. I'll try it without the plastic wrap and swap it out for moisture trapping moss, see how he likes it. You might be right about the spores though. I was quarantining and drying out three houseplants on the other side of the room that had a soil mold problem (harmless, but it attacked younger plants) with no issues from Hugo, but the mold in his tank appeared at the same time I changed the soil in the moldy plants. I'm wondering if that might've done it. The plants are fine and recovering well so I don't foresee anymore mold attacks but I'm gonna try and change the room Hugo's in. |
|
|
|
Post by cheesealicious on May 15, 2022 5:36:36 GMT
Could it be cobweb mould? I get that sometimes in my snail tank. It is definitely very fast spreading and often just pops up overnight. Its harmless to snails as far as i know. Not great for humans though as the spores aren't great to inhale especially if you have a pulmonary issue like asthma. There's no need to disinfect the whole tank, if you replace food more frequently I assume you'll see less of it and try feeding foods that last longer too like sweet potato , parsnip or carrot as those seem to mold less from what I've seen. Always good to have a varied diet with snails! Well now I feel a bit silly for panicking. I've always tried to be extra careful with my boy, but yes, after looking up some pictures it does seem to be cobweb mold. What a shame, I already threw out his favorite rock and seashells. I already wiped down his tank with clorox wipes and will be rinsing it again tomorrow. He's getting only plastic furniture from now on since his branch got moldy too. I'm going to try some carrot with him and see how he likes it. Might try parsnip since those guys are smaller. |
|
Cashell
Archachatina puylaerti
Posts: 1,124
|
Post by Cashell on May 16, 2022 16:34:41 GMT
Sounds like your room where you're keeping him might be too humid and thus full of spores itself. Either that, or you should stop plastic wrapping the tank. Garden snails do not need that much humidity. He has a hairline crack from a nasty fall two years ago so I've been extra conscious of moisture. I'll try it without the plastic wrap and swap it out for moisture trapping moss, see how he likes it. You might be right about the spores though. I was quarantining and drying out three houseplants on the other side of the room that had a soil mold problem (harmless, but it attacked younger plants) with no issues from Hugo, but the mold in his tank appeared at the same time I changed the soil in the moldy plants. I'm wondering if that might've done it. The plants are fine and recovering well so I don't foresee anymore mold attacks but I'm gonna try and change the room Hugo's in. I was not aware of his personal preferences. 😅 Changing the room and moss sounds good. |
|
|
|
Post by SuspiciousBagel on May 17, 2022 17:51:00 GMT
Could it be cobweb mould? I get that sometimes in my snail tank. It is definitely very fast spreading and often just pops up overnight. Its harmless to snails as far as i know. Not great for humans though as the spores aren't great to inhale especially if you have a pulmonary issue like asthma. There's no need to disinfect the whole tank, if you replace food more frequently I assume you'll see less of it and try feeding foods that last longer too like sweet potato , parsnip or carrot as those seem to mold less from what I've seen. Always good to have a varied diet with snails! Well now I feel a bit silly for panicking. I've always tried to be extra careful with my boy, but yes, after looking up some pictures it does seem to be cobweb mold. What a shame, I already threw out his favorite rock and seashells. I already wiped down his tank with clorox wipes and will be rinsing it again tomorrow. He's getting only plastic furniture from now on since his branch got moldy too. I'm going to try some carrot with him and see how he likes it. Might try parsnip since those guys are smaller. No worries! Always better safe then sorry anyway. Hope he likes the new food! |
|
