Help with Stirmi and it’s enclosure

[IMAGINE1391]

So my T. Stirmi has been hiding under its log hide for about 3 weeks now. It has not came out at all and has even closed itself in for the most part by building up the entrance with substrate.

Meanwhile, there is a considerable amount of mold growing on said log hide. I introduced Springtails into the enclosure about a week ago and I haven’t seen any of the Springtails since. The mold certainly hasn’t gone away and it’s actually growing more.

I’m afraid to disturb the T because it’s almost acting like it could be in premolt and I don’t even know how I’d go about getting that log hide out of there. I would like to get it out and put some cork bark in instead. Please help me!

 

[Mr. P]

Honestly if the mold is that bad then I would just go ahead and take it out. It may stress them a bit but it would be safer then the mold.
Once you replace it take a hard look at your moisture level and ventilation. Too much moisture and not enough ventilation and you will have the same problem again.

 

[IMAGINE1391]

Honestly if the mold is that bad then I would just go ahead and take it out. It may stress them a bit but it would be safer then the mold.
Once you replace it take a hard look at your moisture level and ventilation. Too much moisture and not enough ventilation and you will have the same problem again.

Corkbark will be fine though right?

 

[Mr. P]

Cork bark is excellent as it won't mold.

 

[IMAGINE1391]

Cork bark is excellent as it won't mold.

Yeah that’s my plan. Get the log hide out and put piece of flat cork bark in over two mounds of substrate on each side so that could be its hide. I’m honestly just a bit intimidated by the Stirmi...

 

[Arachnoclown]

Stirmi's are from a rain forest....do you think someone is there cleaning up the mold??? Sounds like you need more ventilation. I'd leave that spider alone...it may harm itself in its condition trying to defend itself.

 

[IMAGINE1391]

Stirmi's are from a rain forest....do you think someone is there cleaning up the mold??? Sounds like you need more ventilation. I'd leave that spider alone...it may harm itself in its condition trying to defend itself.

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. I’m just gonna wait it out until it finally comes out

 

[InEx Situ]

I would wait and just add more springtails near the area that has an abundance of mold @IMAGINE1391

 

[Greg]

So my T. Stirmi has been hiding under its log hide for about 3 weeks now. It has not came out at all and has even closed itself in for the most part by building up the entrance with substrate.

Meanwhile, there is a considerable amount of mold growing on said log hide. I introduced Springtails into the enclosure about a week ago and I haven’t seen any of the Springtails since. The mold certainly hasn’t gone away and it’s actually growing more.

I’m afraid to disturb the T because it’s almost acting like it could be in premolt and I don’t even know how I’d go about getting that log hide out of there. I would like to get it out and put some cork bark in instead. Please help me!

It's not advisable to use wood taken from the wild. It can harbor bacteria, parasites, and (as you've found out) mold spores. Commercially sold cork bark has been sterilized ( I believe with heat), which is why it is recommended for enclosures. Good luck with disturbing your stirmi. Hopefully yours isn't too attitudinal.

 

[Arachnoclown]

It's not advisable to use wood taken from the wild. It can harbor bacteria, parasites, and (as you've found out) mold spores. Commercially sold cork bark has been sterilized ( I believe with heat), which is why it is recommended for enclosures. Good luck with disturbing your stirmi. Hopefully yours isn't too attitudinal.

Cork bark that I buy isnt sterilized....I wouldnt buy it if it was. I just shake it off and throw it in...been doing it for a for decades.
You can use wood from outside...you need to make sure it wasn't in a area that was sprayed with insecticides. The micro organisms living in the wood are not going to harm your Tarantula at all. I fact they do more to help then to wash and scrub them away. Tarantulas have been living and surviving in this stuff for millions of years. If you have mold you have a need for ventilation...its pretty simple.
Sterilizing merely opens whatever it is to all kinds of molds and such. Things can quickly colonize and take over sterilized things. Sterilizing disrupts the natural balance.

 

[Greg]

To each, his own. I choose not to insert mold-prone Northwest temperate forest wood into my tropical forest-endemic T's enclosure. Micro-organisms evolve, along with their companion plants and animals, within their local ecosystem over the course of millennia. I would not choose to expose my T to microbes with which it has not evolved to co-exist with.
When I say "sterile", I am not implying some kind of chemical treatment or any process potentially damaging to the spider. There are many recommendations for treating wood with heat to kill organisms that could potentially be harmful. I am fine with agreeing to disagree on this.

 

[Whitelightning777]

You can always soak decor in boiling hot distilled water or zap it in the microwave or freeze it overnight if needed. As long as it returns to room temperature first, it should in theory be safer for them.

I tend to clean up decor before I put a tarantula in it and scrub out cages before I start the build and after I use any types of adhesive chemicals.

The only exception is frog moss. Still, it's probably all overkill, but with a tarantula that can easily become worth hundreds of dollars, why not?