Tank misting: mold?

[Mrs. Farris]

I have a baby russian tortoise. After education myself a bit I learned that babies actually need quite a bit of misting around the tank, 3-4 times a day at least. I was wondering, has anyone had a problem w/ mold in the tank? I haven't really seen any yet but now that I am misting more often I feel like it might be an issue in the future.... I mean such a wet, warm environment is a perfect growing area for mold, bacteria, etc. Has anyone had a problem with this? How did you deal with it? If mold did develop, could it be harmful to my tort?

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Tom]

I always seem to be on the forum right when you post. I hope you aren't getting tired of me. How much moisture you need depends on a lot of factors. Species, age/size, climate, current weather, humidity in your house, ventilation in your tortoise room, etc...

I've never had any trouble with mold or mildew, but its VERY dry where I live. We often have single digit humidity. It so dry that when I take my dogs to a flea infested area and bring them home with fleas, the fleas all desiccate and die. We don't need any sort of flea products up here. I have a really tough time maintaining any sort of humidity up here.

If you started seeing any problems you could decrease humidity (let it dry out a bit) or increase ventilation by uncovering part or all of the top or using a fan. This is one reason for using a plastic humid hide box. Keeps one area very humid and the rest of the enclosure at a more manageable level. Everyone has to work out the fine points for themselves. We can only offer broad generalizations.

Hope this helps.

 

[elvis]

Tom, I'm quite grateful you are always around !

 

[DeanS]

I moisten the substrate in the den box only...I remove it every other day clean it and let it sit in the sun and soak it again about an hour before I bring the little ones in at night...then drain it half an hour before I put it back in the den box...that way it stays at about 85% humidity throughout the night...and it's not soaking wet, merely moist...literally the same consistency of moisture you would pull from one of those old KFC towelettes...does that paint a clear enough picture for you?! Of course, they still spend the day in the kiddie pool and the yard (roaming)...4 hours in the pool (minimal shade for 2 hours...full sun and an inch of warm water for another 2 hours) and an hour or so in the yard...eating and running around.

 

[Madortoise]

I don't know...I think you're right to worry about this. I would think mold could harm the little creature if it harms humans--some are harmless but some cause even neurological problem, so it depends on what type of mold it is.
My first glass tank for crested geckos (requires high humidity) developed mold on a driftwood even when I cleaned weekly so I tossed all the substrate and used vinegar-water to clean the rest. I switched the substrate from eco earth to cypress mulch, and instead of a commercial bought wood used real driftwood picked up from ocean--I no longer have the mold problem. You of course do not want the tort in a glass tank, though.

 

[Neal]

Substrate like peat moss is resistant to mold. I'm sure there are other mold resistant options, but peat moss is what I use and have not had any problems. If you have wood decorations in there I would just avoid spraying the tortoises around them. I am a big fan of using fish tanks, I find it easier to keep the humidty up, and even in a small tank it's easy to have a temperature variation.

 

[Tom]

I agree with Neal on the fish tanks. I prefer them for all the reasons some tortoise people say NOT to use them. I think it really depends on your area. If you live somewhere damp or humid, a more open topped, wide mouthed enclosure might be better for you.

I use sphagnum peat moss, coco coir, coco chips, orchid bark, and cypress mulch (all in different enclosures for different animals, but all of it wet) and none of those mold at all.