I use sphagnum in most of my enclosures, mostly inside humid hides. I used sphagnum I purchased at home depot for a long time without many issues. I recently started using the exo terra sphagnum that comes in a brick. It initially seemed nicer- fluffier and cleaner, the HD stuff would come with twigs and various debris. All the humid hides with it were covered in a white fungus. When I emptied it out, I even noticed tons of spores clouding into the air. Feces are not involved, all these snakes are hibernating and haven't eaten in over a month. I also had some leftover moss that had been sitting in an open top tub never exposed to animals that had fungus growing on it as well. I cant imagine this is good for the animals. Likely coincidental, but maybe causative, one of my snakes developed white blister like bumps.
Anyone have fungus problems on their sphagnum moss? Looks like I need to go back the HD moss, or buy the more expensive long fiber new Zealand moss that dart frog people use all the time.
sphagnum moss fungus problems
Moderator: Scott Waters
Re: sphagnum moss fungus problems
I've had this problem as well from time to time. I have no issues with the shed boxes that I use at work, but they have a lot of empty space as well. When it gets packed though, like if I set a log on top of the moss, the mold explodes all over the place. This is why I usually collect material or buy live sphagnum moss when I see it available (not often). A lot cleaner. I've also recently run into the infamous eco-earth mite problem too. As a rule of thumb, I try to steer clear of brand-name substrate and gather and clean what I can myself.
Re: sphagnum moss fungus problems
I like to collect my own sphagnum. What part of ct are you in? It can be pretty easy to find. It re-grows very quickly, so as long as you don't beat a spot up you can collect without causing any damage to an area.
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Re: sphagnum moss fungus problems
I use the New Zealand long strand stuff. It's not too expensive if you shop around and buy the biggest bale that they sell.