Mold in Dubia Enclosure

[FlamingSwampert]

Hello everyone

I have been fighting an ongoing battle with mold in my dubia roach enclosure. The substrate they are on is a type of millipede substrate, which has some wood chunks in it but is mostly loose. The other day I did a deep clean of the enclosure and removed and replace a large amount of substrate, but the mold seems to be returning. The spingtails don't seem to eat the mold if it's underground. Any tips to get rid of the mold?

 

Thanks

[Hisserdude]

Is it mold, or is it Leucocoprinus mycelium? If it's the former, keeping the enclosure drier should get rid of the mold. If it's the latter, keeping them drier may also help, but in all likelihood you'll have to completely replace the substrate and start fresh in a clean enclosure, or let the mycelium die out naturally as it inevitably runs it's course (mixing up the substrate can help to speed this up).

[FlamingSwampert]

2 hours ago, Hisserdude said:

Is it mold, or is it Leucocoprinus mycelium? If it's the former, keeping the enclosure drier should get rid of the mold. If it's the latter, keeping them drier may also help, but in all likelihood you'll have to completely replace the substrate and start fresh in a clean enclosure, or let the mycelium die out naturally as it inevitably runs it's course (mixing up the substrate can help to speed this up).

Unfortunately, the substance in my roach enclosure appears to be the latter. It's a hazy yellow mass with more intense circular parts mixed in. However, I've never seen any fruiting bodies like the pictures on Google often show. Though my Google searches, mine looks most like the stuff in this reddit post (
https://www.reddit.com/r/houseplants/comments/rjgbz4/found_this_weird_mold_on_my_syngonium_what_is/). I have lots of 1st instar nymphs in the enclosure, so switching the substrate is out of the option. What will letting it run its course look like? Will my roaches be OK? There is also a small amount of normal mold in the enclosure, so I will be keeping it dryer.

 

Thank you.

[Hisserdude]

7 hours ago, FlamingSwampert said:

Unfortunately, the substance in my roach enclosure appears to be the latter. It's a hazy yellow mass with more intense circular parts mixed in. However, I've never seen any fruiting bodies like the pictures on Google often show. Though my Google searches, mine looks most like the stuff in this reddit post (
https://www.reddit.com/r/houseplants/comments/rjgbz4/found_this_weird_mold_on_my_syngonium_what_is/). I have lots of 1st instar nymphs in the enclosure, so switching the substrate is out of the option. What will letting it run its course look like? Will my roaches be OK? There is also a small amount of normal mold in the enclosure, so I will be keeping it dryer.

 

Thank you.

Yup, that sounds like Leucocoprinus for sure. I oddly never get fruiting bodies either, just mycelium, probably too low of air humidity where I live.

I'd keep only a small corner of the enclosure humid, the rest dry, and mix the substrate by hand pretty well during your routine maintenance. With any luck the mycelium will die back over the next few months as it degrades, it'll darken in color and eventually just disintegrate into the substrate. Takes months though.

[FlamingSwampert]

2 hours ago, Hisserdude said:

Yup, that sounds like Leucocoprinus for sure. I oddly never get fruiting bodies either, just mycelium, probably too low of air humidity where I live.

I'd keep only a small corner of the enclosure humid, the rest dry, and mix the substrate by hand pretty well during your routine maintenance. With any luck the mycelium will die back over the next few months as it degrades, it'll darken in color and eventually just disintegrate into the substrate. Takes months though.

All right, I'll try that.  Thank you so much!