general questions on humidity/moss - please read/help asap :p

[WideEyed]

Alright, soo i have a few questions; heres some backround info before i ask..

i have my baby pacman frogs in seperate critter keepers inside of a 20 gallon with a plexiglass lid to trap humidity..i have "frog moss" throughout the 20 gallon to hold humidity as well as a large water dish in the center to give off more humidity as well ; (Note: the moss is not in the critter keepers with the frogs)..well i just changed the moss about 2-3 weeks ago and its already beginning to grow this white fuzzy looking stuff on it (which didnt start happening the previous time i had the moss in until about 2 months later)

first off, is this mold?fungus?
how can i prevent this from happening?
is this a threat to my frogs since theyre in a critter keeper away from the moss?
if i soak the moss in dechlroninated water to rinse off whatever growth is on it would it be safe to reuse?
or in your opinions should i get rid of all the moss all together?

my digital hygrometer has been reading 99% humidity and i havent even misted the enclosure for about a week cause i was going to see if the humidity would drop-but it hasnt (and ive been sure not to mist the hygrometer itself directly when i Do mist)

so im a little lost. any advice/comments/suggestions are more than welcome..thanks in advance <--------and heres a photo to give an idea of what the enclosure looks like

[danfrog]

Humidity should be around 80 percent. The white stuff is mold. Its from having the humidity too high. Easy fix though. Dont spray as much and open up the top more for ventilation.

[WideEyed]

hm, its weird because i havent sprayed in there in atleast a week or so O_O;yet the humidity is still so high.. and ill definitely open the top a bit to try to get it closer to 80, but what about the moss with the mold on it? can i rinse it in dechlorinated water and reuse it? or am i going to have to buy more ?

thanks @Danfrog

[Lija]

Why do you have that moss in a first place? And what kind of hydrometer are you using? Some are very crappy, as well sometimes when the sensor get wet it will read humidity at 99% even though it is way lower.

at any rate you need to fix environment, moss out, water dish out, the one in a big tank where nobody lives, increase ventilation, or you are risking to run into big problems with frogs soon enough. But too much humidity is easier to fix then not enough

Try to keep humidity at about 76%, then when it is a bit higher it still won't go over 80.

[WideEyed]

i have the moss to help retain humidity, and it looks nice.
im using a digital hygrometer
why take the water dish out?
i'm going to increase ventilation as soon as i get home from work
but what problems are at risk?would they get a bacterial infection or something?

[Lija]

I asked why because your humidity is way too high., so you need to decrease it by much.
When frogs or any other exotics are been kept in too high humidity you are looking for respiratory infections as well as bunch of other possible fungus and bacterial infections.

[WideEyed]

ok thanks

[aGreenCup]

Alright well, white mold means yours doing things right, it is going to happen. Now please do not worry about it just mess the substrate that you are using(mix it up). Your humidity is a little to high or unstable, but as long as YOU keep around to 80s you will be fine. nothing over 90 degrees, or bad mold will happen.

[DVirginiana]

My guess is that either you went WAY overboard with the water when you were mixing the substrate, or (more likely) you have a busted hygrometer. Initially I had one of the crappy 2-in-1 things from PetCo, and when I finally got a good one, realized it was 8 degrees off on temp and at least that much off on humidity too. Your avatar says you're from MA... I don't see a way that a tank is still at 80% humidity after a week of no misting there, especially at this time of year.

Alright well, white mold means yours doing things right, it is going to happen. Now please do not worry about it just mess the substrate that you are using(mix it up). Your humidity is a little to high or unstable, but as long as YOU keep around to 80s you will be fine. nothing over 90 degrees, or bad mold will happen.

No, mold does NOT mean he is doing things right. I've never once seen mold in my frogs' enclosures (for that matter, I've never seen it in my milipedes' tank, and they need high humidity and eat borderline rotten food). Mold is an indicator that something is off. Plus, I wouldn't want even harmless mold in a frog's tank. It's not like in the wild, where water runs downhill and the air has open ventilation. I imagine even harmless mold could cause issues over time with all the spores being released into such an enclosed space.

Also, try nothing over about 85 degrees or you will cook your frog...

[danfrog]

You do however need to cover three sides of that critter keeper. And I would also like to see exactly how your keeping your baby. Please anwser these questions and we can make sure everything is set to awesome.

[danfrog]

“Trouble in the Frog Enclosure”
The following information will be very helpful if provided when requesting assistance with either your frog or enclosure. To help with your questions, please utilize the below list and post the information in the proper forum area to get advice from FF members that keep the same frog. This will allow for little confusion and a faster more informed response.

1. Size of enclosure
2. # of inhabitants - specifically other frogs and size differences
3. Humidity
4. Temperature
5. Water - type - for both misting and soaking dish
6. Materials used for substrate
7. Enclosure set up i.e. plants (live or artificial), wood, bark and other materials.
- How were things prepared prior to being put into the viv.
8. Main food source
9. Vitamins and calcium? (how often)
10. Lighting
11. What is being used to maintain the temperature of the enclosure
12. When is the last time he/she ate
13. Have you found poop lately
14. A pic would be helpful including frog and enclosure (any including cell phone pic is fine)
15. How old is the frog
16. How long have you owned him/her
17. Is the frog wild caught or captive bred
18. Frog food- how often and if it is diverse, what other feeders are used as treats
19. How often the frog is handled
20. Is the enclosure kept in a high or low traffic area
21. Describe enclosure maintenance (water changes, cleaning, etc)

by Lynn(Flybyferns) and GrifTheGreat.