I’ve put humid hides in all of my bullsnake enclosures since it’s tough to keep the humidity up using aspen bedding. I set them up initially with the green sphagnum moss and haven’t had any issues. However, I had to replace the moss in a few of the hides because the snakes used the hide as a toilet. I replaced the green sphagnum with the brown kind that I got off Amazon. I ran a hand full of moss under the faucet and wrung it out thoroughly. The brown moss grew white fuzzy/hairy mold after about two days. I tossed the moldy moss and replaced it with a damp paper towel as soon as found it. I don’t think it’s cause it was too wet. I was actually expecting it to dry out too fast because I wrung it out too much.
Is there a difference between the two types of moss that would cause one to grow mold and not the other? Is this a bad bag with mold spores in it or did I buy the snicklefritz brand off Amazon?
This is the only sphagnum moss I have ever used and I had no issues with mold. However it is probably a little pricey if you need a large amount of it.
Most of the green moss I’ve seen use dyes for the green color, which you don’t want. I’ve always gotten brown moss in bulk, and it’s worked well for me. This is the product I get, and it lasts a long time and it’s never grown mold.
Thanks. I’m thinking it was just a poor quality brand I got from Amazon or maybe I put too much in the hide and there wasn’t enough airflow. I’ll try out the brand you shared and try using a little less to see if maybe it was an airflow issue.
This is what I bought incase anyone is curious.
Riare 14OZ Premium Sphagnum Moss for Reptiles- 20QT Natural Reptile Moss Dried, Forest Live Moss for Terrarium, Frogs Snake Peat Moss Bedding for Leopard Gecko Turtle Anoles Salamanders Orchids Plants Amazon.com
I’ve had brown sphagnum mold before, even the brand @erie-herps mentioned, it’s not a quality problem. The issue is usually the moss being too damp combined with not enough airflow in the hide. There can also be problems with too much moss in too small of a space. You can’t really wring moss out, “too much”, drier is always better for avoiding mold. If it starts drying out too fast, use a spray bottle to rehydrate.
Sometimes it’s a fine balance and even combinations that have worked before can end up growing mold. Trial and error, on the up side, the kind of mold that grows on sphagnum generally isn’t harmful, just more of a nuisance. Especially if you have mold allergies like I do.
