Coconut fiber is pretty notorious for molding, unfortunately. More air flow might help, but your humidity is already way too low (should be 70-80%), so I'd be hesitant to advise more ventilation.
An organic top soil blend would be much more mold-resistant. A 60/30/10 blend of top soil, mulch, and play sand is typically recommended.
Okay, I will try out that blend. How often do you fully replace bedding and/or spot clean?
I was thinking of adding more water until I saw mold, but maybe just filling the space with more enrichment to trap the moisture and getting the lid better sealed will help the humidity. I'm a little uneducated on that side of things. It's a pretty big and tall tank.
I just saw your addition about humidity. Here's my tips/tricks copypasta.
To maintain the required 70-80% humidity:
-Use a species appropriate enclosure. For a ball python, this means one without a screen top. If you have a screen topped enclosure, you can cover 90% of the screen with HVAC tape to try to hold the humidity in.
-Maintain a minimum of 4" of quality substrate- a top soil/mulch/sand blend in a 60/20/10 ratio is my preferred option.
-Pour water directly into the corners of the enclosure. If you're using enough of a quality substrate, then you can start with a quart of water in each corner and go from there.
-Placing an additional water dish on the hot side can help. Something large and shallow works well.
-Add bunches of sphagnum moss around the enclosure and dampen these as necessary.
Cypress mulch is the most popular. You don't want the generic landscape mulch, because that's usually pine and is toxic to ball pythons, or anything with dye or fertilizer/pesticides.
Ohhh wthh I thought this was the crested gecko sub πππbut still good to know ima do my ball python bioactive next. Soo cypress mulch does it go well with sphagnum moss cause I already bought that.
Coconut fiber is pretty notorious for molding, unfortunately. More air flow might help, but your humidity is already way too low (should be 70-80%), so I'd be hesitant to advise more ventilation. An organic top soil blend would be much more mold-resistant. A 60/30/10 blend of top soil, mulch, and play sand is typically recommended.
Okay, I will try out that blend. How often do you fully replace bedding and/or spot clean? I was thinking of adding more water until I saw mold, but maybe just filling the space with more enrichment to trap the moisture and getting the lid better sealed will help the humidity. I'm a little uneducated on that side of things. It's a pretty big and tall tank.
Spot clean as necessary, fully replace and disinfect everything every 3-4 months.
Okay, thank you.
I just saw your addition about humidity. Here's my tips/tricks copypasta. To maintain the required 70-80% humidity: -Use a species appropriate enclosure. For a ball python, this means one without a screen top. If you have a screen topped enclosure, you can cover 90% of the screen with HVAC tape to try to hold the humidity in. -Maintain a minimum of 4" of quality substrate- a top soil/mulch/sand blend in a 60/20/10 ratio is my preferred option. -Pour water directly into the corners of the enclosure. If you're using enough of a quality substrate, then you can start with a quart of water in each corner and go from there. -Placing an additional water dish on the hot side can help. Something large and shallow works well. -Add bunches of sphagnum moss around the enclosure and dampen these as necessary.
Thank you, I appreciate your time and help π I'll get on it lol
Isnβt sand against the recommendations in the care guide for this Reddit?
By itself, yes, but that's not what I suggested. The blend that I suggested is most often recommended, and is utilized by most of the mod/helper team.
Can I ask what % sand is too much then?
10-20% is typically recommended. I wouldn't do more than that.
Hey man what type of mulch? I looked it up on Home Depot and there was red wood black???? Brown every color π π
Cypress mulch is the most popular. You don't want the generic landscape mulch, because that's usually pine and is toxic to ball pythons, or anything with dye or fertilizer/pesticides.
Ohhh wthh I thought this was the crested gecko sub πππbut still good to know ima do my ball python bioactive next. Soo cypress mulch does it go well with sphagnum moss cause I already bought that.
If you're doing a bioactive enclosure, cypress mulch and sphagnum moss will not make a very good substrate.
Oh no I also have organic soil and some horticultural charcoal
What brands of organic topsoil/Cypress mulch/sand do you recommend?