Mites and mould in the terrarium

Any terrarium owner can experience mites and mould. It isn’t always a problem, but can become one when some factors are overlooked out of carelessness, or the owner does not know about a few necessary precautions, and they are therefore not taken. That’s why we’re using this post to provide both information on preventive measures and solutions for any problems encountered.

Before we start it’s important to understand that mould spores in the air will always find a way into the terrarium and therefore can never be totally avoided. Even mites or lice will find their way into the terrarium. It doesn’t have to be a problem. By using natural materials and plants, you are inevitably creating the ideal settlement area for them. It is important to know that not every infestation is dangerous for your animals. Nevertheless, you need to limit their prevalence and you need to take action when you notice them.

What causes the problem?

Since the reasons may be complex and go beyond the scope of this post, we would like to highlight the 4 most common factors that cause them.

Waterlogging: A lot of terrarium inhabitants need a high humidity, damp substrate or even swimming space. As a result waterlogging in the soil can quickly occur and this not only harms the plants, but also offers mould spores an ideal settlement area. Please check regularly whether the soil is not just moist, but has water at the bottom. Through a drainage layer, e.g, with JBL Manado , you can prevent the moisture from remaining in the damp soil and causing mould.

Maintenance: Our professional and private commitments can sometimes cause us to neglect our terrariums. As a result there may be traces of excrement here and there, the water bowl is not cleaned or the monitoring is not as careful as usual. Please remember that this is detrimental to your animals and should really not become the rule. The lack of hygiene in your terrarium can quickly lead to its infestation with mould or mites.

Natural decoration: Natural plants, such as bromeliads or woods with bark from the forest, are particularly popular. You need to be aware that they are already infested with "inhabitants". That’s why it can be advisable to purchase dedicated terrarium accessories which offer a lot of advantages. If you cannot find the materials you want and source them elsewhere, check the plants you use for unwanted dwellers, rinse them with water before introduction and possibly leave them in isolation for a few days. Wood and other decorative elements need to be thoroughly cleaned and, if necessary, treated with heat. Whether you use hot water or dry them in the oven at 80 ° C is up to you.

Ventilation: This point is often related to waterlogging, but it still needs to be considered separately. The air circulation in the terrarium will never be even. Thus you will quickly have corners that are more humid than others. In the worst case, this creates real "rotting areas". Make sure you maintain good permanent or daily ventilation in the terrarium to make sure that the necessary moisture does not escape, but still creates a healthy climate. Many terrariums on the market have devices integrated into them to do this job for you. Only those with "DIY solutions" need to worry about this. Round kitchenware grids will help to ensure ventilation. Ventilation grids can be positioned as needed at the top, the front and at the side panels.

Combatting mould

Have you found mould in your terrarium? Then it is time to act. Smaller patches/corners of mould can be dealt with by either removing an extensive area of substrate or just the affected area. When the infestation is more widespread we recommend a complete replacement with a subsequent disinfection. You can use JBL Desinfekt (Use biocides safely. Always read the label and product information before use. Registered at the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health under BAUA number N-55811) for this. Mould connects to the material through "threads", so scratching is not enough and would even accentuate its distribution. Woods and stones can be “boiled”. Artificial materials allow disinfection with JBL Desinfekt (Use biocides safely. Always read the label and product information before use. Registered at the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health under BAUA number N-55811) .

If waterlogging has caused too much water in the bottom area, you can replace the complete substrate or try to siphon off the excess water, remove the animals and carry out a "quick drying" with a fan. In all cases the mould needs to be removed over a large area.

Combating mites

The moment you see mites, you can assume that the infestation is already widespread. The best places to check are the water bowl (here are usually black dots to be seen), the wood and your animals themselves. If the whole ground is already teeming, there is an acute need for action.

Take your animals out of the terrarium, give them, if possible, a "bath" or free them from the mites and empty the terrarium. The terrarium can be washed out with hot water and disinfected with JBL Desinfekt (Use biocides safely. Always read the label and product information before use. Registered at the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health under BAUA number N-55811) . Plants can be roughly cleaned in a water bath, wood and stones washed off with hot water and brushed. The use of so-called mite sprays that are used on rodents can kill other animals (e.g. snakes), as they can cause lung problems. A further cleaning and disinfection needs to be repeated after 7-10 days to remove any eggs you missed the first time.

If you have additional information for our readers, please use the comment function at the bottom and share your experiences or tips in dealing with mould or mites, telling us which precautions you took to avoid them.

© 09.09.2018
Matthias Wiesensee
Matthias Wiesensee
M.Sc. Wirtschaftsinformatik

Social Media, Online Marketing, Homepage, Kundenservice, Problemlöser, Fotografie, Blogger, Tauchen, Inlineskating, Aquaristik, Gartenteich, Reisen, Technik, Elektronische Musik

About me: Seit Teenagerzeiten mit Aquarien in Kontakt. Klassische Fischaquarien, reine Pflanzenaquarien bis hin zum Aquascape. Aber auch ein Gartenteich und Riffaquarien begleiten mich privat im Hobby. Als Wirtschaftsinformatiker, M.Sc. bin ich als Online Marketing Manager bei JBL für die Bereiche Social Media, Webentwicklung und der Kommunikation mit dem Anwender der JBL Produkte zuständig und kenne die JBL Produkte im Detail.

Comments

A word about cookies before we continue

The JBL Homepage also uses several types of cookies to provide you with full functionality and many services: We require technical and functional cookies to ensure that everything works when you visit this website. We also use cookies for marketing purposes. This ensures that we recognise you when you visit our extensive site again, that we can measure the success of our campaigns and that the personalisation cookies allow us to address you individually and directly, adapted to your needs - even outside our website. You can determine at any time - even at a later date - which cookies you allow and which you do not allow (more on this under "Change settings").

The JBL website uses several types of cookies to provide you with full functionality and many services: Technical and functional cookies are absolutely necessary so that everything works when you visit this website. In addition, we use cookies for marketing purposes. You can determine at any time - even at a later date - which cookies you allow and which you do not (more on this under "Change settings").

Our data protection declaration tells you how we process personal data and what purposes we use the data processing for. tells you how we process personal data and what purposes we use the data processing for. Please confirm the use of all cookies by clicking "Accept" - and you're on your way.

Are you over 16 years old? Then confirm the use of all cookies with "Noticed" and you are ready to go.

Choose your cookie settings

Technical and functional cookies, so that everything works when you visit our website.
Marketing cookies, so that we recognize you on our pages and can measure the success of our campaigns.
I accept the YouTube Terms of Service and confirm that I have read and understood the YouTube Terms of Service .

PUSH messages from JBL

What are PUSH messages? As part of the W3C standard, web notifications define an API for end-user notifications that are sent to the user's desktop and/or mobile devices via the browser. Notifications appear on the end devices as they are familiar to the end user from apps installed on the device (e.g. emails). Notifications appear on the end user’s device, just like an app (e.g. for emails) installed on the device.

These notifications enable a website operator to contact its users whenever they have a browser open - it doesn’t matter whether the user is currently visiting the website or not.

To be able to send web push notifications, all you need is a website with a web push code installed. This allows brands without apps to take advantage of many of the benefits of push notifications (personalised real-time communications at just the right moment).

Web notifications are part of the W3C standard and define an API for end user notifications. A notification makes it possible to inform the user about an event, such as a new blog post, outside the context of a website.

JBL GmbH & Co. KG provides this service free of charge, and it is easy to activate or deactivate.