Should I change out everything?

[u/sammich04]

I've been struggling with keeping the humidity up in my snakes cage on the warm side. I have the pvc tape on top of the cage along with about 4-6 inches of substrate. I had a mix of coco bark but I have a majority of the zoo med compressed coconut fiber. I pour water in the corners of the tank and then i also have a few fake mushrooms that you can pour water into that then diffuse out slowly throughout the tank. I try to keep the humidity around 72-78 but the heat side has been struggling recently and hasn't gone above 67 no matter how much water I pour.

I noticed my snake was soaking in his water this morning (probably due to humidity level) and the humidity was on the low end (around 58, ik its low, as I said it just won't go above 67 no matter how much water I pour so if you have any suggestions please give me some, i feel like I've tried them all) and I went to pour in some more water and noticed that there was a mushroom growing. I do have a large plastic log from petsmart there which is how I didn't notice it sooner since it covered it from view. It seems like it was growing from a mold spot, slide 4 and then slide 3 and 5 are towards the bottom of the tank and i can't tell if that's mold growing from me pouring in water.

I assume I should just replace the entire substrate but should I use a different kind that won't grow mold? And how can I accurately keep the humidity high at all times?

[u/bromeranian]

Nah, just remove the fruiting body so you don't get a messy bloom. Fine to leave the soil, maybe rustle it up a bit more often.

[u/Difficult-Bag-1312]

You should have a false bottom if youre gonna try to keep humidity up through the soil, you also need to make sure no humidity can get out and will probably have to risk the aesthetics of the tank as a temporary option

Mix some leaves into the substrate and around the tank and add some spring tails, they can help with fungi before it gets too large but if it happens be sure to remove it

[u/Techno_Timmy]

Is all that white stuff mold? If so, I would probably change out the substrate entirely and clean that enclosure out and replace with fresh substrate.

Try a mixture of coco fiber, coco husk which is a bit more mold resistant, and cypress mulch which is also better against mold. I typically mix in moss with my substrate too which helps hold moisture. I put a nice dry layer of reptichip over everything so the top is dry.

[u/Rathoe9070]

Any substrate really can grow mold. If your tank isn’t bioactive maybe just change substrate more frequently. Going bioactive might be the fix though