New setup - can the humidity be too high?

[nhbirdsnest]

Hi all,

I am new to this forum and even newer to dart frogs. We set up an extra large Exo terra with a nice collection of jewel orchids, bulbophyllums, other mini orchids, moss and small ferns and foliage plants. The terrarium has been set up about two weeks and appears to be ready for occupation.

We started to get some fungal type of growth on some of the wood pieces which i'm told is common and will clear up in time. The humidity has been at a constant 95 - 97%, with fogging on the inside of the glass for most of the day. It is pretty much totally sealed up with plastic over the top and tape over the front vents. We were told that the frogs need the high humidity but I'm somewhat concerned that the humidity might actually be too high.

Can the humidity ever be too high? Can these fungal growths or mold or whatever they are get out of hand? Would they be harmful to frogs?

Looking forward to learning here and hearing from some of you "experts".

[Cindy Dicken]

Hi Nhbirdsnest,
welcome to the hobby.
Mold is fairly common in newly setup vivariums. It will usually disappear in a couple of weeks or so. Some types of wood will be more prone to mold than others.
The dart frogs need humidity levels 80-100%, however fluctuations below the 80% for short periods of time can be tolerated, especially if you have a water feature in the tank. The frogs will love the high humidity, however depending on your selection of plants the constant high humidity could be a problem for them.

Keep us posted.

[nhbirdsnest]

Thanks Cindy,

We are using swahala wood which we were told would be good in a wet environment. We bought a small stiff brush to rub it off. I guess we'll just keep misting it and wiping away the white mold growths. Hopefully it will stop eventually so we won't have to do this forever.

The mosses are doing great in this humidity, as well as the bonsai grass. After only a few weeks some of the orchids are already rooting on to the wood and backdrop and sending up new growth. A lot of the old growth on the two ferns, however, have blackened in the middle and seem to be struggling. We cut off the bad shoots and will wait for new ones. We saw these ferns in a similar environment at Black Jungle so hopefully once they adjust we'll see new growth there also.

[Voodoo]

I had mold but just let it be and it went a way after one or two weeks.