Mold!

[Alaydia]

My ants all got mold in their tubes! I was so shocked. My New Yorker, Jessie, was about to have her first nanintic the week before. Now, all the larvae and eggs were covered with mold and Jessie herself was looking poorly. All my girls were doing poorly! So I quickly connected all three to their own portals with new tubes. Jessie has been wandering around aimlessly. I don't know that she's going to make it. My next oldest queen, Xena (C. Penn), had some little warrior princesses come along, and they all moved the living brood into a new tube. Yay! Diana, my third queen (also C. Penn), is still in the moldy test tube with her brood. She had one nanintic, but she didn't make it. I haven't been able to coax Diana into moving. Don't understand what's going on, why I keep getting the mold!

[AntsLuxembourg]

Hey,

Do you maybe have pictures for us to see how bad it is? Also sometimes there is a chance that something is in the tab water if you have used that so most antkeepers use water from bottles to reduce the risk of mold outbreaks. Did you offer them food during their funding stage? If so then the queens might have been a bit messy in there.

Do you remember anything else before the molt outbreak?

Also good thinking to offer them a clean testtube. This should give them the chance to move on their own if they feel like it.

[Alaydia]

I used clean, brand-new test tubes from the start, with clean cotton balls. Used bottled distilled water, and I know they're fully claustral so I didn't offer food. They were being kept in a warm, draft-free dark drawer in an AC test tube rack (all my stuff was from AC). I only checked them once a week, so I was shocked at this. I'm new to ant keeping, but I did my research. Near as I can tell, I did everything right. Didn't think to take pictures, but it was a green-back mold.

Jessie sadly passed away. Xena moved and seems happy in her new tube. Her little warrior princesses (yes, I'm a dork) are now busy foraging in the AC test tube adapter, where I have offered a drop of honey and a cricket leg. Once Diana has her first little Amazonians, I intend to offer the same food. I already have live crickets, since my turtle already loves them, so ready to go! Just upset about Jessie. No idea where I went wrong that cost me my biggest potential colony and my only New Yorker.

[TherealIABAST]

I’ve never had green mold in my settups before, so if you gave them food then there might have been something really wrong with it. If not then my only guess is that it’s some sort of fungus that she brought in with her. For the future, use hot water in test tube settups, they will move right in! Good luck!

[Alaydia]

It was more black then green, I suppose. Still puzzled, though. How would it get in all three set-ups? Sod it, I washed everything in hot water and my ants are in fresh tubes, so hopefully that problem will not return.

[AntsLuxembourg]

Before you used the testtubes, did you also just wash them out with some water?

[Hawkeye]

It was more black then green, I suppose. Still puzzled, though. How would it get in all three set-ups? Sod it, I washed everything in hot water and my ants are in fresh tubes, so hopefully that problem will not return.

The cotton being covered in dark grey/greenish mold is actually quite common. The likely source are airborn spores (which are anywhere), so it didn't have anything to do with the cleanliness of your tubes or anything in your setup.

[Alaydia]

The cotton being covered in dark grey/greenish mold is actually quite common. The likely source are airborn spores (which are anywhere), so it didn't have anything to do with the cleanliness of your tubes or anything in your setup.

Well, that makes me feel better, anyway. Stupid *##%&^! mold!

[mileslanham24]

I also have a mold problem in my terrarium where mold is growing all around inside it. Any tips to get rid of it.

[SkeleAnt]

I also have a mold problem in my terrarium where mold is growing all around inside it. Any tips to get rid of it.

Is there a lid on your terrarium? If there’s no air circulation to naturally dry things out then mold will happen. Take out whatever mold you can and let the whole thing air out a bit, and see if that helps.