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Mould in bunny house - maybe??

O

OliveTree

Warren Scout
Twice in the last couple of weeks I've wiped spots of greyish powder off the walls of the bunny house. There have been two or three distinct patches - not large, but noticeable. I assume it's mould because I don't know what else it would be, but it wipes off easily with just a dry cloth, and the walls are not noticeably damp and I just can't see why there would be mould there and not anywhere else. The only difference I can see between there and the rest of the house is that it's furthest from the door, so maybe there's not much air circulating, and of course the air has been so damp recently (on dry days I get the door open so that air can circulate, but they've been in short supply recently!)

As an asthmatic I'm not keen on being around mould for my own sake, not to mention the rabbit. Has anyone seen anything similar and it *not* been mould? And assuming it is mould, what are some bunny-and-asthma friendly ways of getting rid of it?

There *is* a damp section elsewhere in the rabbit house where wee doesn't always make it into the litter tray, but I'm hoping/assuming this will improve with neutering. There's no sign of mould in that area (yet) though.
 
Ugh, I haven't been able to clear mould/algae/something out of the hutch for months: it's eternally damp here and I think the roof has failed and caused the water to get into a vertical support on which the mould/whatever grows. I haven't worried about it. I have the same issue in the playhouse but in one corner of the roof. I don't know why that one corner has failed (be it broken or poorly placed roofing felt or similar) but it started to do it over the months we didn't have a single dry 24hrs in Nottingham and it's not been much better since :S It's got a lovely white blush which goes away when it dries out a bit.

That said, it's not affected anywhere else, which is a miracle given Chibbs isn't the most consistent litter trained bunny at the moment!

On the might not be mould front, it certainly doesn't smell mouldy, damp, that horrible smell, so I presume it's just persistent-wet mould rather than opportunistic black mould...? Who knows! I'm interested in other thoughts too :) I'm also asthmatic but mildly and mould doesn't really worry me.
 
Well I'm sorry to hear that you have mould too, but glad that it doesn't seem to be affecting your rabbits. I'm not too far away from you and I can relate to the lack of a single dry 24 hours! Hopefully it will improve for both of us when/if the weather ever brightens up.
 
tonibun said:
Is their house a shed or hutch?
Click to expand...

It's a playhouse, brand new in the autumn of last year, insulated with some kind of plywood stuff (sorry, not sure exactly what!) and in a run that has a plastic roof. It's pretty sheltered from the rain. I'm wondering if the air flow is a problem, but it's been so damp here recently that there's not much I can do about that.
 
I would have thought, even with the door and windows closed, that enough air was getting in. Is the mould on the insulation as opposed to the wood of the playhouse? Is it off the ground by an inch or two?
 
The mould I first discovered was on the insulation, but the second time I noticed it, it was in two places - on the insulation again (in roughly the same place), and also on the playhouse itself, where there is a gap in the insulation. It is off the ground in the sense that the floor of the playhouse itself isn't on the ground, but it is resting on more wood without a gap if you see what I mean (I wanted a gap for the air to flow, but hubby thought that the floor would be too weak if we did that). The mould is almost halfway up the walls though, not especially close to the floor. And yes, I would have thought there is a reasonable amount of air flow - it's hardly air tight! However, I'm the daughter of a surveyor, and 'heat and ventilate' has always been my dad's mantra against mould!
 
OliveTree said:
Twice in the last couple of weeks I've wiped spots of greyish powder off the walls of the bunny house. There have been two or three distinct patches - not large, but noticeable. I assume it's mould because I don't know what else it would be, but it wipes off easily with just a dry cloth, and the walls are not noticeably damp and I just can't see why there would be mould there and not anywhere else. The only difference I can see between there and the rest of the house is that it's furthest from the door, so maybe there's not much air circulating, and of course the air has been so damp recently (on dry days I get the door open so that air can circulate, but they've been in short supply recently!)

As an asthmatic I'm not keen on being around mould for my own sake, not to mention the rabbit. Has anyone seen anything similar and it *not* been mould? And assuming it is mould, what are some bunny-and-asthma friendly ways of getting rid of it?

There *is* a damp section elsewhere in the rabbit house where wee doesn't always make it into the litter tray, but I'm hoping/assuming this will improve with neutering. There's no sign of mould in that area (yet) though.
Click to expand...
dear olive tree,-mold,mildew.,as we know it is unacceptable for breathing.--in my deluxe facilility-during the winter months,i found black matter lower part of the walls,-cleaning was simple-using hydrogen peroxide-and adequate ventilation.-donot use bleach as it is a inhalation hazard-.-good ole H2O2.-sincerely james waller from the other kent-usa
 
OliveTree said:
The mould I first discovered was on the insulation, but the second time I noticed it, it was in two places - on the insulation again (in roughly the same place), and also on the playhouse itself, where there is a gap in the insulation. It is off the ground in the sense that the floor of the playhouse itself isn't on the ground, but it is resting on more wood without a gap if you see what I mean (I wanted a gap for the air to flow, but hubby thought that the floor would be too weak if we did that). The mould is almost halfway up the walls though, not especially close to the floor. And yes, I would have thought there is a reasonable amount of air flow - it's hardly air tight! However, I'm the daughter of a surveyor, and 'heat and ventilate' has always been my dad's mantra against mould!
Click to expand...

I hope you get this sorted. I have no further advice I am afraid but agree with the warmth and airflow to combat damp. Lots of people round me suffer from damp in their homes but I always have air coming in and warmth and have no damp.
 
OliveTree said:
The mould I first discovered was on the insulation, but the second time I noticed it, it was in two places - on the insulation again (in roughly the same place), and also on the playhouse itself, where there is a gap in the insulation. It is off the ground in the sense that the floor of the playhouse itself isn't on the ground, but it is resting on more wood without a gap if you see what I mean (I wanted a gap for the air to flow, but hubby thought that the floor would be too weak if we did that). The mould is almost halfway up the walls though, not especially close to the floor. And yes, I would have thought there is a reasonable amount of air flow - it's hardly air tight! However, I'm the daughter of a surveyor, and 'heat and ventilate' has always been my dad's mantra against mould!
Click to expand...
My playhouse is resting on bricks and I'm 11st with tiny feet (so lots of pressure) and haven't had any issues standing in it ;P We put 6 bricks under each runner. It's constantly wet under the playhouse at the moment but yeah, I reckon it's what's keeping the moud away from the majority if the house! I do use newspaper to keep bunnies' feet drier because Lopsy has proper sponges :S Doesn't mean the inside is any drier though, of course!
 
keletkezes said:
My playhouse is resting on bricks and I'm 11st with tiny feet (so lots of pressure) and haven't had any issues standing in it ;P We put 6 bricks under each runner. It's constantly wet under the playhouse at the moment but yeah, I reckon it's what's keeping the moud away from the majority if the house! I do use newspaper to keep bunnies' feet drier because Lopsy has proper sponges :S Doesn't mean the inside is any drier though, of course!
Click to expand...

Yes, I think he was possibly being over-cautious about the floor.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I haven't spotted any more mould this week so I'm just keeping an eye on things for now.
 
I hope it stays away. I spotted some white mould in one of the hutches and it isn't due to a lack of air! I wonder if it is the type of wood which is more susceptible to mould than other wood.
 
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