Ammonia Smell in Egg-Laying Container

[PowerHobo]

I just moved my first female D. tityus to her egg-laying container in a lightly packed substrate of organic topsoil (vegetable compost, composted forest-litter, sandy loam), and after a few days the box is definitely smelling lightly of ammonia. I understand this is due to over-moist soil and/or insufficient ventilation (though I only added enough water to make it compactible, and there are enough holes in the lid that I have to spray inside daily to keep the top from drying out), and that the smell isn't going to go away without a lot of mixing over a long period. The female is still burrowing, so my question is will the smell or whatever is decaying and causing this smell be detrimental to her health or the health of the eggs?

 

[AlexW]

I have a bad feeling about this, since I don't think Dynastes breeds in slimy, putrefying organic matter. It seems to me that the dead wood and leaves its grubs prefer should be foresty-smelling, but I don't keep Dynastes or its close relatives.

 

[PowerHobo]

I have a bad feeling about this, since I don't think Dynastes breeds in slimy, putrefying organic matter. It seems to me that the dead wood and leaves its grubs prefer should be foresty-smelling, but I don't keep Dynastes or its close relatives.

I appreciate the response! The ammonia smell got a lot stronger over the next couple of days after my original post, but strangely enough it has pretty much gone away completely in the weeks since, and the female in that container has (so far) laid an egg per day, so I think all is good.

My second egg-laying container hasn't experienced this problem at all, and I've been following my same same water misting habits, so I'm not sure what happened with the first.