It is normal to have a forest like smell, but it can definitely mould if too much water was used to expand it and if it begins to smell like mould rather than woodsy, I would err on the side of caution and pitch it. Make sure it's thoroughly dried out and well ventilated, and mix it daily to discourage this. I've always preferred moss to make humid hides...less chance of mould, less dusty if it dries out, less of a fuss to handle, so perhaps you could try moss of the eco earth doesn't work out for you, but I might just be biased because it's probably my least favourite of the commonly usedf substrates around...you won't catch me with it in my house. As far as the "eco earth is a bad substrate for leos" feedback...you've got the wrong forum there, most of us here are comfortable with using loose substrates for a variety of species, so don't worry.