Cricket crisis!

[TeddyBearTarantula]

Dear arachnoboards,

I am stressing over my feeders. Today I noticed that a piece of food I’d left in with my feeders had mushed down and started to mould. The mould had also dampened the egg box hide and I didn’t have any spare. I removed all the offending mould or at least what I could see to the naked eye and decided to place the box of crickets outside in the warmth in order to dry out the commune and inhibit the growth of further mould.

I came out later to check what was occurring with the crickets and the lid had been removed off the box, likely knocked off by my inquisitive (nosey) dogs. Surprisingly all the crickets were still in there, just all huddled under the egg box hide.

My question is.. are the feeders still useable? Could they have become exposed to some outside danger to my spiders, or has the presence of mouldy food contaminated the crickets, I’m not sure if this would pose a risk to my T’s or not, there are loads of crickets in this commune, I don’t want to waste them, but obviouslynmy Ts well-being comes first.

As always, any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks xxx

 

[MikeyD]

People really misunderstand fungus. Fungus and fungal spores are everywhere all of the time. It’s virtually impossible to avoid them unless you have a clean room with hepa filtered air and positive pressure. Most fungi are nothing more than opportunistic recyclers of organic material. They aren’t out out to kill you or your pet but there are of course also opportunistic fungus species that are capable of or commonly cause disease.
So just maintain clean and tidy husbandry practices and if you see moldy food in your cricket bin then remove it and leave it at that. All you are seeing is mycelial growth after a spore has germinated. In time and with enough resources many fungus species will also then produce a reproductive structure (mushroom) and many of those are edible and you don’t see people running screaming when they encounter those in a grocery store. Ok maybe some people hate musgrooms that much.

Anyways, what you want to avoid is moist, poorly ventilated conditions that encourage fungal growth. Many fungus species can grow on organic material as long as there is about 40% humidity or above, especially if the material also becomes wet or it inherently contains lots of moisture, then it’s gonna be easy prey for fungus to consume. In cases where that happens the biggest risks are allowing it to sporeulate from its surface or from a mushroom. This can cause poor air quality, especially in confined spaces and it can cause diseases of the respiratory tract or other infections in people with compromised immune systems or potentially pets confined to areas with high spore counts.
Some fungus species also produce mycotoxins and those can be toxic too but other we actually use to forment dairy for cheese, soybeans for soya sauce etc. so don’t fear all fungus and understand that most are going to be harmless. Things like fruit are just sitting ducks as far as fungus is concerned. They are already covered in spores and as the fruit ages or if you cut into it then the fungus does it’s job and breaks it down.

I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Just try and keep things tidy and consider how gross a cricket farm would be and that your smaller version is probably much less of a concern.

 

[cold blood]

are the feeders still useable?

Yes, they're fine.

 

[darkness975]

They're fine.

 

[WildSpider]

People really misunderstand fungus. Fungus and fungal spores are everywhere all of the time. It’s virtually impossible to avoid them unless you have a clean room with hepa filtered air and positive pressure. Most fungi are nothing more than opportunistic recyclers of organic material. They aren’t out out to kill you or your pet but there are of course also opportunistic fungus species that are capable of or commonly cause disease.
So just maintain clean and tidy husbandry practices and if you see moldy food in your cricket bin then remove it and leave it at that. All you are seeing is mycelial growth after a spore has germinated. In time and with enough resources many fungus species will also then produce a reproductive structure (mushroom) and many of those are edible and you don’t see people running screaming when they encounter those in a grocery store. Ok maybe some people hate musgrooms that much.

Anyways, what you want to avoid is moist, poorly ventilated conditions that encourage fungal growth. Many fungus species can grow on organic material as long as there is about 40% humidity or above, especially if the material also becomes wet or it inherently contains lots of moisture, then it’s gonna be easy prey for fungus to consume. In cases where that happens the biggest risks are allowing it to sporeulate from its surface or from a mushroom. This can cause poor air quality, especially in confined spaces and it can cause diseases of the respiratory tract or other infections in people with compromised immune systems or potentially pets confined to areas with high spore counts.
Some fungus species also produce mycotoxins and those can be toxic too but other we actually use to forment dairy for cheese, soybeans for soya sauce etc. so don’t fear all fungus and understand that most are going to be harmless. Things like fruit are just sitting ducks as far as fungus is concerned. They are already covered in spores and as the fruit ages or if you cut into it then the fungus does it’s job and breaks it down.

I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Just try and keep things tidy and consider how gross a cricket farm would be and that your smaller version is probably much less of a concern.

This was a really good point. On a similar note, I believe doctors do or used to also air out a room for 20 minutes to help spread bacteria around a room. If there are tons of bacteria of different species they all fight and it's more difficult for a bacteria to take over and cause disease. However, when there is primarily only one bacteria, that's when there's a problem.

Back to fungi, again on a similar note, there are many good bacteria as you mentioned. Some fungi and plants have symbiotic relationships. Somewhat recently, some farmers have been experimenting with no-till which allows fungi to continue growing into a somewhat webby mess throughout the soil. This helps during droughts, it helps keep nutrients in the soil, etc.. It is my personal opinion that fungi and bacteria are much more important than we currently realize.

 

[MikeyD]

This was a really good point. On a similar note, I believe doctors do or used to also air out a room for 20 minutes to help spread bacteria around a room. If there are tons of bacteria of different species they all fight and it's more difficult for a bacteria to take over and cause disease. However, when there is primarily only one bacteria, that's when there's a problem.

Back to fungi, again on a similar note, there are many good bacteria as you mentioned. Some fungi and plants have symbiotic relationships. Somewhat recently, some farmers have been experimenting with no-till which allows fungi to continue growing into a somewhat webby mess throughout the soil. This helps during droughts, it helps keep nutrients in the soil, etc.. It is my personal opinion that fungi and bacteria are much more important than we currently realize.

Absolutely. Those fungus species that grow in symbiosis with plant roots are called mycorrhiza, Myco for fungus and rhiza for root. They infect plant roots and help gather water and nutrients from the soil and then share in the sugars that the plant produces. This is a very common relationship and it's been found that the mycorrhizal network literally connects the trees in a forest so that the act as a community and in essence they share resources instead of competing.
Still, as useful and as interesting as fungi are they can cause problems when they show up where they are not wanted. They can rot the wood in our houses and cause respiratory problems or sick building syndrome, they cause massive amounts of damage to agricultural crops or stored foods, they can be serious health hazards to people on chemotherapy etc. So it's always best to be aware, be tidy, and don't accidentally create a mold or fungus culture in your home or your pets home. Even good fungus can turn bad if conditions are right but they are very interesting organisms and the average person really seems to misunderstand them. Heck, the largest known organism on the planet is a gargantuan colony of Armillaria fungus that grows on a mountain in Oregon and I bet the vast majority of people aren't aware of that.

 

[Tim Benzedrine]

Ever since seeing this movie, "Attack of the Mushroom People", on a late-night horror movie show on TV, when I was too young to be watching such fare, mushrooms make me nervous. It still creeps me out. And it seems like a really good idea for a remake.

Briefly, (spoiler alert for a pretty obscure movie) it concerned a group of people who become shipwrecked on a uncharted island. Failing at foraging. there is nothing to eat. Except mushrooms, which are growing on everything on the island. They also encounter weird ambulatory mushrooms.
Turns out the ambulatory mushrooms are people who were previously ship-wrecked and succumbed to the temptation to consume the mushrooms that were growing all over the island. Their bodies were overtaken by the infectious fungi creating the "Mushroom People". Things went downhill for the ship-wrecked group, most of whom were unable to resist eating the mushrooms. The main protagonist, having sort of figured out what was going on, warned them against it, but did they listen? Nooooo!

Below is a clip of what pretty much blew the mind of a 7-year old kid. I still remember the night I saw it, I didn't think I was ever gonna fall asleep.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but you know me, I'm a fungi.

 

[TeddyBearTarantula]

Thank you for everybodies replies. I’ve been given some really great information and I feel so much better. Also I’ve been given a great film recommendation and I shall be seeking out ‘Attack of the Mushroom people’ asap!

Thank you, good people of arachnoboards xxxxx

Ever since seeing this movie, "Attack of the Mushroom People", on a late-night horror movie show on TV, when I was too young to be watching such fare, mushrooms make me nervous. It still creeps me out. And it seems like a really good idea for a remake.

Briefly, (spoiler alert for a pretty obscure movie) it concerned a group of people who become shipwrecked on a uncharted island. Failing at foraging. there is nothing to eat. Except mushrooms, which are growing on everything on the island. They also encounter weird ambulatory mushrooms.
Turns out the ambulatory mushrooms are people who were previously ship-wrecked and succumbed to the temptation to consume the mushrooms that were growing all over the island. Their bodies were overtaken by the infectious fungi creating the "Mushroom People". Things went downhill for the ship-wrecked group, most of whom were unable to resist eating the mushrooms. The main protagonist, having sort of figured out what was going on, warned them against it, but did they listen? Nooooo!

Below is a clip of what pretty much blew the mind of a 7-year old kid. I still remember the night I saw it, I didn't think I was ever gonna fall asleep.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but you know me, I'm a fungi.

Despite this being a highly ridiculous concept, the film is strangely endearing and the mushroom people are quite terrifying! The writer must have been on some acid/mushroom trip when he came up with it. xxx