# mushrooms growing in my millipedes' cage



## TheBugBarn (Dec 15, 2009)

Over the past couple of days, a couple of mushrooms sprouted in my millipedes' cage. Anyone had this happen? I'm wondering if I should completely change out the substrate at this point.


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## Link (Dec 15, 2009)

KennyNlockhart said:


> Over the past couple of days, a couple of mushrooms sprouted in my millipedes' cage. Anyone had this happen? I'm wondering if I should completely change out the substrate at this point.


Are they yellow? I have some in my frogs' tank.  They appear to be harmless to them at least.


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## TheBugBarn (Dec 19, 2009)

I "worked" the substrate around with my hands, and haven't had anymore sprout. I think I managed to disrupt the mycelium's growth.:clap:


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## Rick McJimsey (Dec 19, 2009)

Can you post some pictures of said mushrooms?


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## funguy@heart (Dec 19, 2009)

*you have remove all substrate*

They won't harm unless their eaten.  I'm a reformed mycologist and they are not going to go away that easy.  Once mycellium is in the soil it will grow especially under your centipedes habitat requirements 80 degrees and lots of humidity.


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## funguy@heart (Dec 19, 2009)

Hey Link once they grow and their caps open you'll have spores every where.  There is a 
Type of fungus that grows inside insects eventually killing its host.  Having them in your tank is bad


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## JDeRosa (Dec 20, 2009)

I USED TO HAVE THE SAME THING. It happened after Ii put plants for decoration. I changed the substrate. Never happened again.


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## Nomadinexile (Dec 20, 2009)

I wouldn't worry about it personally.  I have had it happen in a couple of tanks or scorp/t's.  I changed substrate, but I didn't hurt myself rushing it.  I would pick any before they open though.  If anything, just to keep millions, or is it billions?, of spores from attaching themselves everywhere.  When one opens, you can plan on more showing up at some point.


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## GartenSpinnen (Dec 22, 2009)

KennyNlockhart said:


> Over the past couple of days, a couple of mushrooms sprouted in my millipedes' cage. Anyone had this happen? I'm wondering if I should completely change out the substrate at this point.


Send them to me.... oh wait.... nm


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## Nomadinexile (Dec 25, 2009)

jadespider1985 said:


> Send them to me.... oh wait.... nm


You have liberty's growing around niles.   I saw them with my own eyes a lifetime ago...


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## Link (Dec 25, 2009)

Rick McJimsey said:


> Can you post some pictures of said mushrooms?


I have an album on facebook that I made of the mushroom growing in my frogs' terrarium.  I took periodic pictures of it that day until it was fully grown.

Here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016748&id=154301573&l=a0c9c15cb3


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## H. laoticus (Dec 25, 2009)

Link said:


> I have an album on facebook that I made of a mushroom growing in my frogs' terrarium.  I took periodic pictures of it that day until it was fully grown.
> 
> Here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016748&id=154301573&l=a0c9c15cb3


Hey that was pretty cool lol

Nice setup with the plant btw


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## Link (Dec 25, 2009)

Thank you   I love making setups that look very natural.


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## Link (Dec 25, 2009)

funguy@heart said:


> Hey Link once they grow and their caps open you'll have spores every where.  There is a
> Type of fungus that grows inside insects eventually killing its host.  Having them in your tank is bad


I've seen that fungus on the BBC show, planet earth: Jungles.  It is a specialized fungus that only preys on individual species of arthropods.  Different species of fungus prey on certain species of arthropods.  Mushrooms normally don't prey on animals.. Those fungi that you speak of are a very specialized genera of fungi.  It's highly unlikely that a mushroom growing in the soil is also going to start growing in a living animal.

Anyway I've looked it up, and that mushroom that I had was _Leucocoprinus birnbaumii_.  It is a species very common in houseplant soil, and is only slightly poisonous to humans.  My frogs didn't touch it, and the cap has withered away to nothing now.  I believe the mycelia are actually beneficial to my terrarium, because they are breaking down the dead organic matter into more readily available nutrients to my plants.

I see no ill effects in my frogs.  The mushroom was a curiosity more than anything.  If it wasn't beneficial, it did no harm.


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## zonbonzovi (Dec 25, 2009)

Great series of shots.  I see no reason why the two couldn't co-habitate.  Both serve a similar function in soil health and thrive in similar cirmcumstances.  They're kind of a nice surprise addition to houseplants & terrariums.


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## TheBugBarn (Jan 1, 2010)

funguy@heart said:


> They won't harm unless their eaten.  I'm a reformed mycologist and they are not going to go away that easy.  Once mycellium is in the soil it will grow especially under your centipedes habitat requirements 80 degrees and lots of humidity.


You were right. They came back. I was hoping not to have to redo their tank, but that what saturdays are for, right? I just wonder where they came from originally. I figure the wood mulch.


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## Nomadinexile (Jan 1, 2010)

zonbonzovi said:


> Great series of shots.  I see no reason why the two couldn't co-habitate.  Both serve a similar function in soil health and thrive in similar cirmcumstances.  They're kind of a nice surprise addition to houseplants & terrariums.


Well, you do have to at least give thought to the fact that mushrooms have lots of chemicals in them, we barely even understand yet.  There are many alkaloids and other chemicals that interact in many different ways at least to us.  There are mushrooms that fight cancer cells.  Mushrooms that feed us. Mushrooms that hippies eat.   And mushrooms that poison or even kill people.  
I don't know for any fact that millipedes are effected like this by any mushroom, but I wouldn't put it outside the realm of possibility.  I would also at least consider the fact that the millipedes may or may not eat them, whether or not they are dangerous to them or not, considering they didn't evolve with most species around.  I find this all highly unlikely.  But it is something I've considered.  

Oh, and there is a difference between the function of millies and mushrooms, although you could say it's just semantics.  But Millipedes are primary decomposers, and mushrooms are sometimes primary, and sometime secondary decomposers.   Millies are never secondary.  But that's a small irrelevant point.  Just though I would share.


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## Nomadinexile (Jan 1, 2010)

KennyNlockhart said:


> You were right. They came back. I was hoping not to have to redo their tank, but that what saturdays are for, right? I just wonder where they came from originally. I figure the wood mulch.


Spores are produced in the millions or billions per mushroom, depending on the species.  Spored contain an outer shell which allows it to live in stasis for years and years, until conditions are right.   Spores are light, and often are found in the air, sometimes in surprisingly high concentrations.   They can travel for miles and miles.   Spores are caught daily in wet times on your clothes.   There are even people, who put prints of spores on their clothes, and wear them around.   Until they do laundry, they are a walking spore cloud.  
Even in labratories, where they have filters and airlocks and junk like that, they still work in front of air hoods to keep spores from landing in petri dishes.  
Spores are everywhere, in other words.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Looch7587 (Aug 22, 2022)

funguy@heart said:


> *you have remove all substrate*
> 
> They won't harm unless their eaten.  I'm a reformed mycologist and they are not going to go away that easy.  Once mycellium is in the soil it will grow especially under your centipedes habitat requirements 80 degrees and lots of humidity.


Best bet is to remove substrate and put new but how do you keep them from coming to the new substrate like the old I got these inky cap ones in my millipede enclosure thanks


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