Anyone else have fungus or mold on cork bark?

YagerManJennsen

Arachnobaron
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Jan 3, 2016
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I am at school currently, pictures will have to wait. Noticed either a fungus or mold (maybe both) in the genic enclosure growing only under the bark in the hiding area. My guess is it's s side product of the little dude stuffing the boli into the substrate at the very back of the hidey-hole. How could you rid the space of fungus and mold permanently if the boli (or boluses?) are unreachable?

Again, Pictures are coming later!
 

lunarae

Arachnobaron
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Sep 22, 2015
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I had those issues to start.....Now I have my army of isopods. XD My A. versicolor dropped it's bolus from yesterday some time through the night. I came out to an army of isopods over the area where it normally drops them and found it was pretty much already gone. Isopods are a god send for T enclosures in my opinion.
 

YagerManJennsen

Arachnobaron
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Jan 3, 2016
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I had those issues to start.....Now I have my army of isopods. XD My A. versicolor dropped it's bolus from yesterday some time through the night. I came out to an army of isopods over the area where it normally drops them and found it was pretty much already gone. Isopods are a god send for T enclosures in my opinion.
Where do I get some? Do they eat away mold too or just the bolus?
 

JumpingSpiderLady

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Jul 29, 2016
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I had those issues to start.....Now I have my army of isopods. XD My A. versicolor dropped it's bolus from yesterday some time through the night. I came out to an army of isopods over the area where it normally drops them and found it was pretty much already gone. Isopods are a god send for T enclosures in my opinion.
I worry about them chewing on a molting t ever since someone posted about just that.
 

lunarae

Arachnobaron
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Sep 22, 2015
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I worry about them chewing on a molting t ever since someone posted about just that.
The various species of isopods used in enclosures eat decaying and dead matter along with fungus. They don't eat living matter so it makes no sense why they would try and eat a molting T. The molt maybe not not the living T. I have had my A. versicolor molt several times with isopods in it's enclosure able to crawl up to it's nest easily (As they ate all of the dead moss around it) and not even touch the T.
 

Alana

Arachnopeon
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Jun 26, 2016
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I use springtails, they're tiny but they get rid of mould, fungus, boli, etc. I very much doubt they'd touch a moulting T, but if you were worried about a T in premoult them you could put a piece of mushroom in there for them, they LOVE mushrooms.
 

lunarae

Arachnobaron
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Sep 22, 2015
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Where do I get some? Do they eat away mold too or just the bolus?
There's several places you can get them just google and go. Or you can go look in your back yard under rocks and logs and get some for free XD that's what I ended up doing after a while . People worry about parasites and such but if you keep them and breed them yourselves (Which is really easy) it's not hard to obtain them.

I use springtails as well but they feed on molds and fungus. I've had springtails cover a boli but they never seem to eat the boli they just seem to eat the mold growing from it from the species of springtails I have anyways. It's the gnat larvae that ate the boli until I got isopods to take over and out populate the gnats.
 

YagerManJennsen

Arachnobaron
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Jan 3, 2016
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The springtails would go great with the in the H. mac enclosure. There is a large roach bolus in the very back of the enclosure I still have not removed because I don't want an angry white spider launching itself at me. Maybe I'll ask for some as a Bday present.
 

antinous

Pamphopharaoh
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I'm planning to invest in some springtails as well for my tropical species. I'm planning to order some right now, the Tropical Pink Springtail (Sinella curviseta). @lunarae how long does it take for them to multiple? I'm planning to buy 100 and then putting them into a container with some coco fiber. What do you feed them while in there?
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
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Yes - everything molds in my house, for some reason. Even with unlimited ventilation, it always happens.

Use terracotta pots as hides. Tarantulas readily use them, they're dirt cheap, and they can't mold.
 

YagerManJennsen

Arachnobaron
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Jan 3, 2016
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Yes - everything molds in my house, for some reason. Even with unlimited ventilation, it always happens.

Use terracotta pots as hides. Tarantulas readily use them, they're dirt cheap, and they can't mold.
Are starbucks cups (washed out of course) ok? I cut one in half as an improvised hide for a Grammostola sp.
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
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Are starbucks cups (washed out of course) ok? I cut one in half as an improvised hide for a Grammostola sp.
As long as you wash them, certainly. I'd probably sand the sides so it's not so smooth, though. Just about anything will work for a hide, I just refuse to use cork unless it's for an arboreal. I've yet to find a good alternative to a cork slab.

EDIT:
Paper ones, I doubt it will mold because it's in a bone dry setup. Though maybe i'm wrong.
No paper. Use the plastic ones. It's not so much about the mold as it is the tarantula tearing it apart and it aging over time. Also, an A. geniculata shouldn't be bone dry. They'll tolerate that setup, but they do appreciate a small amount of humidity. Relatively few species are true "bone dry" dwellers. It's a term that gets thrown around way too much, in my opinion.
 

YagerManJennsen

Arachnobaron
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As long as you wash them, certainly. I'd probably sand the sides so it's not so smooth, though. Just about anything will work for a hide, I just refuse to use cork unless it's for an arboreal. I've yet to find a good alternative to a cork slab.
I'm up for any cheaper alternatives to cork bark. That's just what I had on hand from past enclosures. When the N. chromatus molts and gets rehoused I'll try the clay pot. do you use the whole thing or do you break in in half?
 

EulersK

Arachnonomicon
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I'm up for any cheaper alternatives to cork bark. That's just what I had on hand from past enclosures. When the N. chromatus molts and gets rehoused I'll try the clay pot. do you use the whole thing or do you break in in half?
I take a hammer to it - you don't want a dead end in the hide if they decide to burrow. Nine times out of ten, it'll break into four pieces. Feel free to find the two best pieces and fit them together in the substrate, that's what I almost always have to do. Just stick them into the substrate, and the substrate will hold them together. You should be burying your hides anyway, this just forces you to do it. They come in all sizes - go to a place like Hobby Lobby or Michael's. Any crafts store, really. They're about $1 each, and you'll get two hides out of each.

I edited my post, by the way. Read what I said about the bone dry setup :D
 

Alana

Arachnopeon
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Jun 26, 2016
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I use springtails as well but they feed on molds and fungus. I've had springtails cover a boli but they never seem to eat the boli they just seem to eat the mold growing from it from the species of springtails I have anyways. It's the gnat larvae that ate the boli until I got isopods to take over and out populate the gnats.
Ah OK. I assumed the springtails were eating them because they're all over them when I pull them out (I don't leave them in). I'm still trying to source isopods.
 

lunarae

Arachnobaron
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Sep 22, 2015
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Ah OK. I assumed the springtails were eating them because they're all over them when I pull them out (I don't leave them in). I'm still trying to source isopods.
Ah yeah. *nods* I've had them swarm the boli and I've left them in there but they never actually disappeared for me. Let me try and find the link to the first place I went for Isopods. Though I had better luck with wild caught in my area to be honest, but lets see here....

http://www.neherpetoculture.com/bugs

I think I have better luck with wild caught because the kind they sell are more tropical. The wild caught seem to do better in the dryer tanks and substrates for me.
 
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