Brachycibe and other andrognathid food fungus

Ponerinecat

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 3, 2020
Messages
333
Been keeping 2 local species of this genus, and 2 altitude based variants of one of them. The millipedes themselves are extraordinarily easy to maintain but I've been having problems sustainably feeding them. Recently small patches of food fungus popped up in their container right after redoing it. Anyone with experience know how to culture the fungus? I've been having to scrounge for dried shelf and bracket fungi which the millipedes will eat but not especially enthusiastically, so an easy long term solution would be appreciated.
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spasskgirl

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 6, 2020
Messages
41
Upping the thread. I am also looking for more ideas what to feed them and where to get it.
 

Ponerinecat

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 3, 2020
Messages
333
They're still suffering die off's and food is even more unstable, but I did find a thin reddish fungus growing on the underside of a branch they seem to like.
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
Have you tried sterilizing new wood and leaves before adding it to the enclosure? This often causes outbreaks of mold which are bothersome for keepers of round millipedes and polydesmids, but might be nutritious for your platydesmids here.

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

Ponerinecat

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 3, 2020
Messages
333
I don't sterilize anything for my enclosures, ha ha. Lots of people arent okay with that but eh, it works so far.
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
Neither do I, at least not in the traditional sense of utilizing an oven/microwave. Regardless, sterilizing wood/leaves would allow for the spores of new fungi to rapidly grow on the "blank sheet" (similar to what you do with your springtails; at least, I think that was you), and that might be the fungi they seem to appreciate. You said yourself that the new enclosure grew mold, which is often the case with new setups where the microhabitat hasn't stabilized so to speak.

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

Ponerinecat

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 3, 2020
Messages
333
Neither do I, at least not in the traditional sense of utilizing an oven/microwave. Regardless, sterilizing wood/leaves would allow for the spores of new fungi to rapidly grow on the "blank sheet" (similar to what you do with your springtails; at least, I think that was you), and that might be the fungi they seem to appreciate. You said yourself that the new enclosure grew mold, which is often the case with new setups where the microhabitat hasn't stabilized so to speak.

Thanks,

Arthroverts
Ah, I see. I can definitely give that a try, thanks for the advice.
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
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2,462
Yeah no problem

Let me know if you ever decide to sell some off by the way ;)...

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

Ponerinecat

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 3, 2020
Messages
333
Yeah no problem

Let me know if you ever decide to sell some off by the way ;)...

Thanks,

Arthroverts
I'll definitely notify you when the local populations are reinvigorated by rain. Would you be interested in Octoglena anura, too? I've never had success with them but I could include a few of those if you want to try them out.
 

Ponerinecat

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 3, 2020
Messages
333
Trying to grow the fungus independently with pine needles as a substrate and oats as a food. It's already sprouted into the puffy white fuzz I see the millipedes snacking on, hope this works.
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Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
Messages
2,462
I'll definitely notify you when the local populations are reinvigorated by rain. Would you be interested in Octoglena anura, too? I've never had success with them but I could include a few of those if you want to try them out.
Sounds good.
Hmm. Might be worth taking a stab at them, your lack of success though has me wary. Any ideas what went wrong with trying to culture them?

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

Ponerinecat

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 3, 2020
Messages
333
Sounds good.
Hmm. Might be worth taking a stab at them, your lack of success though has me wary. Any ideas what went wrong with trying to culture them?

Thanks,

Arthroverts
By not having success I meant never getting them to breed. Keeping them alive doesn't seem especially difficult, I was able to keep a group of juveniles and a single adult alive for 2-3 months together with my Brachycibe before that container got overtaken by mold. I'd assume that if I had been able to control the mold the juveniles would have grown up with minimal casualties and been able to breed. The main problem with Octoglena is that I'm not sure what exactly they eat. I've seen people find them on the underside of mushrooms, so they probably nibble on the gills like a lot of other inverts, but personally I only ever see them on fallen pine logs. Not sure if they feed on fungus like Brachycibe, the wood itself, a mix of both, or something else like algae or lichen.
 

Arthroverts

Arachnoking
Joined
Jul 11, 2016
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2,462
Ah I see. It would definitely be worth experimenting with them further then.

Thanks,

Arthroverts
 

Ponerinecat

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 3, 2020
Messages
333
Project appears to be a success! I placed some chipped wood in and now most of it is covered in the fungus.

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XxSpiderQueenxX

Arachnobaron
Joined
Feb 14, 2019
Messages
321
i used to have a colony of these, and actually bred them somehow (the parent was curled around the eggs until they hatched, so cute) but they all eventually died because at the time i didnt know they ate fungus. the breeder who i purchased them from said they ate rotten wood soo i presume thats why they all died...
 

Ponerinecat

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 3, 2020
Messages
333
i used to have a colony of these, and actually bred them somehow (the parent was curled around the eggs until they hatched, so cute) but they all eventually died because at the time i didnt know they ate fungus. the breeder who i purchased them from said they ate rotten wood soo i presume thats why they all died...
Oddly enough I don't see too many big cultures of these guys. They don't seem all that difficult and are actually the only millipede I've ever bred.
 

Ponerinecat

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 3, 2020
Messages
333
Bottom layer of fungus melted from mold and bacterial film, lost a few millis as well. Cleaned it out and reintroduced the surviving fungus and millipedes, as well as some Sinella curviseta to control bacterial films. Feel like the hardest part about this fungus is keeping the competition at bay. :confused:
 

Madnesssr

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 2, 2019
Messages
262
I collect polypore for my Brachycybe Lecontii from fallen limbs and my wood pile. If you struggle to find what you need, hit me up. I am happy to share. I find that if I keep the extra in a ziplock bags and occasionally spritz it, it will grow and spread some.
 

Ponerinecat

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 3, 2020
Messages
333
I collect polypore for my Brachycybe Lecontii from fallen limbs and my wood pile. If you struggle to find what you need, hit me up. I am happy to share. I find that if I keep the extra in a ziplock bags and occasionally spritz it, it will grow and spread some.
Thats good to know. I have a few patches of polypore under my usual springtail spots, so I can harvest from there. Thanks for the offer.
 

Ponerinecat

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 3, 2020
Messages
333
Some news. The population suddenly dropped and I had essentially given up hope, moving them to a new container and then forgetting about them. The new container was composed of unsterilized soil with plenty of mites, a thin layer of decomposing pine needles, and chips of wood which I had hoped would sprout fungus. Fungus did sprout, but the millipedes did not seem to care for it. I also threw in 3 chunks of wood with a bit of assorted fungus growing on top. Fast forward 5 months, and the population had more or less stabilized at a very low count with reproduction of both species. They had been feeding on a limited amount of food fungus which sprouted from 2 of the three chunks of wood. I collected some more wood samples from various spots with multiple kinds of fungus, including polypore and a very prolific white fuzz I'd never tried the millipedes on before. Multiple males began rearing eggs and so far the millipedes seem to prefer the original food fungus, food fungus which was present on the new wood, and the outer edges of the prolific white stuff.

Feeding on what appears to be a much trimmed down patch of the prolific white fuzz.

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Gathering and feeding around some of the original food fungus.

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One of the original patches, already gone by now but still occasionally sending out new growths which are quickly eaten.

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Some adults are beginning to estivate which will hopefully allow me to manage the fungus more effectively.

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I think trying to isolate the food fungus is pretty much out of the question. Once the new generation is active enough and old enough to be handled, I'm thinking of creating a new, much larger container stocked with fungus on the basis that by the time one patch has been eaten the others will be able to grow back. In the meantime the current setup seems sufficient but I have no doubt it will collapse with more millipedes.
 
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