Dark and stronger smelling cork bark

[Ramen]

In my collection, all of my cork thus far is very light in color and really has so smell at all. I recently picked up a slab for a good deal, but I notice the bark is greyer in color than all of my other pieces. It also has a strongish earthy/sour smell. Could this be because it is fresh? I don't see any mold or mildew on the slab. This is already in an arboreal tarantula's setup, with heavy webbing. Let me know your thoughts!

 

[A guy]

In my collection, all of my cork thus far is very light in color and really has so smell at all. I recently picked up a slab for a good deal, but I notice the bark is greyer in color than all of my other pieces. It also has a strongish earthy/sour smell. Could this be because it is fresh? I don't see any mold or mildew on the slab. This is already in an arboreal tarantula's setup, with heavy webbing. Let me know your thoughts!

Where did you get it from? I have a neighbor that sells corkbarks but I never bought from him because all the cork he sells are treated with anti parasitic chemicals(I don't know what) and are supposedly to be used for orchid mounts.

 

[Ramen]

Pet Supplies Plus, a huge slab for $18 which they price matched for me online and I got it for $6.

 

[viper69]

In my collection, all of my cork thus far is very light in color and really has so smell at all. I recently picked up a slab for a good deal, but I notice the bark is greyer in color than all of my other pieces. It also has a strongish earthy/sour smell. Could this be because it is fresh? I don't see any mold or mildew on the slab. This is already in an arboreal tarantula's setup, with heavy webbing. Let me know your thoughts!

FYI mold is always present on an item before the human eye sees it. When your bread is moldy a bit, the mold is already around the entire slice of bread. Saw a nature special!

 

[TheraMygale]

FYI mold is always present on an item before the human eye sees it. When your bread is moldy a bit, the mold is already around the entire slice of bread. Saw a nature special!

Everyone praises cork because its not a moldy wood. I guess it can get moldy, or yucky. Depending on how it was stored.

if this wood has gone bad, the only way you might get redemption is with a light baking. To get the moisture out.

@viper69 when you see one raspberry that has grey fuzzy on it, the whole container is infected. Thats why people have random bouts of mushy poo. Yummy!

 

[Arachnopotamus Rex]

I got crickets from pet supplies plus in the past.

Never again, they all died 2 days later from eating eachother because the store didn't bother ever feeding their crickets, so they all turned cannibal before I even got them.

Moldy corkbark from improper storing just adds to the nope pile for me.

I wish chain pet stores had animal care and supply preservation training.

 

[TheraMygale]

I got crickets from pet supplies plus in the past.

Never again, they all died 2 days later from eating eachother because the store didn't bother ever feeding their crickets, so they all turned cannibal before I even got them.

Moldy corkbark from improper storing just adds to the nope pile for me.

I wish chain pet stores had animal care and supply preservation training.

i know this is not the subject, but because you brought it up: feeders.

i used to work in a petshop. And the cricket bin made me sick. They treated it like garbage.

i still buy live feeders from a local petshop. I have reduced my losses to almost zero, by bringing my enclosure to the shop. Ready with hides and fresh food. I have crickets for over a month with almost no maintenance.

for the cork: i totaly agree. Some places store things so badly. Especialy if its not a popular item.

thats why i think, at that point, you have two options:

you write to the store and tell them its bad stock and will report on AB.

or you cook it a bit to try and resolve issue.

i always write to companies. I get free stuff sometimes. If i didnt write, id get nothing and still be angry.

im always angry, but i like free stuff.

 

[viper69]

Everyone praises cork because its not a moldy wood. I guess it can get moldy, or yucky. Depending on how it was stored.

if this wood has gone bad, the only way you might get redemption is with a light baking. To get the moisture out.

@viper69 when you see one raspberry that has grey fuzzy on it, the whole container is infected. Thats why people have random bouts of mushy poo. Yummy!

Yes I know that’s why I wrote what I did

 

[TheraMygale]

Yes I know that’s why I wrote what I did

not everyone knows this.

 

[viper69]

not everyone knows this. For the record, we arent all as smart as you. Some of us actualy take the bus. And if we don’t, some of us, drive 2 hours to get home.

For the record, i drive over 4 hours a day to have the privilege to have a job.

so i make mold a priority. I dont have installations to evacuate my bowels at 5am, after 1L of coffee, and cheap mexican berries.

I'm not sure what intelligence has to do with anything. I just read and watch science TV programs like everyone else.

What you wrote is basically the same thing as what I wrote in my mind. So when someone "repeats" what I wrote when they quoted me, I really don't understand why they quoted me to get my attention to begin with.

 

[TheraMygale]

why they quoted me to get my attention to begin with.

I dont even know what to say anymore.

 

[Ramen]

I got crickets from pet supplies plus in the past.

Never again, they all died 2 days later from eating eachother because the store didn't bother ever feeding their crickets, so they all turned cannibal before I even got them.

Moldy corkbark from improper storing just adds to the nope pile for me.

I wish chain pet stores had animal care and supply preservation training.

The one in my area has banded crickets, and usually are all healthy.

 

[Ramen]

So I did a smell test on all my cork, here is what I found. The slabs in enclosures with a tarantula in them and a water dish below (not touching) all have an "earthy" smell to them. They all vary in how strong they are as well. Keep in mind that these are different slabs from different places. I still have some remanence of the one I got from Pet Supplies Plus in a paper bag and it has no smell at all while the one in the enclosure has that earthy/sour smell.

 

[sparticus]

If it's already been in with the spider for a while and the spider is doing well I wouldn't worry too much. If you do get a mold outbreak then pull it out and deal with it. You can use crickets to live test chemical safety of new items in the future. If you expose a cricket to a new bark/plant and the cricket dies, get rid of it- it's not safe to use for your spider.

 

[Ramen]

If it's already been in with the spider for a while and the spider is doing well I wouldn't worry too much. If you do get a mold outbreak then pull it out and deal with it. You can use crickets to live test chemical safety of new items in the future. If you expose a cricket to a new bark/plant and the cricket dies, get rid of it- it's not safe to use for your spider.

It's been around a week now, spider seems fine, eating pretty well too.

 

[Arachnopotamus Rex]

The one in my area has banded crickets, and usually are all healthy.

Lucky, the one here uses common house crickets.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

In my collection, all of my cork thus far is very light in color and really has so smell at all. I recently picked up a slab for a good deal, but I notice the bark is greyer in color than all of my other pieces. It also has a strongish earthy/sour smell. Could this be because it is fresh? I don't see any mold or mildew on the slab. This is already in an arboreal tarantula's setup, with heavy webbing. Let me know your thoughts!

I never bothered smelling corkbark or wood before. If it’s not moldy your good.