Errrr these weren't there before...

Stugy

Arachnolord
Joined
Apr 21, 2016
Messages
649
Ok. Please tell me what the heck these things are. They are yellowish and look like seeds. I never put them there and I hadn't touched the enclosure for a week or two. This is the enclosure in which I house my Heterometrus petersii. I also have a mini-colony of assorted isopods in the enclosure for cleaning.
wtf 007.jpg wtf 009.jpg wtf 008.jpg
 

Stugy

Arachnolord
Joined
Apr 21, 2016
Messages
649
They're mushrooms. I think. Maybe....
Should I remove them? And...well I really never expected to get an answer such as "mushrooms" but I'll take it because I literally have never seen these things in my life. Actually... I'm going to remove them just to be safe because I'm really paranoid right now and I gotta get to bed :p
 

brolloks

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 6, 2016
Messages
348
Hi,
Did you sterilize the substrate and the wood before putting it into the enclosure?
The spores could have come in through a window and ended up in your Scorp enclosure as well.
 

JumpingSpiderLady

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jul 29, 2016
Messages
342
If they are mushrooms, removing them won't do much. The visible part of the mushroom is just its reproductive bits. The real fungus is the mycelium, which are like microscopic roots. Those would be all through the substrate. Can't imagine them posing much danger to a carnivore, but then again, I don't know all there is to know about mushrooms.
Anyway, if you want to remove them completely, you'd have to change out all the substrate.
 

Stugy

Arachnolord
Joined
Apr 21, 2016
Messages
649
Pffffft my life.... I never knew you had to sterilize substrate. How do you perform such a process as sterilizing a substrate? I would've thought that the isopods should've eaten any fungi and mold anyways.
 

brolloks

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 6, 2016
Messages
348
Pffffft my life.... I never knew you had to sterilize substrate. How do you perform such a process as sterilizing a substrate? I would've thought that the isopods should've eaten any fungi and mold anyways.
I bake my substrate in the oven for 30min at 200c or I boil it in water for 10min :drunk: That usually works for me.
 

darkness975

Latrodectus
Arachnosupporter +
Joined
Aug 31, 2012
Messages
5,610
It is some kind of plant. Basically a weed. I used to get stuff like that when I had really moist animal enclosures. Even had something that looked almost identical growing in a hermit crab tank once and that had pure (moist) sand as a substrate and no soil or dirt. I was not aware any plant could grow in pure 100% sand but goes to show you what we know about mother nature. Go figure.

I do not believe that it is harmful per se. Mostly just an eye sore.
 

Ranitomeya

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 11, 2012
Messages
255
I have found squash seeds in my compressed coconut fiber before and they have actually germinated.
 
Top