Weird stuff...what is this???

[Jakob]

I found this ground up stuff in my P. fasciatas cage the other day...looks like cricket feed, but I know for a fact it's not, obviously...so what is this??

Thanks,

Jake

 

[Tim R.]

Looks like something has been chewing on your cork bark. Any loose crickets in there?

 

[Jakob]

No...I gave her a superworm though that I never actually saw her eat...will they eat through cork bark???

Jake

 

[MrFeexit]

Is it at all possible an ant or two got in there? Or it could be the super worm. I microwaved some of my bark awhile back and had quite a few meal worms come squiggling out I had thought htey were eaten but they were not. I would take out the piece, wet it down good and microwave it the steam helps conduct the heat as well as keeping it from starting on fire. Keep a close watch on it and don't leave it in for more than a minute or 2

 

[Jakob]

Must be that damn superworm...

Taking that very piece out will be a pain in the arse as that's the piece the 6.5" girl is in...grrr...

I'll check on the piece again to see whats up...

I better find out what this is before she molts as she hasn't molted since august last year.

Thanks guys and feel free to reply more.

 

[Code Monkey]

It definitely looks like you've got something chewing on it. That "sawdust" is exactly like what the carpenter ants I'm raising at work leave when they tunnel.

 

[Nameless]

This is a bit of the subject, but is there different types of cork bark out there?

 

[esmoot]

It's the Superworm. They love cork bark.

 

[atmosphere]

Actually the spider chewed on the bark. My avic's do it . Don't really know why, maybe they are sharpening the hardware. Or maybe not. But I wouldn't rule it out.

 

[Jakob]

I do remember a thread someone posted a while back about their pokie removing pieces of cork bark, but I doubt they would grind it into such fine pieces...it must be the superworm...

Thanks guys,

Jake

 

[MrT]

Is that moss, its on?
Could it be the moss growing, or moss seed?
Does moss have seed.
How long has the bark been in there?
If not long, and its been watered, maybe its trying to grow?
Just a thought...


Ernie

 

[MrFeexit]

It's saw dust...That much is certain, it's just a matter of who or how it got there. CM does have a point and it does look like the leavings of carpenter ants, however they useally like a moist soft almost decaying type wood, so this makes me thinks its the super worms. UNLESS the spider is doing it....Nuke it. Problem solved.

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by MrFeexit
Nuke it. Problem solved.

There's a modern man's approach to problem solving

 

[MrFeexit]

Hey CM what kind of work do you do that you are raising carpenter ants? Most folks want these little buggers gone, I have seen them eat through the siding leaving the paint behind as a cover and from the looks you would never suspect they were there.

 

[vulpina]

I would say it's the superworm, remove the bark and either nuke it or replace it with a new piece, you may want to change substrate in case the superworm is buried.

Andy

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by MrFeexit
Hey CM what kind of work do you do that you are raising carpenter ants? Most folks want these little buggers gone, I have seen them eat through the siding leaving the paint behind as a cover and from the looks you would never suspect they were there.

I'm a research assistant at Virginia Tech working for the urban entomology professor. If I ever get the application completed, I'll be taking a cut in pay to work more hours to become a Masters student

At any rate, I doing a project looking at Fipronil's longterm efficacy with pest ants.

 

[Jakob]

Originally posted by MrT
Is that moss, its on?
Could it be the moss growing, or moss seed?
Does moss have seed.
How long has the bark been in there?
If not long, and its been watered, maybe its trying to grow?
Just a thought...


Ernie

Yea it's moss, but I have moss on all of my corkbark and this would be the first time to happen.

I'm pretty sure it's the superworm, so I'm gonna try to get it out of there before it does any further and potentially worse damage. I know for a fact it's not ants because I haven't seen any around and I checked everywhere. If there is no supwerworm then I don't know, I guess I feel forced to nuke the damn thing then.

Ok well thanks for your help guys

Jake

 

[Valael]

I can say with almost no doubt that it's the super worm. I had thrown a few in with my bearded dragons a while back and since they disappeared, I assumed they were eatten. Wrong. I found saw dust under my drift wood. I didn't realize it until a beetle popped out later (I tried to soak the log, but obviously, it did no good) but the super worm had burrowed into the drift wood, and that's a bit harder than the drift wood.

 

[danread]

Yes, definitely the superworm, i've had them do exactly the same thing to pieces of cork bark in my T encolsures.

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by JakeRocks
I know for a fact it's not ants because I haven't seen any around and I checked everywhere.

Sorry for any misunderstanding, I didn't mean to imply that I thought it was ants, but that I agreed that it looked like something was gnawing on the cork bark. If superworms behave anything like a lot of their relatives I've seen going through logs, they will burrow into wood and pupate.

i.e. blame the worm