Mushrooms growing in cage.

Mushrooms growing in cage.

Postby Foxticity » Tue Apr 15, 2014 11:19 am

Howsit Guys

I have been coco husk chips in my cages for a while now without any issues.
I mix it with a bit of coco peat and works great for my tropical lizards, however I noticed that mushrooms started growing in my one cage.
I have brick cages so use a hose pipe to mist my cages.
The head of the hose pipe came off and the substrate was showered.
Only happened after this.

My concern:
I need high humidity in my cages so ill always wet the substrate, however, does the mushrooms have any bad effects on the lizards?
The lizards only eat worms so wont eat them.
1. Must I leave them to have a more realistic setup.
2. Must I just pull them out?
3. Must the entire cage be disinfected?

I do a substrate change every 6 weeks and never had this issue.
Since the excessive water, its the only issue I have ever had.

Thanks
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Re: Mushrooms growing in cage.

Postby Foxticity » Tue Apr 15, 2014 11:23 am

The Mushrooms.
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Re: Mushrooms growing in cage.

Postby Ales » Tue Apr 15, 2014 11:59 am

I don't think the mushrooms will harm the lizards if they touch them, only if they're eaten. If it were me I would remove them to be safe just in case the lizards try to nibble on them out of curiosity. Replace the substrate as well to get rid of any spores that will just make more mushrooms.

Don't the lizards crush the mushrooms when they walk over them anyway?
What a world....
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Re: Mushrooms growing in cage.

Postby kingspider » Tue Apr 15, 2014 12:12 pm

unless herbivores mushrooms are good....in isreal they are busy studying the use of mushrooms to break down heavy metals into a safe natural byproduct
kingspider strikes again
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Re: Mushrooms growing in cage.

Postby Warren Klein » Tue Apr 15, 2014 3:23 pm

Magic mushrooms will certainly provide a bit of extra enrichment for your lizards ;) Seriously as long as they are not a toxic species they would not harm your dragons even if eaten and add some more character to your enclosure.
An inaccurate naturalist is a pest and a danger, forever perpetuating illogical deductions and landing later naturalists in trouble. Damm and blast them all to hell in the most painful way. C.J.P. Ionides
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Re: Mushrooms growing in cage.

Postby Foxticity » Thu Apr 17, 2014 9:51 am

Thank you for all the feedback.
I checked on them the same night on which I posted and saw that the mushrooms were crushed, so no more mushrooms :lol:

I also think since the substrate has dried a bit, it caused the mushrooms to die off.
But the lizards are all still perfect.

Thank you for the assistance.
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Re: Mushrooms growing in cage.

Postby Bernice » Thu Apr 17, 2014 6:40 pm

Just for interest I can identify those mushies as Coprinus miceus, they belong to the family of mushies called 'ink caps', they are totally harmless and some species are eaten by humans, they turn black and almost liquify towards the end of their life, which is only 2-3 days, as long as the enclosure is well ventilated so that the spores dont accumulate and cause respiratory distress to your reptiles, they are the least thing to worry about...
Accept that when they go off and turn black they get quite messy and can be smeared all over the place...
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