I found this in the bin

M

minionsonice

First Instar
hi, first time poster here and new to roaches so please bare with me. 

i found this substance build up in one corner of the bin.. i'm really not sure what it is. sorry for the bad photo, but when closely looked at they almost look like... small tiny eggs?

i know there are springtails that came with the organic soil.. maybe it's mold. I'm really not sure.

thanks for your input.

what.png

 
It's mycelium, most likely of Leucocoprinus spp., could be another genus though. The spores come in with unsterlized substrate, and no isopods or springtails will eat it, you either have to let it run it's course and slowly die off, or replace/sterilize the substrate and decor to get rid of it. It will turn the entire substrate into a solid mat, and may cover and suffocate roach oothecae, so I'd definitely sterilize your substrate from now on to avoid this issue. 

 
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Jimbobtom said:
Isopods/springtails love fungus IME
Click to expand...
Most fungus, yes, but this stuff is mildly poisonous, no cleaner crews I've ever used have eaten it, in fact I've had big, thriving isopod colonies get infested with this stuff in plauge proportions lol! 

 
Hisserdude you were right, they were mushrooms.

Picture of what I plucked out

I just plucked this from my isopods enclosure. I am not sure if this is the same species as the one in my roach enclosure. It seems like the last time I serviced my isopods, which is admittedly a while ago, this was not there. The funny thing is I keep reading about how isopods love mushrooms so maybe one would choose to leave something like this in. I didn’t want to take any chances so I got it out of there, but found a few of the dwarf isopods on and around the mushroom. 

I continue to get them out of my roach enclosure as I see a build up. I think I will change out the substrate soon.

Anyone know if freezing the substrate works as a way to sterilize it? 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
minionsonice said:
Hisserdude you were right, they were mushrooms.

Picture of what I plucked out

I just plucked this from my isopods enclosure. I am not sure if this is the same species as the one in my roach enclosure. It seems like the last time I serviced my isopods, which is admittedly a while ago, this was not there. The funny thing is I keep reading about how isopods love mushrooms so maybe one would choose to leave something like this in. I didn’t want to take any chances so I got it out of there, but found a few of the dwarf isopods on and around the mushroom. 

I continue to get them out of my roach enclosure as I see a build up. I think I will change out the substrate soon.

Anyone know if freezing the substrate works as a way to sterilize it? 
Click to expand...
Yeah ironically isopods won't eat this stuff, pretty sure it's slightly poisonous, so while they probably won't die from it they surely won't eat it. 

Freezing might not kill all the spores, sticking moist substrate in the microwave for 2-3 minutes should kill everything though. 

 
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