Reptile & Amphibian Forums

anyone have any experince with keeping mushrooms or other similar funguses in a terrarium? the guys at blackjungle suggest it. Also does anyone know where to get appropriate species? What other plants are unique additions to keep with dart frogs?

thanks

Shrooms are great, but they seem to come and go at will in a dart vivarium and can't be "kept" for any length of time, since they are a part of the breakdown process and cycling. In my experience, they usually show up in a new vivarium with organic jungle soil, organic compost, and potting soil substrates along with the initial molds some people worry about more than they need to. The spores are probably incidental to the soil or plants you've added. They are one of the reasons I don't ever "sterilize" my soil substrates or boil my cork bark. I've had all sorts of wonderful mushrooms crop up, including some interesting "bird's nest" shrooms when I had added some desert sand to one terrarium. After I began going with the cocoanut fiber based top dressing, they stopped appearing, even in newly planted vivariums. They came and went in my greenhouse environment, as well.

I don't know of a way you could grow mushrooms deliberately in a dart vivarium and keep them going. I have grown certain species of them deliberately under other circumstances, back in the late 60's, when I was into the hippy route that I won't elaborate on here, and later, grew some of the edibles in manure in a basement and on logs for [bleep]ake. But even though I don't have a vast experience, I really doubt you could keep any combined with frogs in a vivarium for any length of time. They are mostly casual comers and provide some short entertainment value before they wear out their own mini-environment and disappear.

This is about all I know.
-----
Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus

In case you wonder about the bleep, it is because this forum has some ridiculous bleepers. The Japanese mushroom I shall try to call "craptaki" here to give you a clue, has been bleeped. Give me a break! One can no longer even refer to a female dog, either, by what female dogs are callws, and this is an animal forum? Give me a break! I'm 70 years old. I don't appreciate automatic censorship.
-----
Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus

Wow! When I saw that bleep I though it was a joke! Patty that is nuts.
Well, as to not be cr[bleep] I will p[bleep] on any further comment , instead opting to go walk my [bleep]tsu.

Rich

I had another thought. I failed to mention that you can also collect mature mushroom caps, place them on a piece of white paper and let them dry. They will shed their spores (called a spore print by people who use this as one means of identifying mushrooms) and simply brush some of the spores into your tank and see what happens. You may even be able to purchase some of the exotic mushroom spores on line-- I haven't checked this out.

They will start out with a mycelium, which looks like a sprawling fungus. The mushrooms are the "blooming" or reproductive organ that may come later.

As for other unusual plants, you could try some of the smaller carnivorous plants, but avoid Venus Fly trap, as it doesn't survive for long in a tropical vivarium. I have a neat Spiranthes that captures a few left-over fruit flies in the P. terribilis tank, and want to try some of the Nepenthes at a future date. From what the carnivorous plant enthusiasts have told me, they are perfectly safe for frogs. Non-the-less, I'm going to only try them with the larger species, not my precious tiny ones. The Adiantum ferns are delicate and feathery if you plant them somewhat above the wet portions of the tank. Try to stick to relatively miniature ferns, as some will really take over. I also use some cacti-- Rhipsalis sp. in particular, which are interesting epiphytic jungle cacti These are usually spineless, although they do have some recessed bristles in the areoles. They add something different among the bromeliads. You can look them up on the internet. There is a specialist who grows all kinds of them, but I can't remember his name right now. I found him by simply entering Rhipsalis on the search.

You could also check out my photos of some of the plants in the gallery under cages and terrariums. It's not a complete gallery of what I use, but may give you some ideas. I haven't added others because I've been too lazy to upload them, and no one seemed particularly interested.
-----
Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus

PATTY,

Ilove you.

We will speak of shrooms later.

Rich

Patty,
thanks for advice on this question and all the other replies to other questions. Im gonna try and collect some spores and see what happens. Also checking out your pics for other ideas.

thanks again
mm

I did the thing with the spores (mixed them in with substrate) a couple years ago and it worked great except it took almost 6 months before I got any mushrooms and then they started coming up like crazy. If I ever do it again I would collect the actual mycelium and introduce that into the substrate and see if results come faster.