Fungus on cork bark

Nicole · Post by **Nicole** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 4:10 pm

I just received some cork bark from an online supplier today, and it looks as if all the pieces are spotted with some sort of white fungus. I have never seen cork bark look like this before. Best as I can describe, it looks like dried white mushrooms.Does anyone think these pieces would be OK to give to the crabs? I know they eat mushrooms and rotting things, but I just want to be cautious.

NewCrabber · Post by **NewCrabber** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 3:58 pm

Hmm, I've not seen cork bark with anything like that on it. Anyway to call or email the supplier and ask them what it might be? I'm not sure I'd use it until or unless I found out.

Nicole · Post by **Nicole** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 4:11 pm

Yeah, I can call them tomorrow. I was just hoping that someone had used pieces like this. It's such a hassle to return things. Thanks anyway!

NewCrabber · Post by **NewCrabber** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 4:15 pm

If no one else here has seen this before and you do find out what it is, let us know, okay.

Willow · Post by **Willow** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 3:57 pm

I got some cork bark like that from the local fish store, I didn't use it for my hermies, but for the salamanders. They're OK, I don't know if it would be different for hermies. My guess is that it's safe, but better check with the supplier, just in case.

Nicole · Post by **Nicole** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 2:51 pm

LOL I finally got around to calling about the cork bark. The man who answered said it was a type of lichen, and that it was *probably* safe for hermit crabs. Anybody know for sure? He said he could only answer safety questions for reptiles.So my guess is that it is OK for crabs, but in any case it would be nice to know with 100% certainty.

kuplakrabs · Post by **kuplakrabs** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 3:13 pm

Nicole, I just saw this post...and I remeber when I got my cork bark that there were a few small spots on them that sound like what you described. I ended up boiling mine in saltwater, scrubbing it with a scrubby brush and haven't seen any since. I've had mine in the tank for close to a year with no problems.