Yellow Mushrooms in Coconut Bark Bedding!

This is the 3rd time I have had mushrooms growing in my anaconda tank!

I use the crushed coconut bark from either t-rex or zoo med in his land area. I keep it very damp, I try not to let it dry out.

Now, I have no live plants in the cage, no branches from outdoors or anything. I just have store bought driftwood and silk plants. In other words, no other source for mushroom spores to have come in from.

So, anyway, this is the third time I have changed the bedding (each time I used either zoo med cage cleaner, or Quat Plus to clean/sterilize the cage before putting in the new bedding). A few weeks go by, and then all of a sudden these mushrooms start growing!

Someone identified them for me as Leucocoprinus birnbaumii, a common flower pot mushroom. Apparently this mushroom grows on the rainforest floors of Hawaii. Hawaii also happens to be were the cocnut bark usually comes from!

So, I am pretty sure the spores from this mushroom are int he coconut bedding. And it wasnt just one batch, I even used different brands.

Now, the bad news, is that these are considered to be a toxic species. Here is a quote from MushroomExpert.com "Leucocoprinus birnbaumii won't hurt you, unless you eat it. It won't hurt your plant. It won't hurt your pets or your children, unless they eat it." found on this page http://www.bluewillowpages.com/mushr...irnbaumii.html

With an anaconda, I dont really have to worry about him eating them, since (a) he is carnivorous and (b) I feed him outside of his cage (eliminating the chance of him accidentally ingesting it while eating prey). But I still dont like toxic mushrooms in with my beloved Loki, lol.

If anyone has an Iguana, A Blue Tongue Skink, or some other tropical/forest animal that is herbivorous/carnivorous this could be a problem. If you use crushed coconut bark, or even the coconut bark chips, and you keep them damp all the time, it seems these things will start gorwing!

So, anyway, the purpose of this post is to both let people know about this, and also see if anyone else has experianced this. If it seems to be common, I say its time we start writing the companies and recommend they sterilize the bedding before sending it to us.

The first picture is from the first time I saw them in my tank. I took out my anaconda and let the soil dry out so it would be easier to remove. The other pic is what the mushroom looks like once it is above the surface and opens up.

I would've first checked the mushrooms with a blacklight. lol j/k

I once had my baby BRB in a covered terrerium, which required near 100% humidity, in that stuff and did get that white speck mold, but never mushrooms. I would change the shredded coconut bark frequently and then the problem was solved for good when I got big 4' x 2' plastic moulded cage with newspaper as substrate.
Thats a serious problem to have your snake exposed that toxin, even at an epidermal level.
I did meet this guy at herp show in San Diego, who had the cleanest, softest, and best shredding coconut bark products I've ever touched. The guys name is Daryl and he's pretty resonable and maybe you can get him to guarantee a mushroom spore free coconut bark. The website is www.CreaturesTravelers.com ,drop him an email and see if they can help you with this problems. He knows his coconut bark and maybe able to tell you exactly what species the spores are or possible solutions.
Good Luck and Happy Herping,
Uncloudy

Thanks for the info. I think next time though I might just use ESU lizard litter, I beleive its a combo of Peat, Cypress, and Vermiculite. Should work well for the land area. I want to keep his tank as nice as possible while he is small. Because I know when he is bigger, its going to be impossible to keep him in a naturalistic environment. He messes up the cage already anyway, when hes bigger, fake plants and decorations will just be a joke, lol.

Here is a pic of his cage now, and of him. Within the next 6 months he will probably outgrow it. At which point in time I would love to be able to use it for a few chaco swamp snakes if I could ever find them, lol.

Yeah Goanna you definately have to take the safe route, no matter what.
Great pics and the terrerium looks awesome, you must have a one happy Anaconda.
Good Luck,
Uncloudy

Thanks, I put a decent amount of work into it. I only wish I would have thought to get it drilled so I could drain the water easily, instead of having to syphon it out or use a wet/dry vac, lol.

Oh, and incase anyone is wondering, its a 30 gallon breeder, so its 18" wide (you cant really tell its a wide tank form that pic). And since they dont make finished stands for 30 breeders that can house another on the bottom, I had to build one out of melamine, and reinforced the shelves with 2x2's for extra strength.