Re: sc. heros heros mycosis mystery ••updated••

szappan

Arachnobaron
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Molting the mycosis away!

Unfortunately I wasn't able to update the previous thread's title so I decided to start a new one. Sorry about that.

I'm very happy to report that, only 4 days after my gigantea molted, my sc. heros heros successfully molted it's mycosis away. It also regenerated the missing tips off of some of it's legs. I was a little concerned about letting it ingest the mycosis tainted exoskeleton but since It hadn't eaten for close to 3 months I didn't have the heart to take away it's meal.

Oh, I didn't try the post-molt sexing method, I figured it's too young for that kind of stuff... :p

I haven't been able to take any post molt measurements either, it's far too hyper.

I also wanted to thank everyone for their advice in the previous thread! :worship:

Here are some of the better most molt pics. And just and FYI, the upside down green cap is just to prop up the one side of it's hide, it had another dish for water.












One relatively minor mishap was with it's 5th leg on the right side. In the first pic below you can see it hasn't developed or molted properly. Actually, if I'm not mistaken, it appears as though that one tip still has some mycosis on it. That dry bit noticeable on the third pic is now gone so it's just a little black stump.



Checking it out:





First most-molt cockroach. It appears to have gotten slightly more tanned in color:





 

josh_r

Arachnoprince
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i have kept MANY heros as i lived in arizona for 6 years. mycosis seems to be a problem for heros. i have seen many many die from it, im my collection and in others. i have noticed that the mycosis seems to take over and spread in very acidic conditions. i did an experiment with 2 animals, both having mycosis. i put one animal on peat (which is highly acidic) and the other on granite/limestone (which is very alkaline) the animal on the peat continued to be overtaken by the mycosis. it spread to other limbs and got pretty bad. the animal on the granite/limestone recovered very fast. the mycosis stopped spreading completely. when the animal moulted, it was completely gone. you have to remember where these guys come from in nature. they are not found on peat or coco fiber (i understand coco fiber is supposed to be neutral). they are found in more alkaline soils. now i know of several incidences where friends have kept heros on peat with NO mycosis whatsoever. but i have seen more deaths on acidic soils than not. i have never lost an animal since i started keeping them on more alkaline soils. give it a try. it may work out for ya.
 

Galapoheros

ArachnoGod
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Puurrrrdy, nice new pede! The mycosis, could be an acidic thing but, the peat and coco, it holds moisture better that rock of course and the peat is a much better medium for fungus/mycosis than rock. That's interesting though, might be something to look into. Maybe fungus like mycosis thrives better in acidic soils like you said. Anybody out there know for sure?
 

josh_r

Arachnoprince
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Puurrrrdy, nice new pede! The mycosis, could be an acidic thing but, the peat and coco, it holds moisture better that rock of course and the peat is a much better medium for fungus/mycosis than rock. That's interesting though, might be something to look into. Maybe fungus like mycosis thrives better in acidic soils like you said. Anybody out there know for sure?
well, i believe moisture may have a big role in this as well. as you said, peat and coco fiber tend to hold water better than rocky soils. i believe the high moisture content of peat allows for anaerobic bacteria and fingus to form over time. the native soils of heros are not very moist at all and aerate very well, thus preventing anaerobic bacteria or fungus to form. these animals seem to be most active toward the summer months when it is hot and fairly dry in the soil. true, the rainy season is in summer, but the moisture dries virtually instantly. there is, however, quite a bit of humidity in the air during the summer due to the monsoons. my theory is they require alkaline soils (like cactus potting soil or something mixed with granite or limestone) and allow the soil to dry near completely between waterings. i find that adding a small water bowl and filling it to where it just overflows and soaks the surrounding soil. the water will permeate through the soil and create the right moisture consistency. i as well as a couple other friends have had VERY good luck using this method with heros.

-josh
 

Galapoheros

ArachnoGod
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I like the theory, could be something to it. I've found them mostly around limestone too but like you, I've also found them in granite areas which I don't think is going to produce an alkaline soil. I've found them in other metamorphic rock areas where I don't think the soil would be found to be alkaline either since alkaline soils tend to be associated with sedimentary rock like limestone. I'm thinking that what benefits the heros pedes when it comes to limestone is that the rock actually holds water and there are usually a lot of broken rocks everywhere to hide, along with cracks and caves that hold water and moisture. Metamorphic rock is not good at holding moisture like limestone is. But regardless of that, you might be on to something there, that mycosis itself might like acidic sub and most of the heros population seems to be around limestone, don't know who has the time to look into that lol.
 

josh_r

Arachnoprince
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yeah, limestone is highly alkaline, granite and other rock are typically more neutral i believe, but granite soil can be slightly alkaline depending on what has been washed into the soil from runoff and what not. i agree that i do find most populations around limestone or limestone/granite soils. i will be down around a VERY dense population when i go to arizona in 2 weeks. i should record what the soil type and rock type is for each pede i run across and see what is most common soil type prefered. would be interesting.

-josh
 

Galapoheros

ArachnoGod
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What do the arizonensis look like where you're going?..are the banded or solid? I only looked for pedes twice this year. It's just that I've got what I want locally here in tx, but only have two arizonensis. But I know I have a male and a female, but I miss the hunt a little. That'd be fun looking for arizonensis. btw, what are the snake hunting laws over there in AZ? I got my truck searched when I went to to W tx and got a warning from the game warden for not having a hunting license for having scorpions and a tarantula in my suitcase. You have to have a license here in tx to catch bugs, it's true! Most wardens don't care but they watch it in w tx, trying to discourage snake hunting. It has to do with trespassing and it's just awkward with people parked on the side of the road. The border thing and drugs plays a part here too I think. It kinda sucks out there now as far as that goes.

I've realized(ime) that it's the geographic formation that determines my luck. Granite and metamorphic rock, it's harder find them in those areas because there are less places for them to hide. It's not honeycombed and eroded in the way limestone is, it doesn't leach and create springs and caves anything like limestone that creates good hiding places for heros pedes. And the places there are for them to hide around metamorphic rock are not places I can move to see if they are there. In metamorphic rock around draws and creeks, it's usually huge round boulders I can't move and cracks in mountains the pedes are in that I could never check into. So I've only found a few in those areas that happened to be out and running around.
 
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josh_r

Arachnoprince
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the arizonensis i will be encountering will be the typical solids and the bandeds. the bandeds are my favorite. as for herping here, you need a hunting license and there are bag limits on each species.... it is usually 4 animals per license per person. there is no license for inverts and no bag limit.

when are you wanting to go to az? if you can make it in 2 weeks, we could meet up. i will be spending most of my time in the far southeast part of the state as that is where the dwarf tarantula species i want and the banded heros are found. i will PM you and give you my number.

-josh
 
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