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Cork bark + panels?

5.1K views 33 replies 10 participants last post by  Tijl  
#1 ·
Hey everyone, about to start a new build on an 18x18x24 for my sirensis. I have a couple pieces of cork bark that I like but I don’t really want to do the full mosaic of cork flats. Has anyone done cork panels with bark? Did it look good? Or do the flats make the panels look unnatural?
 
#4 ·
I have a silicone dot every 10 to 15cms, but it is not on glass, but on a construction panel, so I cannot check from the back. Maybe not very visible on the picture, but the middle protrudes more than the edges of the box. A next time I would leave some expansion margins around the edges.
 

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#5 ·
I've used cork panels in all my builds over the last few years. Never been more happy with the result + haven't got any issues in any of them..

This was my last build:

Hardscaped


Full grown


If you prefer video footage of the enclosure :



I can highly recommend corkpanels. Just make sure they are heattreated and not chemical or anything like that..

Cheers
 
#30 ·
I've used cork panels in all my builds over the last few years. Never been more happy with the result + haven't got any issues in any of them..

This was my last build:

Hardscaped


Full grown


If you prefer video footage of the enclosure :



I can highly recommend corkpanels. Just make sure they are heattreated and not chemical or anything like that..

Cheers
Do the cork boards that you use naturally have that texture (top picture) or did you add it somehow?
 
#21 ·
Even if you do a cork mosaic silicone should be used first to firmly attach at least a few of the larger pieces of cork directly to the glass. Rarely when only foam is used the background can separate from the back of the glass. I had this happen in my turtle tank and it was a crazy mess. I had to disassemble the whole tank to fix it. It’s also really important to make sure the frogs cannot get behind the background. I always fill the void space behind any cork flats completely with foam after the pieces are foamed in initially.
 
#26 ·
No necropsy. However I am a mycologist with over 40 years of experience (Ph.D. UC Davis). What the frog experienced would be the same as a person living in a small room where one wall is covered with a poisonous mold as is a major piece of furniture (underside of a large piece of driftwood) and not able to get out for fresh air. Volatile chemicals would kill quite effectively, especially for something that absorb through their skin.
 
#27 ·
With due respect, I would suggest that this coincidence isn't much in the way of evidence. Frog deaths are often overdetermined, so taking a look at the whole situation would at least enable a ranking of the possible factors in the death.

It would have been very valuable to have a necropsy done, and it is a little surprising that someone in your field wouldn't have gotten one done -- such a case would be novel (as far as I can see with the public search tools I have at hand). There are no references to the genus in either Wright and Whittaker or Mader's, which suggests that there are no cases in the herp vet literature. With the near ubiquity of decaying wood and cork in vivs, it seems this should be known if it is a live issue.

I found some references to the genus being a known member of normal amphibian microbiome, and even a suggestion that this is a possible zoonotic pathogen (here), but nothing that supports the inference in this situation. Do you know of any cases of the genus suspected in amphibian mortality?
 
#28 ·
With due respect, I would suggest that this coincidence isn't much in the way of evidence. Frog deaths are often overdetermined, so taking a look at the whole situation would at least enable a ranking of the possible factors in the death.

It would have been very valuable to have a necropsy done, and it is a little surprising that someone in your field wouldn't have gotten one done -- such a case would be novel (as far as I can see with the public search tools I have at hand). There are no references to the genus in either Wright and Whittaker or Mader's, which suggests that there are no cases in the herp vet literature. With the near ubiquity of decaying wood and cork in vivs, it seems this should be known if it is a live issue.

I found some references to the genus being a known member of normal amphibian microbiome, and even a suggestion that this is a possible zoonotic pathogen (here), but nothing that supports the inference in this situation. Do you know of any cases of the genus suspected in amphibian mortality?
The frog died several days before I found the fungus. I had buried it in the garden. I do not know, if I had been willing to spend the massive cost, whether testing would have been feasible. I would have had to find the dead frog immediately and freeze it for the tissues to not biodegrade too quickly. Testing would have had to analyze for chemicals produce by Acremonium. Has anyone tested for Acremonium in non-mammalian animals? Which chemicals to test for? Highly unlikely. Certainly there is nothing in the literature. People and other mammals are susceptible of course. But how many frog keepers are mycologists and who find Acremonium covering the cork and under driftwood of their frog tank? I have noted that you usually? always? require a necropsy. I have to trust my knowledge, experience, and training. All fungi produce a plethora of
With due respect, I would suggest that this coincidence isn't much in the way of evidence. Frog deaths are often overdetermined, so taking a look at the whole situation would at least enable a ranking of the possible factors in the death.

It would have been very valuable to have a necropsy done, and it is a little surprising that someone in your field wouldn't have gotten one done -- such a case would be novel (as far as I can see with the public search tools I have at hand). There are no references to the genus in either Wright and Whittaker or Mader's, which suggests that there are no cases in the herp vet literature. With the near ubiquity of decaying wood and cork in vivs, it seems this should be known if it is a live issue.

I found some references to the genus being a known member of normal amphibian microbiome, and even a suggestion that this is a possible zoonotic pathogen (here), but nothing that supports the inference in this situation. Do you know of any cases of the genus suspected in amphibian mortality?
chemicals. They do not have to grow on or in the animal (any species) to, in some case, be lethal. Acremonium is a known human pathogen.
 
#29 ·
The frog died several days before I found the fungus. I had buried it in the garden. I do not know, if I had been willing to spend the massive cost, whether testing would have been feasible. I would have had to find the dead frog immediately and freeze it for the tissues to not biodegrade too quickly. Testing would have had to analyze for chemicals produce by Acremonium. Has anyone tested for Acremonium in non-mammalian animals? Which chemicals to test for? Highly unlikely. Certainly there is nothing in the literature. People and other mammals are susceptible of course. But how many frog keepers are mycologists and who find Acremonium covering the cork and under driftwood of their frog tank? I have noted that you usually? always? require a necropsy. I have to trust my knowledge, experience, and training. All fungi produce a plethora of


chemicals. They do not have to grow on or in the animal (any species) to, in some case, be lethal. Acremonium is a known human pathogen.
I should add:I am not a biochemist.