# Spanish Orange Isopods



## Gsc (Oct 10, 2005)

My friend took a really nice picture of a Spanish Orange Isopod...figured I'd share it.  These things are great "clean up crews" and once established breed like rabbits!


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## ScorpDemon (Oct 10, 2005)

great pic.. i love mine.. thanks for hookin me up Graham


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## xelda (Oct 11, 2005)

Kudos to your friend.  Those little guys are hard to get a good picture of.


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## Gsc (Oct 11, 2005)

Yes, my friend spent a long time trying to get a clear picture of them... he has alot more patience than I do!


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## NiGHTS (Oct 11, 2005)

Wow, nice picture!  It took me forever to just get a crappy picture of these lil guys.  ...definitely not the most photogenic lil guys, but they are indeed very kool.  I was just noticing, the other day, how many babies I have running around in my cage =)  Thanks again Graham.


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## Gsc (Oct 11, 2005)

Glad they bred for you NiGHTS- Once you get them established, they go crazy... I thought I had wasted my money when I bought my initial group, but they've earned their keep many times over!  They are just fun little critters.


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## moricollins (Oct 11, 2005)

do the tanks need to be really humid for these to survive?


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## Gsc (Oct 11, 2005)

Hey moricollins... Here is how I keep them...

10 gallon tank (no top needed)
1"-2" peat/soil on the bottom.
3"-4" of rotten leaf litter on top of the soil.

I place a few large chuncks of cork bark on the surface (they like to hide on the underside).

I keep mine semi moist...pour alittle water in a corner if I think they are way too dry...if not, I mist lightly a few times a week.... the deep substrate creates a humidity gradient...they can go where they like...  seems to be working great.

I toss in some veggies (the same stuff i feed my roach colonies) and whenever I find a dead cricket in a cage, I'll toss it in there also...  They'll eat about anything- making them ideal scavengers/Clean-up crew for semi moist cages like millipedes, some species of large tarantulas and big humid species of scorpions like Emperors...


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## moricollins (Oct 11, 2005)

thanks Graham, I've been thinking about adding some isopods to my centipede enclosures.


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## Gsc (Oct 11, 2005)

I've never tried them in centipede enclosures...don't know if they'll make it or not...start a colony and once it's established, then take your extras and "experiment"...it would be an expensive mistake if your 'pedes went to town... 

or even better yet...try adding a few rolly pollies from your yard...see how the 'pedes react... 

Good luck either way...they are great little bugs!  Mucjh easier than I ever thought!


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## Stylopidae (Oct 11, 2005)

I'm trying to start a colony of rolie polies and They haven't bred yet. I started them nearly a month ago...does it take longer than that?  :?


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## Gsc (Oct 11, 2005)

Mine took about 3 months to get going really good...hopefully you'll see some results here soon...try the leaf litter method like I posted baove if your not getting any results...it will not hurt.

There was an article on the in Invertebrates Magazine by Orin McMonigle (thats who I got my initial stock from and alot of my breeding tips) some time ago...


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## xelda (Oct 11, 2005)

I keep a bag of spoiled vegetables in my fridge and then feed the slimiest, yuckiest pieces to my isopods.  They love it.  I literally see a ton of them surfacing to get dibs on the slimy veggies.  I've tried other foods, but the spoiled vegetables seem to elicit the most immediate response.


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## NiGHTS (Oct 12, 2005)

Mine seem to love lettuce.  Any type of lettuce.  They go crazy for even the freshest lettuce....although they don't completely finish off the thicker parts near the base.

As for breeding...add some leaf litter to the top.  It will be harder to view the babies, but they'll be there.


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## Farom (Oct 13, 2005)

Think they might be compatable with beetle larvae?

  Thanks,
Andrew


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## Elytra and Antenna (Oct 13, 2005)

Evil Cheshire said:
			
		

> I'm trying to start a colony of rolie polies and They haven't bred yet. I started them nearly a month ago...does it take longer than that?  :?


 If you collected them outside there's a decent chance they'll never get going.
 The orange isopods are a cultured strain that has been in captivity at least ten years and so are fast breeding and easy to keep in captivity. The only thing faster and easier is the gray form of the same stock (same stock, not just same species). They are the same species as the very common adventive Porcellio found across the US but the original stock of this culture supposedly came from a guy in spain who also had an iridovirus (blue) colony.


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## NiGHTS (Oct 13, 2005)

Does anyone know where to get the blue isopods that Orin mentioned?  I've seen pictures, but have never come across any for sale.  I've also heard of a puple-pinkish type of isopod as well.

As for the breeding of wild caught isopods...it is definitely harder than with the oranges, but it is possible.  I keep mine in a small container (about 6 inches around).  They didn't really do much reproducing when I just had a few; but once you get about 100 or so in there, they really seem to get busy.  Maybe its just improved luck in numbers...but they seem to like it better living with tons of buddies.


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## Gsc (Oct 13, 2005)

Check with Orin...if anyone knows, it'd be him!  GREAT GUY!  They would be awesome!


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## ROACHMAN (Oct 13, 2005)

*Orange And Blue  Isopods  !!!!!!!!!*

my friend who lives in spain sent me the orange and the blues to me as a gift many many moon's ago. I kept them and breed them for 1 year and give some to Orin and he gave or sold or traded them that's how you all have them lol as far as I know I am the only one with blues I did send some out to a few good friends but I think they died and yes I am not selling at this time so enjoy the orange ones for now  ROACHMAN
 :}  :}  :}  :}  :}


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## ScorpDemon (Oct 15, 2005)

My orange isopods seem to really like watermelons.. green ones.. green meaning not ripe at all.. i just put them some slices in before the watermelons start developing seeds, and just leave them in there and they have ben breeding like crazy.. my closet stays pretty warm, i kep them on a shelf in there and man.. they are doing great.. Thanks Graham. My roommate wanted to try out some new lenses he got for his camera, so we got some of the smaller things in our collections out and had a photo shoot.. spanish orange isopods were on the list of medels in the photo shoot.. heres a pic.


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## Elytra and Antenna (Oct 15, 2005)

The blue ones look very cool but unfortunately they are not a color variety and are difficult to maintain. Also you have to maintain a gray culture since the infected ones die. The ones that turn blue are infected with an iridovirus.


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## bugmankeith (Jun 26, 2006)

Can these survive in the wild with the regular gray isopods?


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## Gigas (Jun 26, 2006)

i'll say yes but here temperature requirements are different, the orange ones may suffer adversly at greys temperature yet the grays may benefiet from the orange temperature levels


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## OldHag (Jun 26, 2006)

I keep my oranges, greys, rolly pollies, sowbugs, woodlice and all of the above at the same temps, in the same room and they breed like wildfire!!
I got some from Graham a few months back and now Im over run with those orange babies!!
I have wild caught rolly pollies that are popping out babies so fast I can't get rid of them fast enought to keep the populations under control!!

I also have a cool looking wood lice that is a brick red with mottled greys in it that I found ONE Of.  I now have THOUSANDS of them   They range in color from bright orange to brick red to a dusty grey/red. Very pretty varigated colorings.  They "seem" to be breeding true now. Ive been separating the colored ones from the greys and now the babies all seem to be of the colored variety. Maybe Ill make a post about them complete with pictures...


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## bugmankeith (Jun 26, 2006)

I too have found brick red and orange sowbugs, one even yellow with gray spots.  







I never keep the ones I find, if they are left in the wild hopefully they breed to make more of that color.


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## zinto (Jun 27, 2006)

Paul at Planet Porcellio ( http://www.angelfire.com/planet/porcellio/pix/ ) is an awesome guy and has a wide variety of isopods available.  His passion for these little guys is amazing and therefore has profound knowledge of them.  I've got a culture of the Grey Porcellio in with my millipedes.  They're breeding like rabbits!  Really interesting little guys though.


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## IguanaMama (Jun 27, 2006)

Hey Michelle, I'd really like some of those brick red ones, why don't you bring some of those to Arachnocon, I'm sure you'll find something at my table you'd like to trade with me for them--spider earrings?  a big rubber B. smithi??


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## bugmankeith (Jun 27, 2006)

Ok I was wrong, the picture I posted is of the "Salt & Pepper" coloration. Philoscia muscorum are common by me also.


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## kraken (Jun 27, 2006)

A guy I know local has blue isopods he found.He has swarms of them now,but they are infected with a virus,that what makes them blue....heres the thread
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=61298&highlight=blue+isopods
I may be able to email him and get a pic or get him to post one


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## rattler_mt (Jun 27, 2006)

the normal purpleish grey ones found around here are easy to establish(after some trial and error). i make sure the soil aint to wet and give them magnolia leaves(which is odd since magnolias are not native to MT) they love the leaves and eat everything but the large veins and stems. i discovered this by accident when i put the leaves(normally used for leaf litter in my dart frog and mantella tanks) in so that i could easily transfer the lil guys from their tank to the frog tanks as  i use them as a feeder.......a month later, "skeleton" leaves and babies everywhere

we have some mottled ones and "rolly polly's" also, going to try them next


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## BurrowDweller (Jun 27, 2006)

When I was younger my cousins and I use to catch tons of isopods around my grandparents house. Curious thing was that the house was made out of red brick and a high percentage of the isopods we caught around the foundation were a reddish color. They still own the house so the next time I am up that way I will have to see if I can find some again.


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