# Zebra pillbugs!



## Aquarimax (Sep 21, 2015)

I just noticed the first offspring in my zebra pillbug enclosure, and just had to share the news! There are at least two broods by the look of them. I tried to get a pic, but they are just too tiny to focus on...








Here is one of the adults


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## Beary Strange (Sep 22, 2015)

Aquarimax said:


> I just noticed the first offspring in my zebra pillbug enclosure, and just had to share the news! There are at least two broods by the look of them. I tried to get a pic, but they are just too tiny to focus on...
> 
> ---------- Post added 09-21-2015 at 08:10 PM ----------
> 
> ...


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## pyro fiend (Sep 22, 2015)

i cant wait to see mine having babies i have them in with some oranges.. and they seem to be out alot more then the orange  love it ^_^ i think my nhandu killed the ones i had in her cage -.-


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## Aquarimax (Sep 22, 2015)

@Belle Fury Thanks for the help with the tag! I missed that the "]"was missing. : ) 

My zebra pill bugs have springtails in with them too...but on purpose. Have springtails cause a problem for yours?

@pyro fiend
What kind of ventilation do you have in your combined Spanish orange/ zebra pill bug enclosure? I'm just curious as I have read that Armadillidium species need a lot more than Porcellio species. 




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## pyro fiend (Sep 22, 2015)

Aquarimax said:


> @Belle Fury Thanks for the help with the tag! I missed that the "]"was missing. : )
> 
> My zebra pill bugs have springtails in with them too...but on purpose. Have springtails cause a problem for yours?
> 
> ...


Just top venting, i actually misted a bit too much last time (use a gallon sized pump sprayer found in most garden centers) but figured it was rly hot that week and would evaporate(sadly cold front came in), iv notices my zebras stay near top layer on the leafs (oak and indian almond) and the orange stay just bearly above water level tho  iv only seen the orange out when i mix the sub up more because i move layers around

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## pannaking22 (Sep 23, 2015)

Congrats on the babies!

You may want to be careful keeping two species together, pyro fiend, because eventually one will likely outcompete the other for resources. If they get along though, that would be great!

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## Tenevanica (Sep 23, 2015)

I've been wondering about these for a while! I was just about to PM you and ask about them. Congratulations!

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## pyro fiend (Sep 23, 2015)

pannaking22 said:


> Congrats on the babies!
> 
> You may want to be careful keeping two species together, pyro fiend, because eventually one will likely outcompete the other for resources. If they get along though, that would be great!


Oh im aware it was kinda a last minute things, and theres like 6 of each in there. I was going to use 2 dif containers.. But apparently my dog grabbed one off the counter and kinda destroyed it  so figured id see where this goes, lol. They seem to keep to thwir own areas so far tho


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## pannaking22 (Sep 23, 2015)

pyro fiend said:


> Oh im aware it was kinda a last minute things, and theres like 6 of each in there. I was going to use 2 dif containers.. But apparently my dog grabbed one off the counter and kinda destroyed it  so figured id see where this goes, lol. They seem to keep to thwir own areas so far tho


Fair enough! It should all lead to an interesting experiment if nothing else  Hope it all goes well for you!


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## Aquarimax (Sep 23, 2015)

Thanks! PM me or ask me here, whichever you prefer, I'll be happy to tell you what I can. : )


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## blacksheep998 (Oct 3, 2015)

Very nice! I'm always happy to see someone else doing well with isopods!

I've got zebras too, and it took me a long time to get their conditions right. As others have said, they need more ventilation than Porcellio species. I sadly killed off the first few batches of offspring that mine produced because the substrate was too wet. But finally they're breeding well. I've got a handful of adults (the few survivors from the early offspring batches) and now there's probably about 70 mid-sized juveniles too.

Edit: Forgot to add a picture

http://i.imgur.com/jTcVruq.jpg

Edit 2: Ok picture won't attach for some reason so here's a URL.

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## pyro fiend (Oct 4, 2015)

blacksheep998 said:


> Very nice! I'm always happy to see someone else doing well with isopods!
> 
> I've got zebras too, and it took me a long time to get their conditions right. As others have said, they need more ventilation than Porcellio species. I sadly killed off the first few batches of offspring that mine produced because the substrate was too wet. But finally they're breeding well. I've got a handful of adults (the few survivors from the early offspring batches) and now there's probably about 70 mid-sized juveniles too.
> 
> ...


woah big picture lmao..thank god ab resizes [was huge when edited it for u lol].. im jelly.. im thinking about making a little well vented cage for them, with cork and leaf litter and maybe a false bottom to keep humidity up. this is very encouraging

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## edgeofthefreak (Oct 4, 2015)

Wow these are gorgeous!

I have a tank of mixed isopods from a nearby forest. Just basic grey and/or peach coloured ones. Would love to have another tank right beside it for these guys.

In the pic linked by blacksheep998, there's a massive one in the background. Bottom right corner. It's deeper in the background, yet bigger than any of the others. What is the approximate max size for these guys?


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## blacksheep998 (Oct 4, 2015)

All the ones you see on the bark are young ones, about half of their full length. At adult size these guys are just slightly larger than Armadillidium vulgare and A. nasatum.

Right now I've got 4 adults, 2 near-adults, 70-ish of the half-sized ones in the picture, and some little newborns I just spotted a few days ago. No idea how many of them there are, I've only seen a couple but they're so tiny that they're really hard to spot at all, much less get any kind of accurate count of them..

I just took a pic of one of my largest adults, lets see if it will attach properly this time.




Edit: Woo! It worked this time!

Also I've found that a sterilite plastic shoebox container with a loosely fitting lid and a couple small holes punched in it is enough ventilation. No need for anything fancy like false bottoms. I give them water once every couple days with a spray bottle, and usually I try to pick a spot where the substrate looks particularly dry to spray. I don't just go spraying the whole container, I try to give them a moisture gradient so they can find the level of humidity that they like. Typically I find more of them in the dry spots than the wet ones, so I think that's just what they like.

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## Aquarimax (Oct 6, 2015)

blacksheep998 said:


> All the ones you see on the bark are young ones, about half of their full length. At adult size these guys are just slightly larger than Armadillidium vulgare and A. nasatum.
> 
> Right now I've got 4 adults, 2 near-adults, 70-ish of the half-sized ones in the picture, and some little newborns I just spotted a few days ago. No idea how many of them there are, I've only seen a couple but they're so tiny that they're really hard to spot at all, much less get any kind of accurate count of them..
> 
> I give them water once every couple days with a spray bottle, and usually I try to pick a spot where the substrate looks particularly dry to spray. I don't just go spraying the whole container, I try to give them a moisture gradient so they can find the level of humidity that they like. Typically I find more of them in the dry spots than the wet ones, so I think that's just what they like.


I agree with you completely:

I provide water in a very similar way...making sure some of the substrate is always fairly dry, with a moist spot somewhere. I think that is a key...many of us are used to low ventilation and very damp substrates for other isopods, but this species doesn't do well that way. 


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## Tenevanica (Oct 19, 2015)

I saw that these are available on bugsincyberspace.com. http://shop.bugsincyberspace.com/Zebra-Pillbugs-bic716.htm
Did Peter buy from you, or did he get them from another source?


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## Aquarimax (Oct 19, 2015)

Peter had them in stock quite a while before I got mine. [emoji3] I bought my initial stock in June 2015 from Orin McOnigle (Elytra and Antenna) from a posting in Arachnoboards classifieds. 



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## blacksheep998 (Oct 19, 2015)

Mine came from Peter, I was one of the first buyers when he began stocking them.


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## pannaking22 (Oct 20, 2015)

Hoping to get some of these guys before it gets cold out. Working on getting their enclosure set up this week and then I'll get them (and a couple other species hopefully!) next week.


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## Hisserdude (Oct 20, 2015)

Apparently Kyle kandillian has a "Dalmatian" morph of this species, but boy is he charging a fortune for them! 12 for $200!


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## Aquarimax (Oct 20, 2015)

Hisserdude said:


> Apparently Kyle kandillian has a "Dalmatian" morph of this species, but boy is he charging a fortune for them! 12 for $200!


Are there photos of these? They must be a sight to behold.


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## Hisserdude (Oct 20, 2015)

Unfortunately no, he has not released any pictures to the public. They must be very beautiful to be $50 less than a pair of Macropanesthia rhinoceros, lol!


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## pannaking22 (Oct 21, 2015)

I wonder if that's a typo and he meant $20? I certainly wouldn't mind some pictures!


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## Hisserdude (Oct 21, 2015)

pannaking22 said:


> I wonder if that's a typo and he meant $20? I certainly wouldn't mind some pictures!


Hmm, that would explain a lot. I agree, I would love to see some pics!


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## pannaking22 (Oct 21, 2015)

I'll shoot him a message and see what he says. Maybe I'll get lucky and get a picture too!


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## Lucanus95 (Oct 22, 2015)

Hisserdude said:


> Hmm, that would explain a lot. I agree, I would love to see some pics!


It's not a typo and the specimen I saw looked cool


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## pyro fiend (Oct 22, 2015)

Lucanus95 said:


> It's not a typo and the specimen I saw looked cool


U sure? Because 200 seems hellatiously steap


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## Aquarimax (Nov 7, 2015)

I finally got a video with a view of the juveniles:[YOUTUBE]jghvrWwJiFo[/YOUTUBE]

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## blacksheep998 (Nov 7, 2015)

What are all the small white things in the video? Springtails?

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## Aquarimax (Nov 7, 2015)

blacksheep998 said:


> What are all the small white things in the video? Springtails?


Indeed they are. Sinella curviseta, I believe. They really love that cork bark! 


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## blacksheep998 (Mar 15, 2016)

Aquarimax said:


> Are there photos of these? They must be a sight to behold.


I have a guess at what they might look like. I've been watching this guy lurk among my zebras for awhile now. Finally got a good picture of him.

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## Aquarimax (Mar 16, 2016)

That is a cool-looking specimen! This species seems to have a lot of variability. There's an isopods group on Facebook where a zebra pillbugs breeder has isolated a pale grey strain. I can't wait until the orange zebras come along!

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## Marika (Mar 17, 2016)

I also keep these, I bought 10 last fall and now I have...well, a lot more : D. Really cool-looking species.

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## MWAInverts (Mar 18, 2016)

Very nice pics. I'm most likely going to pick these guys up soon as well. Very cool specimens!

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## pannaking22 (Mar 24, 2016)

I think mine are finally reaching adulthood so now I just need them to breed!


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## ErinM31 (Mar 24, 2016)

pannaking22 said:


> I think mine are finally reaching adulthood so now I just need them to breed!


Good luck! Let us know if you find any particulars that encourage successful breeding!


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## pannaking22 (Mar 24, 2016)

Absolutely!


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## Aquarimax (Mar 24, 2016)

ErinM31 said:


> Good luck! Let us know if you find any particulars that encourage successful breeding!


Mine have been breeding like rabbits since they first started... they are definitely one of the more prolific isopods I keep.
They like ventilation...I have two ~1.5" holes cut in the lids and covered with tight-weave chiffon fabric, with a few holes drilled in the sides of the containers and covered in the same way. I give them plenty of oak leaves, aspen shavings, and hickory chips, and a few pieces of cuttlebone. They get Omega One fish food pellets about twice a week, and small bits of fruits and veggies once a week or so. I keep them dryer than most isopods, but I do mist the enclosure (usually just in one spot) about twice per week. Oh, and they LOVE to hang out under cork bark, so they always have a slab or two in the enclosure.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Informative 1


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