Couple of cool finds

[ErinM31]

No, I can't get ANY A.vulgare to breed successfully. Don't know why. However I do have a few that seem to be doing well in my mixed isopod cage meant for predatory rove beetles.

Perhaps this shall all be uninformative, things you have already checked, but as a biologist and interested in breeding this species myself, I've been doing some research on their nutritional needs, optimal diet and conditions, etc. Here is what I've found so far, maybe you will find something useful:

• They will not breed if their environment is too humid.
• They require calcium for their exoskeleton and prefer calcareous soil. Perhaps add some limestone or supplement with herp or other food high in calcium?
• They will eat their droppings to reabsorb copper lost and require proper gut microbiota to digest their food (for this reason the young especially may consume feces from adults). Perhaps supplement their substrate with trace amounts of copper and well-used substrate from another of your isopod cultures that is doing well (as their diet is similar, they may do well with the same microbiota but I could find limited information on this).
• We might do well to add soybean leaf litter, as a study found A. vulgare to grow faster, live longer and have higher fecundity (Faberi et al. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 84: 407-417, 2011). Granted, this was relative to pasture and sunflower, not hardwood trees, but offering our isopods a variety seems to me beneficial.

 

[Hisserdude]

Perhaps this shall all be uninformative, things you have already checked, but as a biologist and interested in breeding this species myself, I've been doing some research on their nutritional needs, optimal diet and conditions, etc. Here is what I've found so far, maybe you will find something useful:

• They will not breed if their environment is too humid.
• They require calcium for their exoskeleton and prefer calcareous soil. Perhaps add some limestone or supplement with herp or other food high in calcium?
• They will eat their droppings to reabsorb copper lost and require proper gut microbiota to digest their food (for this reason the young especially may consume feces from adults). Perhaps supplement their substrate with trace amounts of copper and well-used substrate from another of your isopod cultures that is doing well (as their diet is similar, they may do well with the same microbiota but I could find limited information on this).
• We might do well to add soybean leaf litter, as a study found A. vulgare to grow faster, live longer and have higher fecundity (Faberi et al. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 84: 407-417, 2011). Granted, this was relative to pasture and sunflower, not hardwood trees, but offering our isopods a variety seems to me beneficial.

Yeah, I've tried various different humidity levels, I think they died out due to low ventilation levels. This species likes to be well ventilated compared to other isopods.

As for calcium, Orin McMonigle says that he has tried giving his calcium supplements and they barely touch them, and he has cultured isopods for many years without calcium additives, and the isopods were just fine.

Trust me, there were a LOT of droppings for them to eat, the substrate had basically turned into frass by the time they started to die off.

Interesting, I would try to give them soybean leaves, if I knew where to get them. I have some A.vulgare that seem to be doing fairly well right now, they are even reproducing. Hopefully they will continue to do well.

Thanks for the information!

 

[Pipa]

cool isopod

 

[ErinM31]

As for calcium, Orin McMonigle says that he has tried giving his calcium supplements and they barely touch them, and he has cultured isopods for many years without calcium additives, and the isopods were just fine.

For calcium, egg shells and bones may not be edible or palatable to isopods (I believe this is what he tried). I mixed a pinch of calcium carbonate (bought for dusting herp food) into the substrate (perhaps not enough to make any difference but I would rather error in that direction) and I supplement with pieces of algae pellet made for fish that contain calcium and other vitamins. If nothing else my isopods find them tasty treats.

For copper, I have tried fresh kale and shitake mushrooms so far since these are natural sources but my isopods seem to prefer dry foods so I will try dehydrating some and crumbling it in like old leaves.

Trust me, there were a LOT of droppings for them to eat, the substrate had basically turned into frass by the time they started to die off.

Wow, I am a newb but it would seem to me that there could be such a thing as too much frass...

Interesting, I would try to give them soybean leaves, if I knew where to get them. I have some A.vulgare that seem to be doing fairly well right now, they are even reproducing. Hopefully they will continue to do well.

Thanks for the information!

I just bought some dry soybeans from the grocery store and am working on sprouting them before planting. I don't know how fast soy plants grow, but I imagine I'll be able to start collecting leaves in a couple months -- we'll see what my pillbugs think of them.

Am I going overboard and making things needlessly complicated? Probably, but it is in my nature to over-investigate things and I rather enjoy it!

 

[Noobcakes]

Am I going overboard and making things needlessly complicated? Probably, but it is in my nature to over-investigate things and I rather enjoy it!

No such thing! Personally, it is the best part of this hobby! I love going around locally and add inverts to my "local" communal tank. I have been experimenting with adding calcium and chitin to my tanks for a few months. I haven't noticed a huge difference that I can attribute to the additives. I will be using a control group starting very soon to see how/if the additional nutrients affect them.

 

[Hisserdude]

For calcium, egg shells and bones may not be edible or palatable to isopods (I believe this is what he tried). I mixed a pinch of calcium carbonate (bought for dusting herp food) into the substrate (perhaps not enough to make any difference but I would rather error in that direction) and I supplement with pieces of algae pellet made for fish that contain calcium and other vitamins. If nothing else my isopods find them tasty treats.

For copper, I have tried fresh kale and shitake mushrooms so far since these are natural sources but my isopods seem to prefer dry foods so I will try dehydrating some and crumbling it in like old leaves.



Wow, I am a newb but it would seem to me that there could be such a thing as too much frass...



I just bought some dry soybeans from the grocery store and am working on sprouting them before planting. I don't know how fast soy plants grow, but I imagine I'll be able to start collecting leaves in a couple months -- we'll see what my pillbugs think of them.

Am I going overboard and making things needlessly complicated? Probably, but it is in my nature to over-investigate things and I rather enjoy it!

I'd like to see how the kale and mushrooms work, could be an alternative to feeding them dead leaves!

Eh, all my other isopods's substrates have become frass, and they don't mind at all.

Let us know how your soybeans do, I wonder how the isopods will react to them.

 

[ErinM31]

I have some A.vulgare that seem to be doing fairly well right now, they are even reproducing. Hopefully they will continue to do well.

Glad to hear that and I hope so too!

 

[ErinM31]

I'd like to see how the kale and mushrooms work, could be an alternative to feeding them dead leaves!

Eh, all my other isopods's substrates have become frass, and they don't mind at all.

Let us know how your soybeans do, I wonder how the isopods will react to them.

Will do! I'll be sure to keep you posted!

 

[ErinM31]

No such thing! Personally, it is the best part of this hobby! I love going around locally and add inverts to my "local" communal tank. I have been experimenting with adding calcium and chitin to my tanks for a few months. I haven't noticed a huge difference that I can attribute to the additives. I will be using a control group starting very soon to see how/if the additional nutrients affect them.

That is smart! With everything I'm trying at once, I won't know what worked and what didn't. Once I get a sizeable colony, I'll see about doing some controlled experiments and recording the results.

What have you used to supplement calcium and chitin? Do please keep us updated on your supplementation results.