Dairy cows in an enclosure with tailless whip scorpion?

[Rishloo]

Hi all, this is my first post here, so apologies if I don't provide sufficient information (or if I'm in the wrong forum!).

I'm in the market for a tailless whip scorpion. Tonight, I've set up an exo terra 12x12x24" terrarium for the enclosure, which contains 1" of cactus potting soil, 2" of coconut fibre on top, sphagnum moss, cork board, and some miscellaneous pieces of driftwood. I plan on adding some leaf and wood detritus. I am also interested in adding some small isopods to the terrarium, dairy cows in particular, and I was wondering if this would be acceptable in combination with the whip. Would this stress the whip out? Or would it even care, being a more arboreal animal that tends to avoid the ground? Would the dairy cow population be manageable? And would the dairy cow's humidity requirements be compatible with the whip (I've read it needs to be 70-80%)? I would be adding the isopods before picking up the whip, just to get their husbandry down properly.

Cheers.

 

[moricollins]

The porcellio laevis "dairy cow" Isopods will travel over every inch of the enclosure, up any pieces of bark, etc. They are also VERY highly motivated by protein and will, I assume, happily eat a molting whipscorpion. It's been a long time since I've kept whipscorpions but unless the common care has changed Isopods are completely unnecessary for an enclosure that is suitable for a whip.

Also, I would not classify these Isopods as "small Isopods" they get fairly large.

 

[Edan bandoot]

I only use springtails with my amblys, lots of amblys will eat the isopods and vice versa.

 

[Scorpiobsession]

I think the isopods would cause a problem since they are so food motivated and fast reproducing.

 

[Rishloo]

The porcellio laevis "dairy cow" Isopods will travel over every inch of the enclosure, up any pieces of bark, etc. They are also VERY highly motivated by protein and will, I assume, happily eat a molting whipscorpion. It's been a long time since I've kept whipscorpions but unless the common care has changed Isopods are completely unnecessary for an enclosure that is suitable for a whip.

Also, I would not classify these Isopods as "small Isopods" they get fairly large.

That's a good point about the molting/food motivation. Definitely won't be getting these, then.

I will look into springtails.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

If you really want to use isopods in with an amblypygi, the only ones that should even be considered are dwarf species that live entirely underground. Any other isopod is a terrible idea.

 

[Edan bandoot]

If you really want to use isopods in with an amblypygi, the only ones that should even be considered are dwarf species that live entirely underground. Any other isopod is a terrible idea.

the larger ones are good feeders for some sp

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

the larger ones are good feeders for some sp

I've heard there are some species that will eat isopods, but you still wouldn't want to have them living in there together - especially not a protein-hungry species like that.

 

[Edan bandoot]

I've heard there are some species that will eat isopods, but you still wouldn't want to have them living in there together - especially not a protein-hungry species like that.

maybe not, but im sure with the diversity of isopods that there would be some that could.

 

[moricollins]

maybe not, but im sure with the diversity of isopods that there would be some that could.

I wouldn't want to risk the life of my pet trying to find out...

 

[Edan bandoot]

I wouldn't want to risk the life of my pet trying to find out...

you don't need to risk anything to find an isopod that refuses to climb vertically and has a low protein requirement lol

 

[Beetles]

Well really any isopods in the right numbers and deprived of protein will snack on a molting invert. I'd probably go for a large species if armadillidium if you get pods. Large so they'll get snacked on and their population wont explode.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

Some isopods have harder armour than others too - not all are good candidates for eating even if you take the risk to the amblypygi out of the discussion.

In general, unless you have a species that is a specialist on isopods, I wouldn’t keep isopods and amblypygi together.

 

[UnivocalSquid86]

Hi all, this is my first post here, so apologies if I don't provide sufficient information (or if I'm in the wrong forum!).

I'm in the market for a tailless whip scorpion. Tonight, I've set up an exo terra 12x12x24" terrarium for the enclosure, which contains 1" of cactus potting soil, 2" of coconut fibre on top, sphagnum moss, cork board, and some miscellaneous pieces of driftwood. I plan on adding some leaf and wood detritus. I am also interested in adding some small isopods to the terrarium, dairy cows in particular, and I was wondering if this would be acceptable in combination with the whip. Would this stress the whip out? Or would it even care, being a more arboreal animal that tends to avoid the ground? Would the dairy cow population be manageable? And would the dairy cow's humidity requirements be compatible with the whip (I've read it needs to be 70-80%)? I would be adding the isopods before picking up the whip, just to get their husbandry down properly.

Cheers.

I have an enclosure with dairy cow isopods in my Damon enclosure. I added them to the enclosure about a year ago, and so far everything has been working out well. They’re quick to eat any remains of prey you add to your enclosure, and they’re fun to watch. I haven’t noticed any negative effects on the Damon, but I have several pieces of cork bark in a large enclosure, and immediately after a molt I just move them and whatever piece of cork bark they’re on into a temporary enclosure just in case there’s a loose cricket in the enclosure, I’m not sure if the isopods would try to prey on a freshly molted amblypygi, but better safe than sorry. I hope this helps.

 

[UnivocalSquid86]

I should also say that they reproduce fairly quickly, and the last time I replaced the substrate there were too many young isopods to count. But as long as you replace the substrate every few months overpopulation shouldn’t be a problem.