EricSJCA
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2016
- Messages
- 32
I have a temperate bioactive 40-gallon vivarium for gopher snakes I sometimes hibernate.
Earwigs (solid dark-brown ones smaller than Europeans) took over, and then all the isopods disappeared.
In my backyard, Armadillidium vulgare and Porcellio dilatatus thrive much more than earwigs, so I imagine something keeps earwigs populations more than isopods in nature.
Criteria:
However, anecdotal evidence from someone who used to keep small house geckos, says they would eat crickets and roaches but barely sampled the isopods in their 5-gallon tank. Of course, they're nocturnal and since they can easily climb to the ceiling, I think they can just use a small unobtrusive heat source and a little UV near the lid without me having to heat the whole tank.
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/...ecko-with-earwig-royalty-free-image/501450274
Earwigs (solid dark-brown ones smaller than Europeans) took over, and then all the isopods disappeared.
In my backyard, Armadillidium vulgare and Porcellio dilatatus thrive much more than earwigs, so I imagine something keeps earwigs populations more than isopods in nature.
Criteria:
- I don't want it to bother or potentially harm gopher snakes, especially while hibernating.
- It shouldn't need to be kept warm in substrate where the snakes might hibernate in the 40's or 50's .
- The lid isn't escape proof for anything that small enough that can climb or fly, so spiders that climb well do come and go. In fact, cellar spider show up and eat flies, moths, and gnats; and probably a few earwigs and isopods, but never enough to make a difference to the earwigs or isopods.
- I don't need it to completely eradicate earwigs; I just need the isopods to have a chance to stay established.
However, anecdotal evidence from someone who used to keep small house geckos, says they would eat crickets and roaches but barely sampled the isopods in their 5-gallon tank. Of course, they're nocturnal and since they can easily climb to the ceiling, I think they can just use a small unobtrusive heat source and a little UV near the lid without me having to heat the whole tank.
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/...ecko-with-earwig-royalty-free-image/501450274