Isopod Breeding

Edoggerson

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 26, 2021
Messages
52
Hello,

I've had my Porcellio Laevis colony for about a month now, and have yet to notice any babies crawling about. However, I did notice that two were doing it dirty under a piece of cork bark.. What should I expect from this? What's the gestation period for most isopods? I know they're marsupial, and that the pregnant ones carry them for a bit, just not sure how long it's gonna be until I've got little ones crawling around!
 

Scorpiobsession

Arachnobaron
Joined
Mar 1, 2021
Messages
301
These isopods are known to be fast reproducers, if they have food most of the time and it's not in the enclosure for more than 24 hours (to prevent pests) then they reproduce quicker. I'm not sure on the exact gestation period but you should get some babies soon.
 

Edoggerson

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 26, 2021
Messages
52
These isopods are known to be fast reproducers, if they have food most of the time and it's not in the enclosure for more than 24 hours (to prevent pests) then they reproduce quicker. I'm not sure on the exact gestation period but you should get some babies soon.
I normally add dried baby shrimp (they love it!) once every two days, then let them have leaf litter the rest of the time. I'm hoping for the best! Is it off if they're not aggregating and huddling up very close to each other? they formerly would bundle up with each other under cork bark, and now I hardly find them doing so.
 

Scorpiobsession

Arachnobaron
Joined
Mar 1, 2021
Messages
301
Here's a care sheet I found on their care, I would add cuttlebone (if you didn't already) and some cucumber every few feedings.
 

isopodgeek

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 21, 2021
Messages
126
These isopods breed fast. I care for mine as follows and am having lots of success.

1. Mist 3 times a week.
2. Provide dirt, decaying leaves and wood and eggshells/Cuttlefish bone.
3. I feed carrots, EZ botanicals isopod and springtail food and meat.

I currently have them in a 6 quart container with 30 ventilation holes on the lid and around the sides.
Porcelio Laevis breeds very fast. You show see mancae( baby isopods) in about 4-6 weeks.

I have had mine for 2 months and went from 10 to 50 during that time period.
 

Edoggerson

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 26, 2021
Messages
52
These isopods breed fast. I care for mine as follows and am having lots of success.

1. Mist 3 times a week.
2. Provide dirt, decaying leaves and wood and eggshells/Cuttlefish bone.
3. I feed carrots, EZ botanicals isopod and springtail food and meat.

I currently have them in a 6 quart container with 30 ventilation holes on the lid and around the sides.
Porcelio Laevis breeds very fast. You show see mancae( baby isopods) in about 4-6 weeks.

I have had mine for 2 months and went from 10 to 50 during that time period.
I do give them plenty of crushed up eggshell sprinkled about, and occasionally (between weeks) a chunk of Morning Wood. They dont seem to eat it very much, even in small quantities.. they really go nuts for dried shrimp. Maybe carrot and zucchini will be something I try down the road. I keep them in a six quart container and leave one edge of the lid just the slightest bit ajar, guarding it with a little bit of mesh. I have a larger tank for when they start to visibly increase in population, which is better ventilated and will not allow them the chance to escape (my 6-quart enclosure has opportunities to escape, but I have kept a very close eye on it and none have gotten out.. It's not like they try when their current habitat is perfectly comfortable.) I've only ever seen two breeding on one occasion while I watched (it's not a fetish!) ...So I'm hoping for the best!

As for springtails, they've really been booming like crazy. They'd formerly taken trips around the edge of the tank, only huddling up in small clusters. They're now at least tripled in population and running all around the tank. I was skeptical about rice as a substitute for yeast, but damn was I wrong. Im going to poke ventilation holes eventually due to the mold that the rice grows (the springtails love to eat off of the main rice grain!) I don't want the lack of oxygen causing a holocaust for the little guys. Once they fill up the tank, I'm going to transfer a sizable colony to the isopod tank.
 
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isopodgeek

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 21, 2021
Messages
126
I do give them plenty of crushed up eggshell sprinkled about, and occasionally (between weeks) a chunk of Morning Wood. They dont seem to eat it very much, even in small quantities.. they really go nuts for dried shrimp. Maybe carrot and zucchini will be something I try down the road. I keep them in a six quart container and leave one edge of the lid just the slightest bit ajar, guarding it with a little bit of mesh. I have a larger tank for when they start to visibly increase in population, which is better ventilated and will not allow them the chance to escape (my 6-quart enclosure has opportunities to escape, but I have kept a very close eye on it and none have gotten out.. It's not like they try when their current habitat is perfectly comfortable.) I've only ever seen two breeding on one occasion while I watched (it's not a fetish!) ...So I'm hoping for the best!

As for springtails, they've really been booming like crazy. They'd formerly taken trips around the edge of the tank, only huddling up in small clusters. They're now at least tripled in population and running all around the tank. I was skeptical about rice as a substitute for yeast, but damn was I wrong. Im going to poke ventilation holes eventually due to the mold that the rice grows (the springtails love to eat off of the main rice grain!) I don't want the lack of oxygen causing a holocaust for the little guys. Once they fill up the tank, I'm going to transfer a sizable colony to the isopod tank.
I am glad you are having lots of success with your springtails. The only thing I don't like about your response is "I don't want the lack of oxygen causing a holocaust for the little guys." I my self am jewish and don't find this funny. Can you please edit that out of your response? I don't like it and moderators certainly won't like it.
 

Edoggerson

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 26, 2021
Messages
52
I am glad you are having lots of success with your springtails. The only thing I don't like about your response is "I don't want the lack of oxygen causing a holocaust for the little guys." I my self am jewish and don't find this funny. Can you please edit that out of your response? I don't like it and moderators certainly won't like it.
Holocaust is a real word that doesn't specifically site the genocide of Jews. If I said "Holocaust" with a capital H, then I'd be citing what you're thinking of. I'm also Jewish with grandparents who escaped France during the Holocaust, and didn't think once about referencing the final solution when talking about my springtails. We all get lost in translation sometimes.
 

isopodgeek

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 21, 2021
Messages
126
Holocaust is a real word that doesn't specifically site the genocide of Jews. If I said "Holocaust" with a capital H, then I'd be citing what you're thinking of. I'm also Jewish with grandparents who escaped France during the Holocaust, and didn't think once about referencing the final solution when talking about my springtails. We all get lost in translation sometimes.
Oh I understand. Nice to see a fellow Jew on Arachnoboards and a Jewish invertebrate keeper alike :)
 

goliathusdavid

Arachnobaron
Joined
Oct 27, 2020
Messages
487
Hello,

I've had my Porcellio Laevis colony for about a month now, and have yet to notice any babies crawling about. However, I did notice that two were doing it dirty under a piece of cork bark.. What should I expect from this? What's the gestation period for most isopods? I know they're marsupial, and that the pregnant ones carry them for a bit, just not sure how long it's gonna be until I've got little ones crawling around!
I agree with @isopodgeek in regards to promoting breeding. I do, however, want to make a clarification that I feel is important. Isopods are NOT marsupials. In any way, shape, or form. They possess a marsupium (a water filled chamber formed by oostegites in which the fertilized eggs develop) but this is COMPLETELY different than the marsupium pouch of the animals we call marsupials (which houses birthed but undeveloped embyros that attach on to the teats of the mother). Marsupials refer specifically to MAMMALS in the infraclass Marsupialia under the clade Metatheria. Isopods belong in an entirely separate phylum, and their reproductive processes are distinct.
I know this seems like an obnoxious correct, but I believe it is highly important to be scientifically accurate about this (especially when you are trying to breed). I'm also currently in the midst of a genetic sequencing paper on evolutionary relationships of marsupials and monotremes, so am a little passionate :rofl:
 

Edoggerson

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 26, 2021
Messages
52
I agree with @isopodgeek in regards to promoting breeding. I do, however, want to make a clarification that I feel is important. Isopods are NOT marsupials. In any way, shape, or form. They possess a marsupium (a water filled chamber formed by oostegites in which the fertilized eggs develop) but this is COMPLETELY different than the marsupium pouch of the animals we call marsupials (which houses birthed but undeveloped embyros that attach on to the teats of the mother). Marsupials refer specifically to MAMMALS in the infraclass Marsupialia under the clade Metatheria. Isopods belong in an entirely separate phylum, and their reproductive processes are distinct.
I know this seems like an obnoxious correct, but I believe it is highly important to be scientifically accurate about this (especially when you are trying to breed). I'm also currently in the midst of a genetic sequencing paper on evolutionary relationships of marsupials and monotremes, so am a little passionate :rofl:
That's good to know. I wasn't entirely under the impression that isopods nurture their offspring in the same way that say, a Tasmanian devil does, but I'd never seen people make that distinction between marsupials and having a marsupium. Thank you tons!
 

Matts inverts

Arachnoangel
Joined
Jan 17, 2021
Messages
866
I got porcillio laevis as my first isopods and cubaris murina and the cubaris had babies first and for all my porcillio cultures, it takes two or three months
 

Ponerinecat

Arachnobaron
Joined
Apr 3, 2020
Messages
333
Heres some information that I recently learned myself and that you will probably find useful. Female isopods are most receptive to males halfway through a molt, when their exoskeleton is still pliable. After hardening, males will generally not be able to transfer spermatophores to the female. The gestation of eggs is also directly linked to molting. Most isopods in the hobby, if not all, can carry sperm around without fertilizing their eggs. This means that witnessing mating will not necessarily mean immediate offspring, but it also means females are capable of reproducing long after insemination. The eggs are transferred to the marsupium and also fertilized directly after a molt has finished. You can expect gestation to begin when you see an inseminated female has shed the upper half of her exoskeleton. Another thing to note is that while many people assume the act of an isopod riding its partner is mating, this is not the case. Isopods riding their partners are males trying to stick as close to the female as possible until she is rendered receptive via the shedding of the lower half of her exoskeleton. Actual copulation is very quick and ends rapidly, usually triggering the female to finish her molt. Hope that answered some aspects of your question.
 
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