Isopod keepers?

[moricollins]

From my experience from errors of my first go around with iso's, worth emphasizing that when kept as colonies they really do need to be mindfully fed. I was under the impression that they can be neglected like T's for weeks if too busy, but for a colony to really be happy and keep breeding, not start eating themselves and babies, providing plenty of dead leaves, rich soil, wood, all that is vitally important... and additionally, cuttlebone/ eggshells/ or anything with chitin (I give dried shrimp), really really make a difference... Rapashy wood or bug burger, veggies, all sorts of different things on a weekly basis really do something too.

When kept with reptiles they seem to be self sufficient on other hand, probably because reptiles poop and peep so much lol, not sure...

@u_bada gave a lot of good advice in this post.

 

[Arthroverts]

I agree completely with what @u bada said. Isopods are one of the groups that have caused me a lot of aggravation, simply because maintenance can be a lot of work, and they won't do well if ignored. Put the supplemental food in (they do need this; rotting wood and leaves are not enough), take it out before it molds, top up rotting wood and leaves, make sure there is no rampant fungus (this has crashed one or two colonies of mine), etc. I still haven't cracked the code on some supposedly "prolific" or "easy" species. A whole colony can rise and fall very quickly if you don't keep up with the care, if you know what I mean, at least from my experience.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[SamanthaMarikian]

I wouldn't put them in with a spider. If the numbers get out of control and certain species get hungry they will munch on your T if its molting, and some are quite protein hungry.

Tom Moran talked about this in a podcast with his scorpions. Found some corpses with a "safe" species.

You *can* use isopods though as food, especially for small slings. I think this is a widely under-rated use of isopods. Maybe not every meal forever as I've never seen the nutritional breakdown of isopods, but for very small slings its an option for sure, and setting up a breeding colony is easier than arguably ANY other potential feeder. They can't climb glass or acrylic, or fly away like some other feeders.

Fed a small dalmatian P scaber today to my microscopic black widow sling, and it happily took it.

My bearded dragon will munch them down as well.

I’ve heard of people using them as food but not as staples because they’re mostly shell and not as “meaty” as crickets, mealworms, and roaches so they’re mainly more calcium i guess?

 

[Venom1080]

From my experience from errors of my first go around with iso's, worth emphasizing that when kept as colonies they really do need to be mindfully fed. I was under the impression that they can be neglected like T's for weeks if too busy, but for a colony to really be happy and keep breeding, not start eating themselves and babies, providing plenty of dead leaves, rich soil, wood, all that is vitally important... and additionally, cuttlebone/ eggshells/ or anything with chitin (I give dried shrimp), really really make a difference... Rapashy wood or bug burger, veggies, all sorts of different things on a weekly basis really do something too.

When kept with reptiles they seem to be self sufficient on other hand, probably because reptiles poop and peep so much lol, not sure...

thanks for the info. what would you describe as nutrient rich soil?

 

[u bada]

Pretty much anything like organic compost. Decomposing black but not smelly soil seems to do the trick.

 

[Arthroverts]

This is the only time I've seen an Arachnopeon teaching an Arachnoemperor. Wow!

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Kazeres]

Ventilation and a dry zone is essential for many species from arid regions.

 

[richard22]

Isopods are one of my main interests in this sphere, along with roaches. I wouldn’t use grain food as it could mold easily and become infested with grain mites, but if the isopods are in high numbers they could eat it before that. Springtails could be a good asset in a humid isopod enclosure, the tiny white ones or larger gray or black ones but the white ones do best. Cucumber is a good vegetable if they eat it before it becomes gooey, potatoes are great to leave in for awhile but aren’t eaten as quickly, fiah flakes are devoured but also expensive compares to chicken feed. Bark, wood, rotting wood, dead leaves, fine leaf litter, mulch, branches, ecoearth, and even mosses are readily consumed. They seem to love congregating under bark or large wood pieces and they eat the leaf litter fast. All of this except for mulch you could collect from the forest and sterilize in an oven at 250F for 2 hours. You can also feed dead insects if you have some, they’ll love the extra protein. Pillbugs can take months to mature while sowbugs are faster from what I’ve heard. Common wild isopods (first two are pillbugs): Armadillidium Vulgare (large and matte darl grey) or Armadillidium Nasatum (smaller and striped grey with dark grey), Porcellio Scaber (pretty big and dark grey with a rough back and 2 lungs), T. Rathkii (like Scaber but more mottled brown and 5 sets of lungs instead of 2), Porcellionoides Prionus or Floria (small steel blue with long legs and a fast speed), Oniscus Asellus (like Scaber but shinier), and Philoscia Muscorum (small olive green with black head and long legs, fast speed.) The last one doesn’t seem to breed in captivity often and is temperature sensitive. Only Prionus or Floria can handle drier enclosures like the Spanish Isopods but need a moist retreat, same goes for giant canyon isopoda but they grow very slowly.

 

[moricollins]

I've noticed lately that my colonies LOVE lump charcoal pieces, the Isopods are always hanging out on them.

 

[donniedark0]

Its been a long time since I kept isopods, really looking forward to getting back into it. They are cute little critters lol. Only have 1 set up right now but I gotta get the hang of it first before expanding.

 

[Arthroverts]

Its been a long time since I kept isopods, really looking forward to getting back into it. They are cute little critters lol. Only have 1 set up right now but I gotta get the hang of it first before expanding.

I dunno if you ever get the hang of it fully, unless you mean the maintenance/feeding part. Each species (and even colony sometimes) is different and will respond differently to certain parts of your care; oftentimes when I see people think they got the "hang of it" is when things go south, ha ha.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[SamanthaMarikian]

Also i wouldnt say theyre high maintenence once u get them set up. I wouldnt say any of my colonies are high maintenence once they are established. I just feed them n mist every other week or so. I think the key is just getting your enclosure setups down, especially with ventilation. This goes for my pretty much all of my isopods except for my smaller colonies under 30 since theyre still in temporary setups.

 

[SamanthaMarikian]

I've noticed lately that my colonies LOVE lump charcoal pieces, the Isopods are always hanging out on them.

My A peraccae (idk if i spelled it right) and my Alloniscus perconvexus especially LOVED charcoal. Where do you get the charcoal from?

 

[moricollins]

My A peraccae (idk if i spelled it right) and my Alloniscus perconvexus especially LOVED charcoal. Where do you get the charcoal from?

I bought mine at a hardware store. Then broke it up with a hammer

 

[u bada]

yeah mine seem to appreciate the charcoal. I have the big chunks you use for growing orchids. I first started using them for springtails then when transferring them to different colonies of things found out roaches and isopods also hang out and eat things that grow on them, or at least I think.