isopod/millipede care in vivarium

Venom1080

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thinking of setting up a viv for practice with live plants. obviously have to put something in, so why not isopods? would a substrate of eco earth and peat moss be okay? along with some natural wood?
what about for the millipedes? ive read they need special stuff in their substrate as thats their main food source. wont be anything exotic, just some small wild caught ones.
thanks for reading. :)
 

WeightedAbyss75

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Sounds about right. If you set up millipede sb with something like crushed egg shells or any other special sub stuff, I'm sure the isopods would appreciate it :D The natural wood in my experience seems to help, but mostly they seem to like dead matter from insects and the like. Mine tend to swarm leftovers from my T's, so you may need to feed them, even if it's some dead insects or veggies/fruits. Any idea what species of isopod, or are you just setting up an enclosure with all local species? Quite a few cool isopods in the hobby, especially A. maculatum and the like ;)
 

Venom1080

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Sounds about right. If you set up millipede sb with something like crushed egg shells or any other special sub stuff, I'm sure the isopods would appreciate it :D The natural wood in my experience seems to help, but mostly they seem to like dead matter from insects and the like. Mine tend to swarm leftovers from my T's, so you may need to feed them, even if it's some dead insects or veggies/fruits. Any idea what species of isopod, or are you just setting up an enclosure with all local species? Quite a few cool isopods in the hobby, especially A. maculatum and the like ;)
oh i do plan on feeding them haha
just local species, nothing special. just want it to be more than a plant and some dirt. :) its mostly just to see how i do with plants in a terrarium.
 

WeightedAbyss75

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Think you have got it then. As long as sub and humidity is correct, they will be super prolific. Love the idea of using local species, need to do that myself ;) Using local plants too? Can't wait to see pics when you have some, always love the look of vivs :D
 

Venom1080

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Think you have got it then. As long as sub and humidity is correct, they will be super prolific. Love the idea of using local species, need to do that myself ;) Using local plants too? Can't wait to see pics when you have some, always love the look of vivs :D
no, some pothos i got a while back. i think pothos is from malaysia, but im not sure.
 

EulersK

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no, some pothos i got a while back. i think pothos is from malaysia, but im not sure.
I'm sure you've already thought of this, but just for people watching this thread - I really think that this plant will work amazingly for tarantula setups. They don't require a lot of light, they can handle dry/wet spells like a champ, and they have a decent amount of leaf droppings for isopod/springtail food. I've currently got several stalks (that I snipped from my plant) in glasses of water waiting for them to root. They'll be transplanted into the setups once they take root, and we'll see how this goes.
 

Venom1080

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I've currently got several stalks (that I snipped from my plant) in glasses of water waiting for them to root. They'll be transplanted into the setups once they take root, and we'll see how this goes.
i know next to nothing about plants.. why wait for them to take root?
 

EulersK

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i know next to nothing about plants.. why wait for them to take root?
This was advice from @Blue Jaye, and after a touch of research, it turns out that snipped stalks have trouble taking root in just plain dirt. I have no idea why. The trick is that once they do start to take root, you need to remove them from the water pretty quickly as to avoid them taking in too much water and dying.
 

Venom1080

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This was advice from @Blue Jaye, and after a touch of research, it turns out that snipped stalks have trouble taking root in just plain dirt. I have no idea why. The trick is that once they do start to take root, you need to remove them from the water pretty quickly as to avoid them taking in too much water and dying.
hmmm, thats probably where my first viv went wrong.. haha
 

Blue Jaye

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This was advice from @Blue Jaye, and after a touch of research, it turns out that snipped stalks have trouble taking root in just plain dirt. I have no idea why. The trick is that once they do start to take root, you need to remove them from the water pretty quickly as to avoid them taking in too much water and dying.
My granny taught me long time ago that you need to put most plants in water first so they can root. Then you can transfer them to moist soil. She had a super green thumb!! We had a 18 foot rubber tree growing in our house!! You can also use a root starter but you still need them in water for that.
 

SlugPod

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Millipedes eat rotten wood, so if you want to provide a food source for them, you will want to mix in some rotten wood into the substrate.
BugsInCyberSpace sells a millipede substrate that has everything millipede need to survive.
Same goes for the Isopods. Isopods will, typically, only breed if you have leaf litter in the enclosure. Or something for them to hide under at the very least. Like bark or something along those lines.
Fish flakes is a good source of food for isopods and millipedes. Just wet it down a bit after sprinkling it in and it'll be gone in a few days.

In my opinion it's best to get leaf litter around where you found your critters.
Doesn't have to be a lot. A hand full or two should be enough to start.
If you *don't* want surprises, you'll want to either bake or freeze the leaves though.
 

Venom1080

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Millipedes eat rotten wood, so if you want to provide a food source for them, you will want to mix in some rotten wood into the substrate.
BugsInCyberSpace sells a millipede substrate that has everything millipede need to survive.
Same goes for the Isopods. Isopods will, typically, only breed if you have leaf litter in the enclosure. Or something for them to hide under at the very least. Like bark or something along those lines.
Fish flakes is a good source of food for isopods and millipedes. Just wet it down a bit after sprinkling it in and it'll be gone in a few days.

In my opinion it's best to get leaf litter around where you found your critters.
Doesn't have to be a lot. A hand full or two should be enough to start.
If you *don't* want surprises, you'll want to either bake or freeze the leaves though.
Thank you!
 
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