Isopods in Northern Ohio - about to add to enclosures (pics)

[sweetypie]

Hi to all,

I did a little searching and found that pill bugs/isopods need water and some general care.
They may help with some mold spores, mite egg eating and leftovers that I miss during the post feeding clean-ups in the Tarantula enclosures.
The water dishes used are clear deli cup "bottoms" etc. that definitely form moisture beads and wet areas underneath the plastic.

I'd like to share what I have found outside today and hope it may be of some benefit to the Tarantulas and their habitats.
The photo is of one of the water dishes in the E. truculentus enclosures which is kept mostly dry with an overflowing water dish for moisture as needed depending on the time of year/ humidity.


I hope I'm doing the right thing by putting them in the enclosures.... please feel free to comment!!!!!!
If there might be any tips, then please also feel free to add!
I'm hoping to clear up any mite outbreaks, mold, and more if possible.::

***Thanks to everyone for the contributions to the forum and our favorite secret hobbies***

 

[Dogfish]

you may wish to keep them isolated for a short time to make sure they haven't gotten into any pesticide... a week maybe? I'm not to sure but I would assume any pesticide would kill them off after a week. Might have trouble keeping them around if your T gets hungry for a light snack though :biggrin:

 

[Midknight xrs]

Looks like a good adult population, but what you may want to do is wait and see a generation or two from this line before putting them in. As for putting them in dry enclosures, i don't see a point there. For higher humidity species, they are a great benefit. I would breed them out at least one generation before introducing them into the tanks. Also, in my experience with sow bugs, they are a little more aggressive then pill bugs, so you may want to just watch them for a bit to see if they are a little more aggressive.

 

[sweetypie]

wait and see a generation or two from this line...

Good idea.
I wonder if they "need more than a water source (dish) and small bits of spider poop or small food remains"?
I still have time to research.
Actually my dry tanks have had mites near the water dish near an overflow period and bad mite timing!
In my experience, Mites or something (even one or more) seem to pop up from time to time if you look for long enough with a flashlight.

 

[sweetypie]

OBSERVATION UPDATE:

So far they have a food source of a decaying leaf and a wet paper towel.
- They "doodie'd" up the towel, so I think they are eating and functioning.
- There has not been any aggression which I have noticed and they seem to be pretty docile with each other.

TEST #2
Soon, I may take a dirty enclosure and toss the cleaners in to see if they "take care of the clean-up".

I wonder what happens to the feces and dead cleaners?
Time will tell....

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Introvertebrate]

Just wondering how bugs gathered in temperate regions do in the winter time. Don't they need a hibernation period?

 

[MrCrackerpants]

Great thread. A few thoughts after breeding millions of these...

Add a small mound of organic soil to a far corner of the terrarium (near the water dish). They will reproduce in this mound. To eliminate the need to add leaves, place a piece of dry dog food on the mount every couple days. They will eat it and then reproduce. They will leave the mound and go throughout the rest of the terrarium and feed on all of the other stuff you do not want in there.

 

[sweetypie]

Great thread. A few thoughts after breeding millions of these...

Add a small mound of organic soil to a far corner of the terrarium (near the water dish). They will reproduce in this mound. To eliminate the need to add leaves, place a piece of dry dog food on the mount every couple days. They will eat it and then reproduce. They will leave the mound and go throughout the rest of the terrarium and feed on all of the other stuff you do not want in there.

Awesome! I wonder if this can be a Isopods tips thread.
How can I get the moderator to change the wording to:

"Isopod tips and updates - (pics) about to add to enclosures"........... from the old "Isopods in Northern Ohio - about to add to enclosures (pics)"

I think people might not care about isopods from Ohio title.
I might not pay much attention to an isopod from California thread as much as I should! lol

 

[MrCrackerpants]

Awesome! I wonder if this can be a Isopods tips thread.
How can I get the moderator to change the wording to:

"Isopod tips and updates - (pics) about to add to enclosures"........... from the old "Isopods in Northern Ohio - about to add to enclosures (pics)"

I think people might not care about isopods from Ohio title.
I might not pay much attention to an isopod from California thread as much as I should! lol

Good idea but I am not sure how to do that. I have isopods in all my enclosures even my desert enclosures. I would suggest setting up your own container of isopods and springtails. That way you have them when ever you need them. I use a 4 foot by 2.5 foot plastic container ( 8 inches deep-A huge sweater container from Target ($7)). I start them on a small amount of organic compost and then just feed them leaves. I have 10 of these containers (in 2 stacks of 5) with a different millipedes species in each one. I give the excess soil to my wife. It grows the most amazing plants.

 

[scuba113]

Good idea i have a little container full of isopods that i keep to feed them dead roaches or even put a few so they clean up the mold in the tanks.

 

[MrCrackerpants]

Good idea i have a little container full of isopods that i keep to feed them dead roaches or even put a few so they clean up the mold in the tanks.

Good point. I feed all of my dead bugs to my isopods, millipedes and springtails.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I tried to raise Ispods once got bored em and threw em out lol.. tell me if you find a way to raise them!!!