Isopods...

[RVS]

Lately I've seen dealers carrying terrestrial isopods, including exotic attractive purple and orange species.
I've been reading about them a little and was thinking about purchasing a few for T. blondi enclosure. Which is always a hassle to clean (I'm sure many of you can relate). From what I gather they're great at eliminating food waste, but I have a few questions:

Will my T. eat these? I really can't imagine it not eating them.

Is a dozen enough/too much for a ten gallon set up?

How quickly do these breed/will they take over the enclosure?

 

[darkeye]

Your T will not eat them

They do a great job of cleaning up

They must be kept in MOIST substrate, so they are not ideal for most T's

They breed like crazy, but it should not be a problem

good luck!

 

[ScorpDemon]

where did you see purple ones.. i want some..

 

[RVS]

where did you see purple ones.. i want some..

Honestly, I can't remember although I now wish I would have bought them. I know Strange Cargo carries the orange ones.

I think the isopods will be fine since I'm dealing with a T. Blondi enclosure. I always keep it pretty moist. There's live plants and plenty of moss for them to hide in.

 

[ScorpDemon]

yes, i have a few dozen orange ones.. i want to collect all the different colors.. if you see anymore, would you post ir, or pl me? I would greatly appreciate it..
as far as them becoming lunch.. you will lose a few, that goes without saying.. just keep it humid, throw in a peice of carrot every now and again, and you will have more babies than you lose.. i have them set up on a colony, and just add them to the individual tanks as needed.

 

[Stylopidae]

Can you use isopods as sling food?

 

[ScorpDemon]

not sure.. i myself wouldnt use them as sling food.. but mine are orange and i just got my culture started.. later on maybe.. but not right now

 

[NiGHTS]

Most inverts seem to ignore isopods as food, unless they're really hungry. I've had them in with a centipede and have never seen the pede going at any of the isopods.

 

[Bayushi]

I have a few in my Emp tank and they live in the same burrow that the emp does. if one does get eaten it's usually a case of mistaken identity.

 

[Stylopidae]

Ok...I was hoping to use them as a cheap source of sling food, but I think I'll stick to keeping a backup colony for when I can get into inverts.

I have 6 adults in a plastic salad bowl container (one from McDonald's. I stole it from work) They've already bred once, but I just tossed the babies in with my horned frog.

So now my question is how long will it take them to breed again and how would I best sustain a colony? I have them on moist coco bark right now with no ventilation and they seem to be doing fine.

Should I keep them like I do now or change anything?