pill bug janitor

jaycoheat

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 3, 2007
Messages
11
Umm.... o.k. as a kid, we called these things Rolley Polleys or Patato Bugs. Are these things good for keeping your T's cage clean? Wouldnt your T eat them? And if so, can I just catch them in my yard and not order them. And also, any-1 ever seen a Giant Pill Bug? Do they bite? I know this is'nt a real T question, but I would use them if they will finish off any left over Furry, Anole or Cricket matter.
 

jaycoheat

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 3, 2007
Messages
11
Umm.... o.k. as a kid, we called these things Rolley Polleys or Patato Bugs. Are these things good for keeping your T's cage clean? Wouldnt your T eat them? And if so, can I just catch them in my yard and not order them. And also, any-1 ever seen a Giant Pill Bug? Do they bite? I know this is'nt a real T question, but I would use them if they will finish off any left over Furry, Anole or Cricket matter.
Well not use the Giant Pills to clean my T's cage but the small 1's
 

BigBryan

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 27, 2005
Messages
241
haha sometimes you gotta wait over 30 minutes to get an answer... haha be patient my friend
 

hamfoto

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 9, 2004
Messages
777
Isopods, like Armadillidium vulgare, that we have here in Texas are great to use. I put them in all my adult T cages. They will get eaten by T's from time to time. My big T's don't mess with them...but mid-size and smaller will eat them.

Chris
 
B

babylon5girl

Guest
I don't know about T's but my emperor scorpion has some in his cage and for the most part seems to ignore them
 

Ted

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 7, 2007
Messages
1,187
here are some giant pillbugs i used to raise.
they are bigger than a large mouse.


 

Cthulhu1254

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 24, 2005
Messages
48
Isopods can be splendid for keeping your cage clean. Your tarantula will not bother them and they will not bother your tarantula. There are some horror stories about a *very* large number of rolly-pollies eating tarantulas while trying to molt, but you have to be pretty negligent to allow that to happen.
 

Amanda

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 20, 2006
Messages
652
How much dead matter does it take to keep these guys? Is it necessary to purposely not clean-up dead crickets just to keep them alive?
Also, I'm considering some of these for a new arboreal setup I'm working on. I've never seen them anywhere but in the dirt in the wild, but will they work their way up a short distance to find food? That is, if a cricket decides to die on a piece of cork bark 2" off of the ground, will they take care of it?
 

zimbu

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 26, 2006
Messages
141
Also, I'm considering some of these for a new arboreal setup I'm working on. I've never seen them anywhere but in the dirt in the wild, but will they work their way up a short distance to find food? That is, if a cricket decides to die on a piece of cork bark 2" off of the ground, will they take care of it?
I always see pillbugs climbing the side of my GF's house at night, 3 or 4 feet up sometimes. I find them on my porch too, so they would ahve to climb a couple feet to get up there as well. So to answer your question.... probably? I don't know if they climb very often, but it definately does happen.
 

Rochelle

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 12, 2006
Messages
1,596
We've kept isopods in our communal setups with great success. They WILL climb for food and no - you don't have to deliberately leave bolusks for them to eat. We also keep them in our other T. tanks and have never had an issue with them bothering a moulting T. (but if you want to keep the skins - take it out right away! hehe) Our larger T's don't eat the pill bugs but not sure if the slings ever feast on them. My tentative answer is I don't think so - since we've never seen it happen; and my hubby is continuously looking in on the T's..he's a little manic about his T's..:D They DO drown in the water dishes alot, though. Allowing a leaf or stone to provide a way out for these little guys can make keeping your dish clean much easier..;)
 
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