Spanish Orange Isopods

[Gsc]

My friend took a really nice picture of a Spanish Orange Isopod...figured I'd share it. These things are great "clean up crews" and once established breed like rabbits!

 

[ScorpDemon]

great pic.. i love mine.. thanks for hookin me up Graham

 

[xelda]

Kudos to your friend. Those little guys are hard to get a good picture of.

 

[Gsc]

Yes, my friend spent a long time trying to get a clear picture of them... he has alot more patience than I do!

 

[NiGHTS]

Wow, nice picture! It took me forever to just get a crappy picture of these lil guys. ...definitely not the most photogenic lil guys, but they are indeed very kool. I was just noticing, the other day, how many babies I have running around in my cage =) Thanks again Graham.

 

[Gsc]

Glad they bred for you NiGHTS- Once you get them established, they go crazy... I thought I had wasted my money when I bought my initial group, but they've earned their keep many times over! They are just fun little critters.

 

[moricollins]

do the tanks need to be really humid for these to survive?

 

[Gsc]

Hey moricollins... Here is how I keep them...

10 gallon tank (no top needed)
1"-2" peat/soil on the bottom.
3"-4" of rotten leaf litter on top of the soil.

I place a few large chuncks of cork bark on the surface (they like to hide on the underside).

I keep mine semi moist...pour alittle water in a corner if I think they are way too dry...if not, I mist lightly a few times a week.... the deep substrate creates a humidity gradient...they can go where they like... seems to be working great.

I toss in some veggies (the same stuff i feed my roach colonies) and whenever I find a dead cricket in a cage, I'll toss it in there also... They'll eat about anything- making them ideal scavengers/Clean-up crew for semi moist cages like millipedes, some species of large tarantulas and big humid species of scorpions like Emperors...

 

[moricollins]

thanks Graham, I've been thinking about adding some isopods to my centipede enclosures.

 

[Gsc]

I've never tried them in centipede enclosures...don't know if they'll make it or not...start a colony and once it's established, then take your extras and "experiment"...it would be an expensive mistake if your 'pedes went to town...

or even better yet...try adding a few rolly pollies from your yard...see how the 'pedes react...

Good luck either way...they are great little bugs! Mucjh easier than I ever thought!

 

[Stylopidae]

I'm trying to start a colony of rolie polies and They haven't bred yet. I started them nearly a month ago...does it take longer than that? :?

 

[Gsc]

Mine took about 3 months to get going really good...hopefully you'll see some results here soon...try the leaf litter method like I posted baove if your not getting any results...it will not hurt.

There was an article on the in Invertebrates Magazine by Orin McMonigle (thats who I got my initial stock from and alot of my breeding tips) some time ago...

 

[xelda]

I keep a bag of spoiled vegetables in my fridge and then feed the slimiest, yuckiest pieces to my isopods. They love it. I literally see a ton of them surfacing to get dibs on the slimy veggies. I've tried other foods, but the spoiled vegetables seem to elicit the most immediate response.

 

[NiGHTS]

Mine seem to love lettuce. Any type of lettuce. They go crazy for even the freshest lettuce....although they don't completely finish off the thicker parts near the base.

As for breeding...add some leaf litter to the top. It will be harder to view the babies, but they'll be there.

 

[Farom]

Think they might be compatable with beetle larvae?

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

I'm trying to start a colony of rolie polies and They haven't bred yet. I started them nearly a month ago...does it take longer than that? :?

If you collected them outside there's a decent chance they'll never get going.
The orange isopods are a cultured strain that has been in captivity at least ten years and so are fast breeding and easy to keep in captivity. The only thing faster and easier is the gray form of the same stock (same stock, not just same species). They are the same species as the very common adventive Porcellio found across the US but the original stock of this culture supposedly came from a guy in spain who also had an iridovirus (blue) colony.

 

[NiGHTS]

Does anyone know where to get the blue isopods that Orin mentioned? I've seen pictures, but have never come across any for sale. I've also heard of a puple-pinkish type of isopod as well.

As for the breeding of wild caught isopods...it is definitely harder than with the oranges, but it is possible. I keep mine in a small container (about 6 inches around). They didn't really do much reproducing when I just had a few; but once you get about 100 or so in there, they really seem to get busy. Maybe its just improved luck in numbers...but they seem to like it better living with tons of buddies.

 

[Gsc]

Check with Orin...if anyone knows, it'd be him! GREAT GUY! They would be awesome!

 

[ROACHMAN]

Orange And Blue Isopods !!!!!!!!!

my friend who lives in spain sent me the orange and the blues to me as a gift many many moon's ago. I kept them and breed them for 1 year and give some to Orin and he gave or sold or traded them that's how you all have them lol as far as I know I am the only one with blues I did send some out to a few good friends but I think they died and yes I am not selling at this time so enjoy the orange ones for now ROACHMAN
:} :} :} :} :}

 

[ScorpDemon]

My orange isopods seem to really like watermelons.. green ones.. green meaning not ripe at all.. i just put them some slices in before the watermelons start developing seeds, and just leave them in there and they have ben breeding like crazy.. my closet stays pretty warm, i kep them on a shelf in there and man.. they are doing great.. Thanks Graham. My roommate wanted to try out some new lenses he got for his camera, so we got some of the smaller things in our collections out and had a photo shoot.. spanish orange isopods were on the list of medels in the photo shoot.. heres a pic.